Tourist Visa

Due to popular demand (when you're a high-profile blogger with a following of nine, the demand of one constitutes "popular," right?), I have conceded to doing a series of Visa How To posts for purposes of international compare and contrast.  Also, as the other eight of you may have noticed, I haven't been able to post all that regularly lately.  Unfortunately, our connection seems to have been especially tricky lately.  So, the visa posts are something I can easily write up without a good connection, then just transfer to the site - when I'm able to pull it up - and post.  I might even manage to get an entire two posts up this week (no promises)!  So, here, in all its glory, are the steps I took to get a short-term Chinese tourist visa just over a year ago.

How to get a Chinese Tourist Visa in 30 Easy Steps

1.  Schedule a vacation for mid-October.
2.  Find out the Chinese consulate no longer accepts mail and must receive the visa application in person.
3.  Find out the nearest consulate is roughly a four hour drive away in Houston.
4.  Defer to your frequent traveler friend's judgment about which agency to use to get the visa.
5.  Learn that the agent's courier will be vacationing and unable to deliver the application to the consulate.
6.  Contact an old friend living (somewhat) nearby the consulate and ask her to drop off the overnighted passports and applications during her lunch break.
7.  Receive call from distraught friend who has been waiting in line for about two hours with no end in sight and must return to work.
8.  Find out consulate is closed all weekends and holidays, at least the first few days in October*, and for all but two hours every afternoon.
9.  Freak out a little.
10.  Request personal day from work.
11.  Drive to Houston at 3 am in order to be first in line at the consulate (and hopefully be able to return the same day).
12.  Get lost in downtown Houston.
13.  Find consulate and begin the quest for parking.
14.  Find spot and walk to the consulate.
15.  Wait in line.
16.  Go through security.
17.  Take a number.
18.  Wait in line.
19.  Approach window with documents and hope for the best.
20.  Find out you may pick up documents after 1:30 pm, when consulate reopens.
21.  Find a way to kill about 3 hours without getting (too) lost again.
22.  Return to consulate.
23.  Wait in line.
24.  Go through security.
25.  Take a number.
26.  Wait in line.
27.  Receive documents.
28.  Double check documents.
29.  Triple check documents.
30.  Drive home to pack.

If you plan to get a visa during any other time (with the exception of Spring Festival, which is usually in late January/early February), you should probably not have any trouble just using an agent to take care of the process for you.  Please keep that in mind as I know many of you will be preparing your visas to come visit me soon.  You know you want to.

Full details about the current requirements for obtaining a Chinese tourist visa are available with the US Dept of State (http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1089.html) and the Chinese Embassy (http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/ywzn/lsyw/vpna/).

Information about the process for my work visa and resident permit will be in a following post.

*National Day Holiday - as a tourist trying to get a visa it's no fun, but as a teacher I love that this country takes a week to celebrate a day.