A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)

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Lotus Eater

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #105 on: June 02, 2008, 12:30:10 AM »
Sorry - I was being facetious about the number of Chinese consulates in the USA (reminder to self - yet again - use smilies!! llllllllll).  I was questioning the convenience for USAnians to get to a consulate to have face-face interviews for their visas - which is what they wanted this particular university professor to do - even though he had been to China twice in the last 3 years for conference attendance.

Previously I understand you could post the visa application - same as in Oz.

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Shroomy

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #106 on: June 02, 2008, 12:55:02 AM »
A flight to apply for a visa in person will now cost most people at least 600 USD or well into the 1000's for an unscheduled trip.  Do you think it was him or new policy?
Back home and still confused about what the locals are saying.

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Lotus Eater

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #107 on: June 02, 2008, 12:58:22 AM »
May never know the answer to that one - but he had invitations to attend the conference and be a keynote speaker, and been here before and is part of a International Advisory Board.

Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #108 on: June 02, 2008, 02:38:14 AM »
One of the high-powered boffins planning on coming to China for the conference I am at, couldn't get a visa  from the Chinese embassy in the US.  You can no longer just send your visa application in with the money.  You must go in person!!  How many Chinese consulates are there in the US?

I'm pretty certain that when I first came, in 2003, I had to go in person too.
It is too early to say.

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Ruth

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #109 on: June 02, 2008, 04:03:01 AM »
When I first applied in 2003, I could have done so by using a proxy company to go in person to the consulate for me.  Someone, didn't have to be me personally, could have taken my passport and application form.  We didn't trust these companies and we were on a tight time-line, so flew to Houston, spent a couple of days in a hotel and carried on with our journey to China.

Houston was a long way from where I lived and it wasn't cheap flying there, either.  Majorly inconvenient, but part of the price of coming here to live and work.
If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.

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icebear

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #110 on: June 02, 2008, 04:37:46 AM »
I used a visa agent in Washington DC in 2006, as did my 3-5 friends that have come in the last two years for work or travel. Adds about $50-100 depending on the rush, and is well worth it in my opinion. I seriously hope this is still working this summer as I'm planning a trip back home for 2-3 weeks in early July and will need to renew then. Having to fly from Alaska down to San Francisco would be a serious bite in the ass. Is it possible for an American to apply in Vancouver? I know normally ok, but what about currently?

More pressing at the moment:

After a recent business trip to Europe I went in with my landlord to register. They told him he's not allowed to register me?! Had no problems last fall when it was his buddy behind the counter, but now everyone is going by the book and apparently he was missing some key piece of paper. He's a friend of a friend and I'm assured he's scrambling to rectify the situation, but in the meantime I'm unregistered! How to I go about fixing this? A friend proposed I register into one of his empty rooms, which is fine with me, but what paperwork would I need to bring? Advice appreciated...

Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #111 on: June 02, 2008, 05:50:47 AM »
After a recent business trip to Europe I went in with my landlord to register. They told him he's not allowed to register me?! Had no problems last fall

Exact same situation in Beijing for me. Im leaving my room tomorrow (Tuesday), and the cops dont want a foreigner to finish my lease. Which is annoying as i had found an American friend who was interested. Apparently its too much hassle for the police to register my friend this time round. It was no problem, to register me in October and then again in January.  asasasasas asasasasas llllllllll llllllllll

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icebear

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #112 on: June 02, 2008, 06:18:31 AM »
You were forced to move out? So you're just getting a new apartment on the fly? A still unregistered?

My problem is my visa expires in August and I'm hesitant to sign a new lease until I have a new visa in hand. Trying to explore my options.

Yes, it is shaping up to look like quite the hard rain.

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AMonk

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #113 on: June 02, 2008, 07:52:00 AM »
You were forced to move out? So you're just getting a new apartment on the fly? A still unregistered?


No, Icebear.  James-the-Brit is going home, moving on.  Before his apartment lease expires.  He has someone willing to take it over (so Landlord won't lose cash), but the PSB (who have to know where every foreigner is housed) won't OK the swap of round-eyes.
Moderation....in most things...

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Lotus Eater

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #114 on: June 02, 2008, 01:59:13 PM »
There is a Chinese consulate in Brisbane now so it is easy for those people to go to there aand get a visa.  But when I came the only place was Canberra, so I sent my visa application by mail, plus money, and they sent it back in a week or two. No interviews.

