Don't forget 1999

32 Shanghai School Kids made INS look like buffoons.


http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/03/news/mn-33458/6

I sense the same. Regardless of whether or not my sense is right, I'm increasingly into the idea of adding China to the visa waiver program, or at least nixing the interview requirement (which is surely a major component of the $140).

As far as I can remember(dating back 20 years), the US State Dept has never
given a rat's [rear end] how foreign countries "reciprocate" againt US visa
fees. Even when a foreign country grants US citizens visa-free acces, the
US continues to charge for visas. (exception being when a nation is accepted
into the US VWP)

by the way, on the China visa for Chinese-Americans.... friend who is naturalized
US citizen originally from PRC got shot down at DC visa office. only got 1-year multiple
visa... not 2-year multiple as promised on Chinese Embassy's webiste.(for Chinese
Americans)

1) Congress has mandated that the cost of processing the visa must be recovered by fees--in this case, fees from the "user" (applicant). Right now, US$140 is deemed the cost of the processing, including the interview. Other countries granting US citizens visa-free access for tourism or business visits, deem the individual and collective spending of those citizens to be significant enough to more than offset the foregone revenue from visa fees. Different approaches and concepts about the relative worth of visitors. However, China is on a different wavelength, being more into political tit-for-tat-ism, as pointed out by others previously.

2) Yes, the cutback of granting Chinese Americans 1-yr visas instead of 2-yrs is something I have heard about first-hand from others this year. I can't think of what's behind this trend except greed (more visa fees for next year?), but perhaps there is something else going on as well.

consular jurisdiction
 

How strict does the Chinese Embassy enforce consular jurisdiction? For example, I live in Ohio, which falls under the jurisdiction of the New York Consular. However, the Embassy in DC and the Consulate in Chicago are both much closer to me than the Consulate in New York.

The reason I ask is because I will be going down to Washington to meet a friend and wanted to get the work visa taken care of while I'm there. Last time I got a visa it was done by an agent in Washington so there's already a visa processed by them in my passport. I plan to pay the extra $30 for rush processing because the school I'll be working at was very late at sending me the government papers and my flight will leave about a week after I'll get them. Plus, it's much easier than traveling to D.C. twice and paying extra in gas money, tolls, etc.

Not strict at all. Their "jurisdictional" divisions should be taken as suggestions not mandates. You can use the Chinese mission/ agent you feel works best for you.

Exactly. Years ago (of course) I went from West Berlin to East Berlin on a packaged day-tour. We got to the checkpoint and they gave the bus an extremely thorough once-over. As if we had hidden a load of immigrants underneath the bus who were looking to escape to the east. It was all a show of course to prove that escaping eastward was an attractive proposition that had to be guarded against.

It's never mattered with us.

When you did the visa directly by mail we always sent it to the right office. Since the tit-for-tat lack of mail service the travel agents that have gotten our visas have sent them to various places and we have never been denied.

I think it's more a matter of trying to keep spies from sneaking in.