Originally Posted by
nkedel
Are the agency fees obligatory? I'm not far at all from the SF consulate, and had planned if I were to need a visa to just go in person.
You can do the visa thing yourself. Back when I was living in Mountain View, Newport Beach, and Baltimore, this was my preferred approach.
Even then, the costs of going to the consulates (twice) outweighed the agency fees, but I placed a premium on the face-to-face time that often helped me fetch better visas.
Since I'm currently living in Portland (far from a consulate), using agencies is a no-brainer. Based on your posts, I assumed you were in Pittsburgh (equally inconvenient).