Breakdown of Staliśmy przed konsulatem, aż dostaliśmy wizy.
dostać
to get
stać
to stand
przed
in front of (+ Instrumental)
wiza
visa
Questions & Answers about Staliśmy przed konsulatem, aż dostaliśmy wizy.
How does aż work here, and could I use dopóki instead?
The word aż connects an ongoing action to its final result or interruption. You could use dopóki here, but to mean 'until', it requires a negative structure: dopóki nie dostaliśmy wizy (literally 'as long as we did not receive visas'). Using aż is simpler and very natural when a continuous action is stopped by a completed one.
Why is staliśmy imperfective, but dostaliśmy is perfective?
This is a very common aspect pattern with aż (until). You use an imperfective verb for the ongoing, continuous background action (staliśmy - we were standing) and a perfective verb for the single, completed event that finally puts an end to the waiting (dostaliśmy - we received).
Why does konsulat change to konsulatem?
The preposition przed (in front of) is followed by the Instrumental case when it describes a static location (answering the question 'where?'). Because konsulat is a regular masculine noun, it takes the standard Instrumental ending -em.
Why does the sentence use wizy instead of wizę?
Wizy is the plural Accusative form of the feminine noun wiza (visa). Because the sentence says 'we' received them, it implies multiple people received multiple visas. If the whole group was waiting for just one single shared visa, you would use the singular Accusative form wizę.