xooz

So, similar to above, I need to get a new visa. Mine has been expired for a year or more now. My plan was to get to New York and submit application in person on Thursday morning and pick up the following afternoon (Friday). I did this in DC at the embassy there previously. Any data points on one day (or even same day) turnaround, particularly in NYC?

moondog

Next day is available at all visa offices in the US. Same day is a little more hit or miss (i.e. not always offered).

rivlinm

I was hoping to not discuss this here yet until I was able to report back with positive news, but it seems that may never happen. I would love everyones advice on how to proceed. For the sake of my ongoing dispute with the handler, I will avoid mentioning names.

At the end of January I began to apply for what I assumed would be my easier visa (between China and Russia). Three of us applied through a well known Visa courier with similar itineraries and mine was rejected. Theirs were not.

A bit of history on my trip: I requested a multi entry so I could visit PEK for 3 nights before flying to North Korea for 5 nights. I then planned to return and spend 6 nights before flying home via NRT.

I was given no reason for the refused visa and the documents were all sent back. I was upset, but assumed it was because of my self employed company that has the word media in it. (I edit promotional videos of small business, no affiliation with real media, and I made that clear in my letter)

When I looked through the documents they returned I noticed there were no letters about my job nor proof of my flight to DPRK. I looked further and noticed someone had whited out my trip to DPRK and made it look like my trip to china would be 3+5+6 nights now even though I had no proof of hotel for the middle 5 nights. The white out was SO BAD, that I could read every word easily. Very suspicious looking.

I kept looking and discovered my job had been changed from self employed to unemployed, also poorly blanked out and very shady looking. That also explains why the documents about my job and DPRK travel were not returned, and I assumed not submitted.

I gave them a ring and they denied any wrong doing at first but I pushed more and soon was told they would re apply for me. I sent an additional letter explaining I had been rejected previously, but that my job has NOTHING to do with the media. They took it back to apply and the Houston consulate told them it was too soon to apply. So now I was 0/2. In the meantime I applied for Russia and got it very quickly.

Again they applied for China and were rejected without reason. I asked why and was told likely because of my job in the media, even though my letter says otherwise. Then she said it was because I'm American traveling to DPRK. (Not many other ways to get there!) I called her out on that she we went back and forth. I don't have many options and leave in less than a month.

I'm not faulting the consulate for rejecting my application being as they were deceived the first time and it wasn't an honest application. I am very upset with the company for committing what I see as a felony for falsifying documents. They claim they fired the individual responsible, and even though I don't believe them, that doesn't concern me. I want a fair application. I have asked MANY times if they explained to the consulate that someone edited my application and I would like my case to be looked at with a blank slate. They refuse to admit if it was explained.

I don't know what to do. I should be receiving a call from a Director level employee today and am leaning toward pushing for them to fly me to Houston and speak with the consular staff with me. Should I proceed with a simple legal case to cover my loses (travel, hotels, time) and just change my travel plans and move on? Should I apply through the SFO consulate and have a very formal document explaining my case and just hope for the best?

Please chime in. I'm at a loss.

TravelDream

It sounds like a very unfortunate situation, and I am sorry to hear you've had such a bad experience with this company.

I'm not sure why you thought getting a visa for China or Russia would be difficult. It should be quite a straight-forward formality for both. Though I do know China doesn't like to give out multiple entry visas for first time applicants.

Is there anyway you could phone the consulate - most will give some sort of advice over the phone.

Also, I'm not sure anyone on here can give legal advice. You'd really need to speak to a lawyer about the whole situation.

moondog

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Did you actually mention DPRK on your PRC visa application? If so, that's about as bad a violation of the KISS principle as it gets (i.e. even worse than listing Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang as your intended destinations in China).

If you are offered a second chance, I would advise booking a straight up RT ticket in order to get your visa. After you have it, you can travel as you please.

jiejie

Wow. I have never heard of application materials being altered or falsified by a visa company. Never. And in a way that certainly sealed your application's fate. I cannot imagine what possessed any staff member to do such a thing. They should have just contacted you and told you to make up new documentation with nonessential information left out or presented differently, then send back to them (could have been done electronically).

The DPRK travel plan (even for an American) is a red herring. That does not, per se, present a problem in requesting and receiving a Chinese visa....it happens daily and China is the only access point for tours to the DPRK. But I think it was an unnecessary complication. Having a media company name could have been a key problem though, regardless of what your actual job function is.

As far as this company goes, you need to pursue full restitution from them, and if they balk, report them to local law enforcement and to the State Attorney General where this took place (presumably, Texas)--on the grounds of document falsification. If you want to push further, demand that they fly you at their expense to Houston so you can make application in person at the Consulate, with completely fresh application materials (perhaps you're old enough to just be "retired" which is a lot better than "unemployed"). For God's sake if they agree to fly you to Houston, DON'T have any of them go with you. Jesus wept. Just go in like you're a first-time applicant. It's highly likely that as long as a week or so has gone by, they won't be consulting any "blacklist" that you might be on.

