RE: Visas and Costs

OK. That may be the case, so I checked the Chinese Consulate in Houston and San 
Francisco, as well as the Chinese Embassy (in addition to Chicago). All four 
list multi-entry visa for 6 or 12 month without additional conditions. Note 
that 6- and 12-month duration are the only ones available for selection in the 
application form anyway. The explanation (such as at 
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/, then select "Chinese Visa" on the left menu, 
then "Chinese Visa", then "Business (F) Visa" ) does list 24-month multi-entry 
visa as being available for any individual under certain conditions such as 
having made an investment in China, or having been to China on "F" visa at 
least twice before. Maybe that's what John had in mind.

While it may indeed be better off working with a visa service if one is not 
close to a Chinese Consulate, or doesn't have the time, etc., we shouldn't let 
it come across as harder than it really is.

Thanks,
Jerry (my own opinions/experience in the US. YMMV.)
--
Jerry Huang, AT&T Labs, +1 630 810 7679 (+1 630 719 4389, soon)
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew G. Malis [mailto:agmalis(_at_)gmail(_dot_)com] 
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 4:15 PM
To: HUANG, ZHIHUI (JERRY), ATTLABS
Cc: John C Klensin; Ole Jacobsen; IETF-Discussion list
Subject: Re: Visas and Costs

There are multiple Chinese consulates in the US, and each one seems to
have its own rules regarding visas. So it really pays to work with an
experienced visa service.

Cheers,
Andy

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:38 PM, HUANG, ZHIHUI (JERRY), ATTLABS
<jhuang1(_at_)att(_dot_)com> wrote:
> John,
>  I'm commenting specifically on your recollection of China requiring
> people having visited China before it would consider a multi-entry visa.
> It doesn't appear to be true - if it was true before. The visa
> application form I downloaded from the Chinese Consulate in Chicago
> (just now) lists choice of visa types and number of planned entries to
> China on page one while the question about whether one has visited China
> before is on page two of two pages. I could not find any indication that
> the stated condition was implied.
>
>  I applied for and received a one-year multi-entry visa last year not
> having visited with a new US passport.
>
> Thanks,
> Jerry (my own opinions, not my employer's.)
> --
> Jerry Huang, AT&T Labs, +1 630 810 7679 (+1 630 719 4389, soon)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org 
> [mailto:ietf-bounces(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org] On Behalf Of
> John C Klensin
> Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 12:29 PM
> To: Ole Jacobsen
> Cc: IETF-Discussion list
> Subject: Re: Visas and Costs
>
>
>
> --On Monday, September 21, 2009 10:10 -0700 Ole Jacobsen
> <ole(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com> wrote:
>
> > Just a couple of comments regarding cost and visas, speaking
> > from  personal experience.
> > ...
> > Visa:
> >
> > If you are a US citizen, the visa fee is $130 here in the US.
> > For  non-US citizens, the fee is only $30 :-) However, be very
> > careful  about visa validity. As a Norwegian citizen, I can
> > (in San Francisco)  only get a visa that is valid for 3
> > months, single entry, but the  clock starts on the day it is
> > ISSUED, not, as one might expect, when  you arrive in China in
> > spite of the fact that the form asks when you  will be
> > ...
> > Depending on where you are from and where you apply,
> > multi-entry visas  for a year or even more may be available.
> > Express service (1-2 days)  may also be available for a fee,
> > but in June in San Francisco, this  was NOT available and the
> > process took a week. All these are things to  watch out for
> > especially if you travel a lot since of course the  consulate
> > or embassy will hold your passport while processing the visa
> > application.
> Two additional observations may be useful.   In the US, someone
> must appear in person at the embassy or consulate -- there is no
> mail-in service, at least for US citizens.  In practice, that
> means that if one is in a city with a consulate (or close to
> one), one has to use a visa service as an intermediary.  Their
> fees can easily exceed the visa fees themselves unless one works
> for a company that has a special deal with one of them.  More
> important, they often require far more documentation than the
> embassy nominally requires, presumably to be sure that they have
> what they need if the embassy (or local consulate) starts asking
> questions about the traveler.  That additional documentation may
> include confirmed flight or hotel reservations, letters of
> endorsement or guarantee (in addition to meeting invitations,
> etc.).   So, especially if one cannot appear in person, one
> should get started early or be prepared to pay even higher fees.
>
> If I remember correctly from the embassy's web site, part of the
> documentation requirement for a multiple-entry visa is previous
> visits to China and associated visas.  I.e., if you haven't had
> at least a couple of single-entry visas, there is no point
> thinking about a multiple-entry one.
>
>     john
>
>
>
>
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