Do not make travel plans before you have your visa stamped. If you may need your passport for next 6 months, do not apply. They held my passport for 72 days without a decision as I had to withdraw due to other travel plans. Optimistically speaking, 6 months should be sufficient for them to process the visa. Also be aware that once you submit your passport, only God knows when it will be returned. They just want to collect visa fee it seems. And do not expect your emails/fax to be responded... In the nutshell, it's a nightmare...