good experience

tv2112: Wow, the Chicago Consulate wins 5 stars for their efficiency and helpfulness. Many years ago after waiting in the rain on the sidewalk for over an hour each time, first to submit the application and the 2nd time to pick up the visa, at the San Francisco Consulate, I started using local Chinese owned travel agencies.

You said "next time ......", did you get a one year multiple entry visa? It doesn't cost more money. Even if you go from China to HongKong and want to get back into China the next day, your single entry visa would not work.

Did anyone recently experience applying a visa from the NYC consulate? If so, appreciate sharing your experience. Yelp has a few... not good at all. Thanks.

Yes, I said next time because Chicago wouldn't give me the multiple entry. They changed it to single entry. I wasn't going to argue since they had no obligation to process my request since I was at the wrong consulate.

a little warning, they changed the visa procedures this summer and are slowly implementing them embassy by embassy this year. I wish I could tell you what they are, but my friend in the UK who is currently applying for a visa is having a lot of trouble. She needs an invitation letter from me etc.
It has become quite difficult by now it seems

ChrisAsia Lol. I am fully expecting a fun time with my paperwork in the states. I have already applied for my fiancé visa and they say it takes 5 months. The fun part is she has 3 friends that want to come to the wedding (all from different parts of China). So I will have to write invitation letters for all of them and fill out the Financial responsibility forms stating they will be staying with me etc... I LOVE bureaucracy!!!!! Doesn't matter though. I know it will all work out in the long run.

tv2112: Congrats on getting engaged, Please keep us updated, especially about the "fun part", I am curious and very interested. The invitation letters and financial responsibility forms are for the friends to submit to the Chinese government for the passport, right? And then they need to get a visa from the US embassy or consulate, similar letters and forms are needed, hope you don't experience American bureaucracy, that makes it double trouble!

It seems getting a visa at the NYC office is the hardest... just checked yelp's review of the office ... depressing. I dread going to the office in 3 weeks!

Applied for a China Visa in 2007 at the NYC consulate. Waited almost 2 hours just to drop off paperwork. Took them almost 3 weeks to process, and lined up for another hour just to pick it up.

Applied for another one in 2011 at the LA consulate, but this time used a local travel agency and saved myself from lining up, however paid through my nose for the service and the visa.

I must be a glutton for punishment because I need another visa this year. If I didn't have to help someone out with something in China, I would never go through the pain or get ripped off for the visa.

I've gotten visas elsewhere on the spot after landing in their country for less than $100 always within 1 hour of lining up. Where does china come off thinking they are better than others charging exorbitant fees for their visas. They're just another 3rd world country. And what does whether I have a spouse and what she does for a living have anything to do with me visiting China? A lot of the questions on their application are irrevelant. Must be trying to collect as much info on US citizens as they can for God knows what. /endrant

Anyway, guess I'm going to get ripped off again as there is no way in hell I'm lining up at the consulate.

Ribs - the least painful Chinese visa experience of my life was provided by VisaHQ, as I mentioned near the top. I don't feel like I "paid through my nose", I feel like I got excellent value for the reasonable amount I did pay.

http://www.visahq.com/

thanks, MmePerdu. I saw the recommendations for VisaHQ & mychinavisa. My local travel agent does it for $50 flat per visa without added shipping or processing fee, and I've used them for 5 years, so gonna pass for now, but will definitely try one of the other 2 online visa companies if the travel agency goes bust.

Oh, when I said I paid through my nose, I was referring more to the cost of the visa that Mainland China charges, not the service charge of the visa company. Per their website, (http://losangeles.china-consulate.or...sa/t907679.htm) $140 SINGLE entry for an American versus $30 single entry for "Citizen's of Third Countries." That's almost 5 times more expensive ! The mainland Chinese are obviously ripping off Americans, since I doubt it takes more effort to look at our paperwork than it does other countries.

Ribs, virtually all visa fees take into account what the US charges their citizens to acquire a visa to visit here. It has nothing to do with the actual cost of producing the visa.

"A fee may be charged for issuing a visa; these are often also reciprocal, so if country A charges country B's citizens US$50 for a visa, country B will often also charge the same amount for country A's visitors." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_(document)

ribs, China and many other countries charge Americans what Americans charge their nationals for a visa. So the real problem is that the US charges nationals of other countries such a high price for a visa.

Thank-you for the clarification MmePerdu & Kathie. *sigh* To be American.

Hooray! Got the letter from the National Visa Center. Fiance application is approved and being forwarded to the US consulate in China. Hopefully she is scheduled for an interview soon!

Before the Olympics I was turned down twice for a trip to Yunnan at the SF consulate. I used a travel agent the second time and when they turned me down again he said it wasn't worth a third application. Eventually I got the concierge at the Peninsula in Bangkok to sort it out for me, he sent it off to a visa fixer and within 24hour I had my visa!

Interesting story. Do you have any idea why you were turned down?

tv2112: Great, hope it was less than 5 months.

Kathie: I heard a "visa fixer" in the US say sometimes it's the person's occupation that raises questions.

Could be, journalists, for instance are not welcomed in some countries.

As someone who just completed this grueling process, let me offer one piece of advice to those looking for a reliable visa agency: DO NOT USE OASIS CHINA VISA.

I rarely leave reviews, but my experience with this company was so horrendous I feel it is my responsibility to warn future China-goers to stay away. Especially if you're from the West Coast.

They claim to be able to service all 50 states, but emailed me a few days after I'd sent them my documents stating that they wouldn't be able to submit my visa application, and they wouldn't be issuing me a refund. Their reasoning was that because I am from the West Coast, my visa needs to be processed through the consulate in San Francisco (something I was already well aware of).

I told them that their website explicitly states (on the front page!) that they are able to service ALL 50 states. I was very confused. After an entire week of emailing and calling their office, I discovered that they have some shady arrangement with the consulate in D.C. that allows them to by-pass typical consular policy, and process West Coast Visa applications through the D.C. consulate.

However, there's a new consular, and he apparently doesn't endorse this 'shady arrangement' anymore. But they remained adamant that I did not deserve a full refund, because they "attempted to process" my visa - meaning they took it to the visa office, were rejected, and still charged me the full amount ($220!!!)

I was forced to overnight my documents to a different company (China Visa Service Center - I highly recommend this service, by the way) and then dispute Oasis' credit card charges with my bank just to get my money back. It was a nightmare.

tl;dr: OASIS CHINA VISA REVIEW: AVOID AT ALL COSTS. THEY ARE CROOKS.