I understand there are agencies in Hong Kong who will do all the waiting,etc. for you. morewierd, I am a little nervous shipping my passport off in the mail. If it gets lost, I won't be visiting anywhere.

Joday,

I used mychinavisa.com as well. I sent it to Chicago using FedEx and simply put a tracking number and insurance on it. With the tracking number it's a lot easier not to worry about it because I could follow it's progress to the courier in Chicago. There is a small amount of risk in letting the little thing out of your hands, but I would consider that a small risk compared to getting all the way to Hong Kong without a visa for China.

Thanks. I have visited their site, and they look pretty efficient. I live in the west, so I guess I'll have to use the Houston office. Thanks for your comments.

Okay, it says on the top of the form it has to be typed, but it is a PDF file, so I can fill it out on the computer.

When you use a visa service, it doesn't matter where you live and which consulate is supposed to serve you. Also, they're idiotic to ask for typed forms only. So far from what I've read on here and other forums, it's not enforced.

We went to Waahington DC to the visa office of the Chinese embassy. There were many couriurs there dropping off and picking up visas. We filled out the new 2 page application [new since the end of June] and there were no questions as to where we were staying or any thing like that anylonger. The older 4 pg apps had many more questions. WE paid an extra $30 dollers each and received our visa the same afternoon. The office is crowded but you take a number and called in order. We were able to answer any questions and found it easier to accomplish that we anticipated. The visa office in Wash. DC also has a place to take your photos in case you forgot. Our visa is goiod for one yr. and up to 3 visits.. We were not asked about any other type though I read about the 90 day 1 visit visa. It may have changed.