We were going to leave today for China, postponed until fall. Our current visas will be expired by then. After several futile telephone calls to Consul General (in NY where we got the visas,)we faxed them asking for a courtesy extension due to SARS. Got an email back saying no extensions are given and we must reapply again when we decide to go. On website, the price is now going to be $50, not $30, and no individual can get one by mail. Must go thru travel agent or have relative or responsible person pick it up for you. Visa acquiring agencies usually charge about $20 for their effort. I was so angry that I just wrote a letter to the Consul General and Ambassador of China in Washington stating my feelings, reasons why they should extend a courtesy extension if they want Americans to travel to China when SARS is under control. Don't know if it will do any good, but maybe if enough of us do the same, they may change their policy in this unusual situation. I told them I was sure they would want travel to resume as quickly as possible when things are okay and this would certainly be a good will gesture to get us going there again. Names and addresses can be found at www.china-embassy.org How do the rest of you feel?

I've rescheduled my China trip from April to October, so I am in the same situation as you as far as the visa issue goes. On the Chinese Consulate L. A. web site, it states that the Chinese are raising the visa rates because the U.S. Embassy and Consulates General in China raised U.S. visa fee to $100.00. It sort of sounds like "you raised my rate and I will raise yours." I think this is more of a political issue than just money.

Pat--what tour company are you travelling with? I hope I am going with Pacific Delight! I guess it would be too much to expect the Chinese consulate to extend the visas--we are kind of captive.

They cannot extend your current visa for two legitimate reasons:

1. it doesn't work unless a new type of visa were introduced into the system. Otherwise, you won't be able to pass the Chinese airport bordor control because the system doesn't recognize such a thing as an extended visa. The same holds true for any other country as well. I believe the US overseas consulate won't issue an extention either without a change to the system first

2. For how long the extention should be granted? three month? six months? the problem with SARS is that no one knows

So you just have to reapply at a later time. I think for other countries affected by SARS, it would be the same.

That being said, under the current circumstances, I do think your next application should be free of any charge and you have every reason to ask for that. They can set a cut off date such as the day when WHO issued travel warnings, for such purposes.

Felicia, I am going on a tour with Pacific Delight also, leaving LAX on October 12 for a 16-day tour. I hope the SARS thing will be over by than, I have been planning for this trip for years. Did you reschedule your trip?

The SARS will never be over. The virus is here to stay, just as the AIDS virus. Also, it is highly unlikely that an effiective treatment comes available anytime soon. The best hope is that we can contain the rapid spread of the virus by understanding how it travels and what to do to aviod an infection. In sub-saharha countries, nearly 20% of the population carries AIDS virus but we aren't afraid of visiting there because we know exactly what we should do, or shouldn't do, to stay away from trouble. The scary thing about SARS at the moment is that we know so little about this deadly new virus that causes it.

The Chinese Touristsm Department has ordered all its branches nation wide to do the following:

1. asking all overseas tour groups who have scheduled to come in before the end of May but not yet departed to postpone their travel plans to a later date

2. for all tour groups that are already in China, the following areas will be closed to them: central area, western area, countryside, and Tibet

3. for tour groups that are affected by 1 and 2, a refund should be arranged

As a general principle of 3, since these emergency actions will affect thousands of tourists, I am pretty sure the charges regarding the visa reapplication will be waived.

And I do feel those who are still considering visiting China in the near term should cancel the travel plans as well. You are going to face a lot of restrictions and difficulties inside China and worst still, you are adding unnecessary burdens to the goverment and the people who are fighting very hard to deal with the crisis.

Hello-
Our group was supposed to have gone in April too and we postponed until October. Hmm, hopefully by then it'll be OK. Here's what the Chinese Consulate in Chicago told us:

"If you have been granted a Chinese visa and due to the SARS, you have planned to postpone but will finish your trip by the end of this year, you would be granted a same type of Chinese visa ONCE within the year of 2003 FREE.

Your original payment receipt of your previous visa and a explanation letter are needed."

Their e-mail at the Chinese Consulate in Chicago is:
[email protected]

Tina

Thanks for the info... my travel agent called Pacific Delight and they also heard the rumor. She was told to call back next week and they will have more info. It would be a good public relations move to extend the visas if China wants to maintain the American tourist business. We'll see how it plays out. I certainly won't mind saving the money for new pix and the visa!

When you talk to your travel agency and when your travel agency talk to their Chinese counterpart, the current "end of 2003" arrangement, suppose it is true, is not acceptable. There shouldn't be any date for this matter. The only reasonable arrangement is a certain date after the WHO issues clearance to ALL Chinese cities, be it before the end of the year, or after.

Again, there wouldn't be an extention to your current visa; you have to reapply for a new visa with no charge. No country will issue an extention for its visa outside of its territory, neither will China.

Kang - you seem to be giving us good feedback on the legalities of the visa situation. Where are you getting your information? Do you work in the travel industry or for a govt agency?

Dorhill,

I work neither for the goverment nor for the travel industry. I am a computer professional happening to like travel.

I frequently go read and post on some Chinese travel forums running by young domestic Chinese. Some of my information regarding China was from there. Even though the general Chinese public are very much kept in dark for sensitive issues, the yonger well educated internet generation is in fact very well informed - very often they know more about the world than their peers in the west. There are good chances that this SARS thing would eventually play a very important role in pushing further openning up of the Chinese society.

I don't know how much the Chinese goverment is now telling the truth, or anyone really knows the truth at all. You just have to watch the situation closely. Things may get better, or worse, at this time, no one knows the answer with any certainty.