Don't know if has changed now - but Oz is a big country and there aren't so many consulates.

Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #115 on: June 02, 2008, 02:05:54 PM »
I don't understand why PSB won't OK it. Perhaps cause the other flatmates are Chinese? Otherwise I don't know anyone who's had a problem registering in an apartment they rented.
I am moving out of mine in July before my lease is over (and rent I already paid till mid-August) and if my LL ok's it, I 'll help her find someone instead of me.

Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #116 on: June 02, 2008, 11:57:49 PM »
Yeah Im leaving my flat to go traveling and then back to Singapore. Im not getting the boot from my room. The estate agency is very happy for me to stay in my room  uuuuuuuuuu, as i pay more than a chinese person would. Well thats what my flatmates say. I am the only waiguo in the flat with 11 chinese flat mates. Yes, thats eleven.

The problem seems to be with the cop shop. 

Not getting my deposit back either.  asasasasas

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Lotus Eater

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #117 on: June 03, 2008, 12:15:39 AM »
You are clearly NOT in the category of "I will NOT share an apartment".  ahahahahah

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icebear

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #118 on: June 03, 2008, 05:31:35 AM »
Problem with mine is the landlord might not 'legally' own the apartment, that is have the official paperwork for it convenient. He said he could rustle it up but like most paperwork in China it takes some guanxi and work which slows the process for a measly reason like a foreigner like me. The problem is I get free rent more than half the time, nice apartment, will be seriously bummed if I have to move out during the Olympic frenzy.

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Raoul F. Duke

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Re: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall... (THE VISA NIGHTMARE!)
« Reply #119 on: June 03, 2008, 10:04:35 AM »
I'm tired to death and won't go into as much detail as I'd planned, but I found a look at some Chinese Consulate web sites to be interesting. You can find links to purty much every damn Chinese Consulate in the world in one of the entries of our Links page.
NOTE THAT THESE RULES AREN'T CONSISTENT...THEY VARY FROM ONE CONSULATE TO ANOTHER, EVEN IN THE SAME COUNTRY!

From what I saw:

- Looks like application by mail is history. No mas. They claim it's a post-9/11 anti-terrorism move.

- Looks like you can still have someone else you trust with the personal info and a Chinese visa application form set ( aoaoaoaoao ), like a friend, family member, travel agent, etc. can still apply on your behalf, so you may not have to actually go there yourself. axaxaxaxax

- The Chinese Consulate in HK is apparently now issuing visas ONLY for HK residents.

- The issue of re-entry and renewals remains cloudy. SOME TYPES of visa can get a limited number renewals fairly easily, but the Consular sites are all pretty quiet about this beyond saying it's basically at the discretion of the Consulate officials.
God help us. aoaoaoaoao  Got the impression that having compelling, demonstrable reasons- in advance- will help a lot with these.

- Visas other than 1-monthers or contract-bound Z visas are pretty much extinct except for some special cases such as students or spouses.
Oh, to be a student again... llllllllll
Again, sometimes there is hope of getting at least one renewal fairly easily.

- This may be the scariest one of all. It may seem hard to believe from the careful, diligent, efficient Chinese, but some of the info on these Consulate sites is...DODGY! aoaoaoaoao  Obviously goofy, and/or directly contradicted on other Consulate sites...or sometimes even within the SAME site. For example: Some Consulate sites tell you that if your plans are extended from what you originally planned and filed, the best thing to do is nip over to HK and get a new visa. At the same time, the Consulate in HK is now stating clearly that they only do visas for Hong Kongers, and gweilo shouldn't even think about  trying to come there to get a visa.
So, do your homework well. Even if the textbooks given you to study from are wrong. llllllllll

James da B-man and Ice-B, sorry to hear about your situations... alalalalal

Icebear say:
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Yes, it is shaping up to look like quite the hard rain.
Sho'nuff. What scares me is that I strongly suspect that an awful lot of expats here- and a lot of Chinese schools- still have little or no idea what's really coming towards them...
"Vicodin and dumplings...it's a great combination!" (Anthony Bourdain, in Harbin)

"Here in China we aren't just teaching...
we're building the corrupt, incompetent, baijiu-swilling buttheads of tomorrow!" (Raoul F. Duke)