“My company paid the rush processing fee online yesterday morning.”

She took a red rubber stamp from a wooden block, pressed it into a pad of purple ink, and brought it down hard on the first page of my visa application.

“The same-day consular seal will be two hundred and seventy dollars,” she said.

I passed my credit card through the tray.

The machine on the counter beeped twice, and a tiny thermal receipt printed out against the glass.

“Room 4B at three thirty today,” she said, sliding my passport back through the tray in a clear plastic sleeve.