In this video I’m sharing the full story of my terrible Los Angeles Italian Consulate experience while I was trying to apply for Italy’s digital nomad visa. I went back to the U.S. because my visa expired (you can’t just “switch” visas while you’re in Italy), and even though I booked my appointment months in advance, the whole process felt absolutely insane from the moment I walked in. Between a security guard on a power trip, confusing communication, and officers seeming unsure about the visa requirements, I left my first appointment with basically no answers and no real plan. Then came the summer of trying to contact the consulate—emails every week, trying multiple addresses, sitting on hold during their “call hour” with the classical music (they never picked up), and even scheduling daily emails because I was desperate. Eventually they asked for even more financial documents, and I had to fly back to LA for a second appointment on short notice, spend more money, and deal with even more chaos at the door. I submitted everything, did the fingerprinting, and even switched to FedEx because they warned me USPS passports were going missing. And after all of that? I got the email that my visa was denied—right when I was counting down the days to get my passport back and return to Italy.