Another Multiple Entry Visa Question... with a twist!
 

Hi All,

Another Mutliple Entry Visa Question :td: Sorry in advance....

I'm a US Citizen living in Canada. Me and my significant other (also a US Citizen living in Canada) are planning a mini-RTW and we'd like to maybe take a few day trips from HKG to the mainland (specifically Shenzhen).

A few questions:

1. Any experience with same-day expediting service at the Toronto Consulate? How much does it cost? The prices seem to fluctuate depending on which web page on the Toronto Consulate site you're looking at...

1a. I have a trip to SF in a couple of weeks - would it be better to apply at the SF Consulate instead? Can I expedite and do it same day there?

2. Is is possible to get a multiple entry tourist visa for 2 years? 1 year? I've read that a lot of US citizens are getting 1 yr. multiple entry but only when applying from within the US.

3. I have no visa history in China. If I cannot get a multiple-entry visa, is the double entry visa relatively easy?

4. Other than Shenzhen, would you recommend any other places to see that I can get to on a day trip to HKG?

cheers,
-- jake

AFIK, Americans are only guaranteed good visas when applying from America.

The consulate in SF is one of the stingier ones, but should give you a one-year visa without any hassle.

If you have Chinese blood (or can pass off as having Chinese blood), you might want to consider engaging a visa agency that uses a consulate other than SF or NY and shooting for a 2-year L.

Don't know which webpage you found, but according to this one:

http://toronto.china-consulate.org/e...ISA/t40586.htm

Same day expedited fee is C$50. That's in addition to the regular visa fees for US citizens, which is C$140.

Read the rules carefully. If you have something in your passport showing that you are an official resident of Canada or if you can't use a US address, you may be required to apply for the visa in Canada. Be aware also that the application forms and procedures have been changing and all consulates don't update their websites (or sometimes the rules they apply) equally quickly.

There's no reason to worry about this IME, but it is advisable to use an address within the domain of the consulate you visit.

I found the website you link is not very current. The document has a date from 2007.

Are you a Canadian PR? if not you might not get serve at 240 St George St.

I have never been able to get a multi-entry for more than a year in Canada as a Canadian passport holder and then I applied in HKG with the same status with my new passport without the old vise and received a 5yr multi. (HKG is my birthplace so YMMV.)

So, have you found an official page that's more current for the expedited fees?

Anyways, while the date says 2007, the information is current. For example, it says visa fees for US Citizen is $140. That was increased only from $120 in June of this year. So apparently, the information on that page IS being updated, despite the date.

I had experienced inconsistency regarding what was on the website and what was actually procedure applied and also the forms on the website are not the ones acceptable at that time. On the website there is inconsistency between the Chinese and the English version of the same document. Other friends and relatives had same problems.

These are actual personal experience of myself and others with the PRC consulate office at 240 St George St in Toronto.

Perhaps you had a different experience there that you can share?

Nope, I don't, but that's the best I can find. And I have not seen anything that suggests contrary to the C$50 fee. That's all I am saying.

Website of the Ottawa Embassy also says C$50. And this from 1/1/10:
http://www.chinaembassycanada.org/en...isa/t37727.htm
http://www.chinaembassycanada.org/ch...gqz/t28082.htm (in Chinese)

So does consulate in Vancouver (undated):
http://vancouver.china-consulate.org...sa/t525562.htm
http://vancouver.china-consulate.org...sa/t389750.htm (in Chinese)

Or Calgary (undated):
http://calgary.china-consulate.org/c...sx/t225072.htm (in Chinese), though the English version translates as "1-working day" for the C$50 expedited service.

If one finds that this C$50 expedited same-day service - submitted before 11am, pickup after 12pm - is not available or incorrect, please speak up, and I will stand corrected.

That is another hoax, I know many who many has paid and not have visa by 12.

We are talking and sharing about actual first hand physical experience dealing with an physical visa application for PRC in Canada, not something one read on the internet.

