It didn't work out.

My passport never showed. After two days of calling to ask where my passport was, it went back to "JW202 required." I have no idea how this happened.

Now I am rushing to get a second passport issued. When weighing the costs of re-doing my itinerary in Hong Kong versus getting a second passport + my original fedex'ed to me, I thought that a second document would be the better option.

I'm confused. Was your passport actually lost in transit?

Hello all,
Anyone know about denials due to DUI record? I have a DUI from 10 years ago in US. Would be applying for F visa (This is the correct one for a technical conference?) from Jakarta (Or should I do it in USA when I am home this summer?)

I tried searching this thread without luck.

Apologies, I had been running quite a fever over the last 48.

No. The passport was not lost. The allegedly approved visa was not, and communicating with the agency has required (essentially) harassing them. I retrieved my passport.

Timeline:
April 12 - Applied. Processing time estimated at 8 days
April 16: we need "authorization from China" - As any veteran of gov't bureaucracy knows, that is useless
Late April: After numerous phone calls, more hold time than I care to remember (their hold jingle torments even my deepest dreams), I finally get them to confirm that it is in fact the JW202 wanted.
May 3: Your visa was approved! They should be returning the passport tomorrow (Quelle Surprise!)
May 11: Still no passport, email sent. No reply
May 14: Phone call. "Let me get in touch with Orlando and get back to you ASAP"
May 15: Yet another phone call to them "We're still waiting on the JW202" Oh sweet Jesus. Feeling vaguely under the weather, scratchy throat. Send me my freakin' passport back I was offered an appointment to get a second passport so I could travel while I wait for the JW202.
May 16: Acute tonsillitis, missed appointment. Between the apocalyptic thunderstorms + being as weak as a kitten, the 100 mile/2 hour drive each way (2.5-3 with the weather) would have been both homicidal and suicidal.
May 17: Woozy but better. When I added up the cost of the second passport + courier overseas, my figures came out to over $500. At that point, Hong Kong is roughly equal and doesn't waste a day on travel (I have no shortage of stuff to do here in the US between work and getting ready for departure) to deal with an agency that inspires zero confidence.

Hope you feel better physically. I think the incompetence of the agency may be the key. Getting an X2 visa just shouldn't have been this hard. I would not advise anyone to use this agency and particularly not the Orlando office. It really is better to use a well-connected, proven agency in the same city as the Consulate. An agency that has staff that has personal rapport with the Consulate staff and can get their clients' visa requests expedited through with minimal hassle. An agency that could have forewarned you to get the JW202 many weeks ago, at the outset of the process where you still had time to do so. I note that the agency you mentioned has no office in Houston, big red flag if in the Southeastern USA and needing to go through Houston Consulate. Frankly, you'd be within your rights to demand all your money back on the grounds that the agency didn't provide expertise on issues they should have known.

Maybe Hong Kong is your best recourse at this point, but this visa is going to end up costing you plenty in the end.

Rethinking that tourist L visa--this actually might be workable IF you are able to deal with the 60 day duration of stay restriction, skip over to Hong Kong--or get a Vietnam visa in Kunming and just train down from Kunming to Hekou, cross border to Lao Cai, then back to Hekou and Kunming to reset the 60 day clock. The latter may be less expensive and offer up an opportunity to hit up Jianshui or Yuanyang Rice Terraces on the way. Or, once in Kunming, you can check out whether switching from L to X2 is the better course of action. Kunming PSB may be somewhat more flexible on both short-studying on the L or changing L>X, compared to other cities in China like Beijing and Shanghai. Main advantage is not having to deal with the !@#$% JW202 form in the short-term, and getting 10 years' worth of visa for the long term.

Interestingly enough, I was just looking at that particular train route on seat61.com.

I will fire off an email to the school and solicit their advice on the L->X2 or X2 in HKG route.

I am going to ask if the visa fees (at a minimum) can be refunded. Otherwise...my God was this episode an "excrement" show. And it will be costly to me in the end.

Also, I am going to be in Tokyo from May 31-june 22 (unless I rebook the flight to HKG for the 18th). I have been reading somewhat promising reports about non-resident foreigners being able to get Chinese visas in Tokyo and Osaka. e.g. this report on lonely planet and the top-of-the-page update here.

