I would like to plan a trip to China on my own but have found getting the Chinese visa to be a big hang up. I live about 5 hours away from Chicago and the visa services I have seen charge about $60 per passport to take the application to the consulate (need 2). This is in addition to the visa fee. The Chinese do not accept visa applications by mail. This price seems outrageous to me so I thought I would see if anyone has found a cheaper solution to this problem. I would need the visa in about one month.

The cost of a visa is usually reciprocal between the countries. I don't know how much the US visa costs for chinese citizens, but I'd assume it was close to the charge for the USA citizen to get a chinese visa.

For what it's worth, i got my visa in one day by getting there very early and requesting same day service (additional $30 on top of the visa charge). It was easy but I went before the holidays when it was slow. Other people are reporting that the same day pick up is not an option because there is so much demand right now. Your best bet is the service, despite the fee.

Enjoy your trip.

My method is to go to HKG for a couple of days before heading up to mainland China. It is very easy to get a visa in HKG and it's a really fun place to hang out.

$60 for a passport expeditor is not that bad, there are places that charge more than $100 per passport. Whatever you decide to do, do it quickly-- the turnaround for Chinese Visas in San Francisco can be as much as 6 weeks, not sure what the timeframe is in Chicago. If you really want to be safe, you may have to pay the "rush fee" too.

Incidentally-- don't blame the Chinese consulate for the high fees and "no mail service" policy. They instituted these changes in retaliation for new post 9-11 US consulate policies. Folks in China have to jump through unbelievable hoops to get a US visa.

Yesterday, after perusing other FT threads, I decided to use www.mychinavisa.com, which charges approx. $43 for service and return mailing (using an overnight service) in addition to the visa fee. I'm leaving for China a month from Friday, and felt comfortable enough to use regular processing (the company uses the Houston consulate, which timely turns around visa applications from my previous direct-mail visa experience).

Do I have to use the Chicago consulate since I am in that district? I know some one in DC who could possibly deliver my forms to the Embassy there. Did not know if one could do that (use a different consulate than their district one).

According to their website, its not permitted to go outside your zone. They have a list by state and what consulate you should use.

I guess I am confused. An individual must use the consulate in the district in which they live but a visa service can use any consulate? I agree that in looking at the web site it appears that I should use Chicago.

no

this rule doesn't really apply if you've been to china before.

We need a Chinese Visa for a trip to Beijing on March 25th. However, we have 2 international trips planned prior to that departure. We leave 2/10 for Paris for 4 days and on 2/26 to Marbella, Spain for a week. We return March 6, so we will have 2 1/2 weeks to get our Chinese Visa.

Regarding the previous posts...we live in Minnesota--do we have to get them from a certain office? We booked our flight through NWA. Our young adult children--Silicon Valley residents--will be travelling to Spain as well as the China trip, so will be in the same 2 1/2 week time frame. Should they deal with the San Francisco office directly or use a service? They cannot go to the SF office directly, so would have to use fed ex or a similar service.

If it is allowed to specify, can someone recommend a service for us?

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84246.htm -- this is the chinese embassy page with the instructions for your visa. If you can't go in person, you must use a service.

It indicates that if you use a service, it should be one in your respective jurisdiction.

I didn't use a service (and live in VA besides) so can't recommend one to you. If you google "china visa tourist service" you'll get a whole list, you might want to throw minnesota into that search, as well.

FWIW we just used them and our passports arrived back promptly with no muss or fuss.