Probably not, but why rock the boat?

My son and I just decided to go to China the end of December and I am just beginning to figure out the visa requirements. We are US citizens with no relatives in China. From what I can gather, we will need a single entry L visa with whatever time length available since we will be in the country for maybe a week or so. I have a couple of questions:

* How long does it take for the Chinese embassy/consulate to process our request ?

* My son lives in DC and I in Washington state. I understand that he is supposed to go to the embassy in DC and I use the office in San Francisco. However we will both be together in DC in a few weeks so would they allow us both to apply at the embassy there ?

* Is there any chance we might be refused a visa ? Neither of us have any criminal background or work for any spy agency or anything like that.

* Any other advice appreciated !

Thank you,
Alan

The staff has some discretion, especially in DC, so if I were you I'd certainly apply together, understanding there's a small risk they might get fussy.

Normal processing is four business days, though you can pay extra for speedier service.

You will not be refused a tourist visa; that hardly ever happens unless your name is Richard Gere or such. But it's not rare for an application to get bounced back because it's not been completed properly, so read the instructions carefully.

And apply for the 60-day multiple-entry visa so you don't have to go through this again for a decade. Price is the same for Americans no matter the visa duration.

+1 to what 889 said

@alan, you'll probably figure this out on your own, but the embassy doesn't issue visas; the consular office on Wisconsin ave does.

Use ur sons DC address or they might get fussy. They never check To make sure u actually live there.

I was tempted to suggest the same thing, but DC does tend to be fairly lax wrt the jurisdictional issue in general.

Doesn't it tend to happen with people who work for the news media?

I am submitting my visas for myself, my wife and my daughter. My sister-in-law is carrying them in person to the consulate in NY for us (and applying for hers at the same time). Should each set of documents be in it's own envelope or can they be submitted as a set?

Put anybody going on the same trip with the same itinerary, in one big outer envelope. So if your sister-in-law is NOT going on the same trip with you, then she should put hers in a separate envelope. Make sure that each person's documents are self-contained from the others--paper clip each application by itself along with the relevant passport. Then stack each application bundle within outer envelope. If your passports with finished visas are going to be mailed back to you, make sure you've allotted provision for that. If your sister-in-law will pick up in person, no need.

Thank you @jiejie - that makes sense. One final question because I've seen several answers to this on this forum. In the Intended number of entries box should we check the other box for Visa length and write in 10 Year or should we just check the top box (one Entry box). Ideally we'd like the 10 year visa although we have no immediate plans for more than one trip. The form seems to pre-date the new 10-year visa agreement between China and the US.

Yes, the form has not been updated for this option. In 2.2, check the "Other" box and write in "Multiple entries valid for 10 years" and in 2.5 write "60" which is the default for 10-year tourist visas.

San Francisco Consulate Visit
 

For what it's worth, I flew to San Francisco to drop off my passport and visa application this morning. Opening hours 9:00AM-2:30PM (not posted on their website, that I could find). At 8:30AM, there were more than 100 people in line. Inside, I got number 47 (numbers assigned only to people seeking visas, not to those who are picking up processed passports). Most people spend 10 minutes or so at the window (about five processing windows), so the line moves, but slowly. I was meticulous in preparation, so I was at the window less than 30 seconds.
- Don't include a cover letter
- Don't include hotel reservations (but do include flight reservations)
- Don't include a photocopy of passport information page (as indicated on L visa instructions)
- Don't staple or paperclip anything.
- Check the printed PDF file dates. My birthday was mysteriously "rounded off" to 1945-00-00
- Remember, pay when you pick up the visa, not at drop-off.

On the items I've indicated "Don't include", have copies just in case, but you'll probably save the consular staff from some sorting, detaching and expressions of frustration. There is a copy machine in the office.

Also, watch out for holidays: I'm stuck in SF over the weekend, since the office is closed Thursday through Sunday.

My total time in line and office 90 minutes. Not too bad.

In DC, they definitely want this (as well as copies of previous visas...most recent one or two).

Same in NYC. No cover letter needed though.

In NY they specifically asked for a copy of the passport as well.