Yet another edit: If I go down the tourist route, are they sticklers for wanting to see flight reservations to the US (specifically) or just out of the PRC?

Edit 3: Apparently, the Chinese consulate in Phuket is not bad to deal with?

For visa applications, flights just need to be in/out of the PRC, not necessarily from or to your home country (USA).
If you have to get the visa outside the USA, go with Hong Kong. There, getting either the X2 or the 10-year tourist visa is confirmed. Tokyo/Osaka there are success stories but AFAIK only for standard 30-day tourist visas if you're a nonresident, and you may have to go through a specific local agent there. Phuket is a maybe as to being able to get a visa (mixed stories from what I've heard), and if you're successful, it will probably be a 30 day or at most 60-day single entry. Not worth the gamble to schlep over there for a poorer quality visa.

Noted. I was going to be in both Phuket and Tokyo anyway. Thought I'd get your thoughts.

I emailed the HK agency you recommended. Among other fairly boilerplate info, they included this interesting tidbit:

I was planning to throw a bunch of money at them for the 3 day service. (note for readers: per their website, if you submit before 12:30, it counts as a business day, so for 3 day, submit on Monday morning, pick up Wednesday afternoon). Now it appears as if I should either get to their office monday morning and pray that there isn't a delay. I would need the passport by Friday night (ie 5 working days) both for my next hotel check-in and onward travel Sunday night.

That should work. Get application in (whether going to China Visa Service Centre or using FBT) first thing Monday morning. Should have it back Thursday afternoon but you'd have Friday morning/afternoon as backup day. Just make sure there are no HK or mainland Chinese holidays during that week. Since you have friends in HK you can stay with, you could also get to HK 3 days earlier and make application Friday morning to give you even more backup time.

If you are going to be in Phuket and Tokyo anyway, you can inquire there (Phuket I think you go directly to the Consulate) and if they let you apply, especially for the student visa, you're in business.

Guess who showed up in HK just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival on Monday (tomorrow). FML. Here's to hoping that a miraculous turn Tuesday-Friday works. Otherwise, it's Phuket. I'm so emotionally burnt-out putting out small-to-medium sized fires that I've reached the point of "que sera sera" on these matters. I'll go down to your people first thing Tuesday morning and see what they say.

I went down to FBT first thing this morning, muscled my way through the crowds of the desperate, and was summarily refused for processing without the JW202 after a look at my passport/docs. This is a kafka-esque nightmare, and it seems that the JW202 doc is de facto required for an X2, at this point.

Next try: Phuket

Hello!

I've visited China many times with a TWOV, and have had two single entries M-visa.
I would like to get a multiple entry M visa for 12 months, and applying in Japan.

Anyone knows if it would be accepted? What condiitons are in place now to get a multiple entry, is one M-visa single entry issued enough to qualify?

Thanks
Mark

What is your nationality?

I think you're going to find the same story everywhere. If you want the X2 visa, I don't know what you can really do except go to the University in person and get the JW202, then exit China and apply. This is going to be disruptive to your current plans and cost some extra cash. The most reliable way is to apply for a Chinese L tourist visa which will enable you to at least get to Kunming and park yourself near the University until they cough up the JW202 and you take physical custody of it. Or, just figure out how to do this course with at least one border-run break in the middle, and get a multiple entry tourist visa.

I think you're going to find the same story everywhere. If you want the X2 visa, I don't know what you can really do except go to the University in person and get the JW202, then exit China and apply. This is going to be disruptive to your current plans and cost some extra cash. The most reliable way is to apply for a Chinese L tourist visa which will enable you to at least get to Kunming and park yourself near the University until they cough up the JW202 and you take physical custody of it. Or, just figure out how to do this course with at least one border-run break in the middle, and get a multiple entry tourist visa right off the bat. Likely you'd be able to do the course without any official authority catching on (or caring).

Note: Recent anecdote from Bangkok suggests that they might now be friendlier to non-resident foreigners seeking Chinese visas without hassles. So you might check into that as well--they are using the China Visa Service Application Centre there now. Doesn't solve the missing JW202 problem though.