If you do not have time or inclination to go to Houston in person, go to a completely different agent. I would follow @moondog's advice and just keep things simple this time, with your flight into China and out of China and forget about mentioning the DPRK trip. The standard tourist visa issued to Americans is a 10-year, multiple-entry visa anyway, even for first-time applicants--so that's not an issue. You just ask for it on the application form. Book 5 days' hotel in Shanghai or somewhere, non-prepaid and cancellable after you get the visa. That will cover the "missing" time that you'll actually be in the DPRK.

The last thing you should do is try to explain this mess to a different Consulate that is outside your assigned area. That would make a bad situation worse.

rivlinm

Thanks for the advice. I think it would however be naive to think they don't keep a record of who they reject and why. I feel as if my best case is to appear in person and explain how the agency committed fraud and I am here to prove I am an honest tourist simply looking for a visa.

I just spoke with the agency and they gave me some BS about needing more approval for airfare/hotel to be covered. He is trying to refund every fee paid so far, so that would be almost 800usd when you factor in all of my group's fees.

I have very limited time and plan to re apply soon, but feel I can't remove my business/dprk travel plans now that they know of my case. Thoughts? Experiences?

I really want to avoid the legal route if I can, all I want is a visa.

anacapamalibu

Well they admitted fault, so time to make you whole.

moondog

Again, I suggest you reapply using a simple RT ticket (AA.Com is good for this because of the 24 hour hold policy), and a non-paid hotel reservation. Once you have the visa in hand, you can enter/exit China as you please.

rivlinm

Looking at flights to get to the Consulate, tell me if this would be a good idea:

Arrive at IAH at 8:09 am.

Consulate is open for Visas from 9:00am-11:30am

Depart from IAH at 1:52 pm.

Is that too little time?

Seems like no reservations needed, but I have no clue how the line works.

jiejie

It's not a matter of being naive, it's a matter of knowing how China (of which the Consulate is an extension) works. Have it your way, but I don't think you're improving your odds by doing this.

I do think that your proposed flight schedule above is too tight. There may be a queue at the Consulate. Take a later flight out of IAH.

If you don't manage to get a visa, you can still get to your tour to the DPRK by going through Beijing using Transit Without Visa, which doesn't require any official approvals. But you'd have to rearrange your flights through Beijing so that no single stint is greater than 72 hours, and therefore your plans would deviate from that of your travel companions. You'd probably have to leave up to 24 hours later so your arrival in PEK to departure for DPRK is <72 hours. And on the return, you'd need to sandwich a round-trip flight to somewhere close and international (like Seoul or something) so you break that 6 days into 2 chunks. There's no minimum turnaround time that you must be out of China to use TWOV. For further information, read our wikipost (1st post) on the TWOV sticky thread.

rivlinm

I'm all for doing what makes my chances of approval the best, but do you really think they would approve me if I applied like a new candidate without acknowledging my previous rejections?

I'm sure they track and log rejections and if I lie, that would be an automatic rejection right?

I know the time in Houston is tight, does anyone have any first hand experience with morning waits? and lines? It seems you take a number and wait till a window has your number, then they review your papers and send you on your way with a slip?

Does everyone agree I should mark 'I've been rejected before', but provide a simple RT itinerary? Regarding my self employed job that has the word media in it, should I change it to productions, or use a previous employer?


I expect to use TWOV if this fails, but that will alter my original plan of taking the train out of PEK to ULN. See, I was trying to KISS!!! i booked a fake flight back to the usa rather than explain I was taking a train out... So much for trying to be smart!

Loren Pechtel

Count me with those that think that you need to explain what happened with the falsified documents.

Also, is such alteration criminal? If so, a police report might help.

anacapamalibu

I would think the 4 page visa application is scanned and a program analyzes key words, checked boxes, completion of fields and watch list. If flagged it would be passed on to staff for review.

When it was 50 bucks for a single entry that could pay someone to read the single or double pages. But 150 for ten years 4 pages..doubt it.

TravelDream

I didn't realise Americans could get 10 year multi-entry visas. I'm rather jealous actually!


I have a question about Chinese visas too.
I'm probably going to visit China for two weeks this summer. I'm a dual citizen and I previously applied for a visa using one of the passports. However, this time I'd like to apply on the other passport as it's cheaper.

Will this cause any problems? Will I be able to apply for a multi-entry visa? (I know normally they will only grant dual-entry visas for first time applicants from my country and the other country).

BTW. Original passport was British and now I want to apply with another EU passport. I'll apply in Hong Kong.