moondog

I would have to guess reciprocity.

anacapamalibu

Regarding reciprocity. How long a stay are Chinese given on a ten year US visa?

Gabrca

Update to this, they didn't let me get it on the US passport as "they do not recognize dual citizenship", and with no entry/exit stamps into the UK on it, I had to use my British passport.

Not too surprised to be honest, just a bit annoying didn't manage to snag a 10 year visa this time. She mentioned it happens quite a bit.

bocastephen

Due to GE, I don't have entry/exit stamps on my US or Canadian passport - how will they consider this?

Majuki

I think they would question it if you applied at a PRC consulate in Canada and listed your nationality as US citizen as they would wonder what allows your lawful presence in Canada beyond as a tourist. As a tourist they would tell you to apply in your 'home' country even though there may be no evidence of your travels in your passport to the third country.

moondog

I don't know, but would guess that it's either unlimited or 90 days (which applies to the visa waiver program). It seems that John Kerry and team might have overlooked this point during the negotiations.

jiejie

Actually, the Chinese do recognize dual citizenship of foreigners such as UK/US, it's just that the excuse given was not quite the right one. Normally, they want you to use the passport of the country you are in. If you were in the USA as a dual and wanted to submit the UK passport to get a Chinese visa, they would see that you had no US visa and when you came clean about being a US citizen also, they would have insisted that you apply on the US passport. Applying in a third "neutral" location such as Hong Kong, you could have chosen the one you wanted to use.

This is one of those situations where if you wanted to get the 10-year visa, you should have FedEx'd your US passport and visa application back to an agent in the USA, using a US address (family, friend, office, etc.) for the application information, then had the passport with 10-year visa sent to said family/friend address, for them to Fed Ex back to you in the UK. The additional costs would have been more than made up by the more generous visa terms.

jiejie

If you are in Canada, they will want you to apply on the Canadian passport. If you are in the USA, on the US passport. The entry/exit stamps are irrelevant except for the fact that their absence tends to provoke questions at the visa office which "outs" the dual citizenship.

anacapamalibu

I think the CBP gives default 6 months on the I-94. ??

JPDM

""they do not recognize dual citizenship", " - agree with Jiejie. It think that this is not the "real" reason. the explanation got lost in translation. To apply in the UK with a foreign passport, you need to demonstrate that you are also a legal resident of the UK and showing you British passport did not work. This is more likely.

bocastephen

Too complicated...good thing I don't need to travel there anymore

What is this insane fixation on entry/exit stamps? Do they not know we have something called Nexus and Global Entry and our passports are never stamped entering the US or Canada, not to mention we don't have any exit controls?

Majuki

Sure, but both jiejie and I said the lack of stamps tends to out the dual citizenship because they'll tend to inquire further. For example, if you show up at the PRC Embassy in Ottawa with a US passport they will tell you to apply back in the US unless you're a resident in Canada. They will then ask what allows you residence in Canada. When you whip out your Canadian passport they'll then want you to apply for the visa with that passport.

DieselYVR

One more data point from HK.

An American colleague who is visiting us (not an HK resident) was able to obtain the 10 year visa on the same working day by using an agent here (China Travel Service).

She dropped off her passport when they opened and it was done by 6:30pm.

HGHUA

Really? Interesting. What was the up charge?

If you go the embassy they have signs in every window with "no same day visa" on it.

jiejie

CTS has notoriously high service fees, even by other HK visa agent standards. I shudder to think.....