Forget about official websites, what matters is actual practice in real-time, which may or may not deviate.

OP, best Options, each with pros and cons.

1) Assume that in Canada, the best you can hope for is a single-entry or a double-entry, for which you will pay the US$140 or equivalent. Worst visa terms but least hassle and least cost, as you can do upon your return from SF without Rush Processing. Be aware that you will normally have 90 days to get to a border and activate the single entry, usually 180 days for the double-entry. So if your RTW isn't soon, don't apply too early.

2) You can take both passports and apply at the SF Consulate when you are there. Inquire ahead as to what their fastest time frame is. If it meets your own time limitations in SF, go ahead and pay for Rush Processing on top of regular $140 fee. You will likely have no problem getting a multiple-entry visa good for 12 months, I'd give chance at >75%. Worst case, you'd likely be knocked back to double-entry. If you can, put down a US address on the application but don't stress out too much about this. For the 12 month multiple, there is no time limit on initial activation as long as you enter within the 12 month period.

3) Use a visa agent. Once back in Canada after SF trip, send the passports with application stuff to www.mychinavisa.com. I use the Houston office but I think they now have a Chicago office. It doesn't matter. You will certainly nearly 100% get 12 month, multiple-entry visas this way and you can use your Canadian address. It will cost more, std visa fee + agent fee + FedEx fees. Turn around to get passport back in your hands is generally 10 days using standard non-Rush.

4) Play it by ear and just get the Chinese visa in HKG. Can be done with next-day delivery. Single entry for 30 days always available, sometimes longer periods and sometimes double-entry or more, but don't count on the latter. You will still pay the $140 equivalent in visa fee, + a little more if you use an agent like Forever Bright (recommended).

You are getting ahead of yourself, though. You need to go back and reassess your plans. I can't fathom why anybody in your shoes would be planning to make day trips back and forth from HKG to Shenzhen. If it's for shopping, don't bother. And there's nothing else in Shenzhen, it's a pit. If you want to see China, dammit, just go there rather than do multiple half-@ssed border skirmishes. For which you wouldn't need anything more than a single-entry. If you plan to--within a 12 month period--return to China beyond this RTW, then it makes sense to do the 12 month multiple. Or you could just save yourself the entire expense of the visa on this trip, and just plan to not go into China.

If your time in HKG is so long that you will exhaust your possibilities for activities there and in Macau, and you also don't want to really see much of China, then you should cut down the overall time in HKG and move to the next point faster on your RTW, rather than trolling about for daytrips.

JJ's last post about visiting Shenzhen is very true, the border crossing at Lo Wu (by train) is pure madness, and begin even before you do the MTR subway transfer @ Kowloon Tong or Hung Hom Station, especially & definitely avoid Saturdays & Sundays.

I'm told that first time leisure visitors (at least here @ PRC NY Consulate) are generally not issued multiple entry visas, just single or doubles - unless you are on business or invited by PRC locals with official stationary.

Consider a day trip to Macau, 55 minutes by hi-speed jetfoil and no visas needed, to see the Las Vegas of the East, we had fun at the Venetian. From there, you can easily cross into China on land, it's less than 15 minutes from downtown/ferry terminal to see another emerging "border" city of high rise building & development. (I'm sure someone else visiting Macau can add to this point)

The Gongbei border crossing between Macau and China is even busier than those between HK and China. Tens of thousands of people cross it each day, as it's cost-free, unlike from HK where you have to pay from some train/bus to get to the border. Many live on the cheaper Chinese side and commute to work in Macau daily, and many Macanese cross the border to do their daily groceries in cheaper China.

They're supposed to issue one year visas to people that ask for them.

This is correct; as a general rule - for first timers - they will issue a 6 month, good for two entries tourist visa in NYC consulate, regardless of what you ask for. The second time around, they will then give a one year multiple entry tourist visa.