anacapamalibu

Is falsifying a document to obtain a visa to a foreign country a crime in home country? Have not heard of that.

Since China is a recalcitrant country do they refuse to accept nationals with US deportation orders for visa fraud?

889

It's expensive, but a British citizen now normally gets a two-year multiple-entry visa with a stay of 90 days per visit, if applying in the U.K. at least. Not sure whether these are handed out in Hong Kong.

TravelDream

I was told at the Chinese consulate (well, it's not a consulate but..) in Hong Kong that they didn't give multi-entry tourist visas to first time applicants under any circumstances.
Otherwise, I would have applied before.

According to the website, for a UK passport holder the fee for a 12 month (that's the longest they have on the prices page) multi-entry visa is 2170 HKD - Around Ł230 - lots of money.
For my other passport a 24 month visa costs 800 HKD - Ł85 - still a bit, but more reasonable.

Also, my British passport only has a few blank pages left. My other passport in brand new.

Loren Pechtel

We get 10 year visas but we pay a lot more for them. Good for us frequent travelers (I'm married to a Shanghainese) but a bad deal for most tourists.

rivlinm

Bit of an update from my visa saga:

The director I spoke with was sympathetic of my story, but still wasn't willing to go above and beyond as I would expect.

He offered to refund the remainder of the fees for my Russian Visa (Now totally free - Wish I had splurged for the 3yr multi entry!!!)

I hinted that I wanted my travel costs covered and wanted to avoid any legal mess, but he said he would need permission and couldn't promise anything. I sent a follow up saying he should refund the ~$550 in fees for my travel partners for their Chinese visa if that would be easier than approving funds for my travel. I never got a response, but the funds were refunded.

Still not happy with the agent and how they are treating me, but I think it is time to cut my loses for the moment.

Here is what I plan to do and I would love to hear everyone's input.

Since Russia visa was free and I'm +$550 on my China attempts, I will not fly to IAH to try a third/fourth time. (they likely know my case and it's doubtful it would turn out well) I will instead mail to SFO and pay $239 and apply as a brand new applicant. I know there is a risk there, but with some house money to play with I feel it is worth a shot. If I succeed, I win! If no visa, then I must spend ~$300 for an alternate flight out of PEK and wont be able to take the train as I hoped.

I plan to apply with my previous employer (whom I still do contract work for) and a simple SFO>PEK>SFO flight path.

Any other suggestions?

moondog

I would use DC instead of SF because SF is more anal and DC can issue visas to people in any jurisdiction.

Try giving oaisis a shot. They are just upstairs from the visa office, and I know they are tight with the visa people (e.g. if you want to make copies of your documents, the visa people now direct you to oaisis @ $0.50/page).

rivlinm

Update:

So I didn't follow Moondog's advice and went with SFO, but it was a quick success. CVSC was great and updated each step of the way. Moral of the story is keep the info very simple (as I should have known) and don't use Travisa!

10y visa after 4 attempts and 2 months!

One other question. On my first visit I will be entering with my mother who will be using TWOV, my stay will also meet the requirements of TWOV and I think it may be best to stay with her in the same line. Should it be a problem to enter with TWOV evening though I have a valid visa?

jiejie

1) Congratulations on finally getting what you should have gotten in the first place without all the troubles you were put through. CVSC (mychinavisa.com) is indeed good.

2) You need to decide ahead of check-in if you are going to use your visa or if you are going to TWOV, as the airline will communicate this status on the passenger manifest to Chinese Immigration and you need to follow through with this. If you decide to TWOV, you need to fill out the arrival card (given out on the flight) for Transit and NOT put down your visa number. Then you can stand in the TWOV queue with your mother (who I assume has no Chinese visa). However, if your mother is physically/mentally able to tolerate your absence for awhile (though you would be in visual contact), I suggest you use regular queues for visa-entry while she uses TWOV. Whichever one of you gets through first can wait beyond the Immigration desks for the next one to get through, then proceed together to Bag Claim/Customs Exit area.

rivlinm

She is fully able, just figured being with her could help if something came up (call me paranoid after all this fun..) but if it is within sight, I won't worry and will just use the visa that I worked so hard to acquire!

davetravels

Hi, all!

Just bought a <VERY cheap> ticket to PEK for a 5 nite trip in mid-April <and UGed to Delta One lie-flats all the way via GUCs! Yay!>

I HAVE been to China before - Shanghai back in 2008 - and I got caught up in the newly initiated paperwork nightmare related to the Olympics (& posted somewhere about it).

1) The old visa from 2008 is in an old, expired / canceled passport. The glue isn't sticking any more, so, the visa is an un-attached sheet of paper. I called a month or so, ago, and was told that it doesn't matter any more whether or not I have been to China before, and that I should just apply as if it's my first time. Would I be equally as likely to be granted a 10 year visa if I do this? Also, I really don't want to get caught in a lie. Any suggestions?

2) I'll be applying in person at the NYC office - the same as I did in 2008. I was told when I called, that, the MINIMUM time - even with the express fee - is, 2 business days, and the soonest it would be ready would be the third day, so, I would need 2 hotel nights in NYC. Does that sound right? Other posts here seem to say different.

3) Does anyone know how long the lines get at NYC? I'm flying in the night before from MEX, so, I plan to get there as soon as they open, but I don't know how the lines are these days. It'll be next Tuesday morning.

4) I'm a little worried about how fussy new the picture requirements are that are mentioned in the other thread. Any thoughts on the best way to go about this to get it right the first time?

I'll probably think of a few other thingz.




A side note: When I did this in 2008, I wanted to go to the Washington DC visa office, but, I was told that I couldn't, since Pennsylvania is under the jurisdiction of the NYC office. I was also rejected in Berlin. Other posts here seem to say differently. Has it changed?

Thanx in advance for all your collective wisdom!

moondog

Photo copy the old visa, and include it with your new application.

Second day, and even same day, service is often available, but not always (i.e. this isn't something they promise because backlogs can make it impossible for them to fulfill).

It's been a long time since I've applied in person in NY, but Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my favorite days to visit PRC government entities.

There was a thread here a month or so ago (which, might have been merged into this thread) on this very topic. Someone recommended a visa photo app, which seemed like a good solution to me.


In my experience, DC is willing to issue visas for people outside of its jurisdiction, but I certainly don't advise you to bank on this.

JPDM

If going to NYC is a detour for you and involves some expenses, there is nothing wrong in using an agent. Most are good.

cxfan1960

My family never visited the SF consulate. We (except for me who is holding a HRP) have been using agents in SJC to handle Chinese visas for us. In my old company, my colleagues used a firm contracted by the company to handle all passport renewals and visas, including Chinese visas.

I also think that OP should consider that handled by an agent. It will cost only about 10% of the 2-day expenses in NYC.

davetravels

Well, first of all - - Ya never need an excuse to go to New York, ya know?!?

Second, it really isn't costing me any hard money. The stopover on the way back from MEX is free. I have a lot of hotel points, so the room is free.

I'm doing one night on the way back from MEX to drop off the the application, then a separate one night trip 10 days later to pick it up. So, it's only costing me 15,000 Delta miles for the second round trip from PIT/LGA and some hotel points - AND - it'll be some fun days of shopping, and nights of NYC night life!

moondog

FYI, you could always ask someone else to pick it up for you. Pickups actually don't take more than 10 minutes IME. Most visa agencies also offer this service in isolation for about half of their normal fees.