| China is a very popular travel destination for | | | | most do have brick-and-mortar facilities throughout the |
| Americans and is the most popular destination requiring | | | | country to process applications. Expeditors provide |
| a travel visa. China visas are required for tourist and | | | | clear and easy-to-follow instructions on their websites. |
| business travel as well as student, employment and | | | | The applicant gathers the requirements together and |
| other long term stays. The bulk of China visas are | | | | uses an overnight delivery service to send the |
| tourist and business, and visa expeditors are the way | | | | documents to the visa expeditor. The expeditor |
| to go when you need to obtain a visa for China. The | | | | reviews the included documents for accuracy when |
| Chinese Embassy website states the following: | | | | the package arrives and submits the visa application to |
| 1. You may submit the application to the Visa Office of | | | | the Chinese Embassy or Consulate for processing. |
| the Embassy or Consulate -General which holds | | | | China visas are issued in one of three available |
| consular jurisdiction over the state where you reside; | | | | processing times (which vary in price); same-day, |
| 2. If you cannot come in person, you may entrust | | | | next-day or four-day (business days only). When the |
| someone else or a travel/visa agent to drop off your | | | | visa is ready, the visa expediting service retrieves the |
| application at the visa office of the Embassy or | | | | documents with the newly issued visa, reviews the |
| Consulate -General which holds consular jurisdiction | | | | visa to ensure it meets the request, and then returns |
| over the state where you reside; | | | | the documents to the applicant. Of course, problems |
| 3. Mailed applications are not acceptable and will be | | | | can arise during processing. Most expediting firms visit |
| returned. | | | | the Embassy or Consulate multiple times per day so |
| Based on the visa application requirements stated by | | | | they become aware of any issues quickly and work |
| the Chinese Embassy, applicants may not mail in their | | | | with the applicant to resolve the matter. |
| applications; they must appear in person or use an | | | | China tourist and China business visas are some of |
| "agent" or visa expediting service. Appearing in person | | | | the easiest to obtain, and this is in part due to |
| at the Chinese Embassy or Consulate offices is | | | | expediting companies. They have simplified the |
| generally inconvenient and time-consuming. If you can | | | | process and are available to help applicants through it. |
| even make it to one of the six offices (located in | | | | With China no longer accepting applications by mail, |
| Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, San Francisco, | | | | expeditors have become the default way to obtain |
| Los Angeles and Houston), the process can take | | | | China visas. |
| hours - and that is just to submit your application. You | | | | Okay, so you are going to use a China visa expeditor. |
| will likely have to return at a later date to retrieve your | | | | Which one do you use? As your humble author is |
| passport with the China visa in it. | | | | somewhat biased, it would be unethical for me to tell |
| Enter the visa expeditors. Dating back nearly 35 years, | | | | you what firm to use (or more importantly what firms |
| this is a growing but still somewhat obscure industry | | | | NOT to use), but use some common sense. Larger, |
| consisting of private companies who will act as agents | | | | established firms process dozens or hundreds of |
| on behalf of the China visa applicant. They work | | | | China visas per week. They have well established |
| directly with the China Embassy or Consulate office in | | | | routines, good relations with the Embassy and |
| order to obtain your China visa in your place. In the late | | | | Consulates and have seen almost every potential |
| '90s, only a handful of firms provided this service; there | | | | problem or issue and know how to work with it. Firms |
| are now hundreds and new companies pop up every | | | | that offer to provide a service for very little money |
| day. The reason for this growth? Expediting is | | | | need volume to get by, but this volume often results in |
| generally an easy service to provide and offers the | | | | a lower quality of service and lack of attention to |
| potential for large profits. CIBT, the world's largest visa | | | | complicated or problematic applications. Expect to pay |
| expediting service, targets primarily large corporate | | | | between $50 and $100 for "normal" processing which |
| travel programs and is estimated to exceed $100 | | | | takes around a week or up to $150 for very fast |
| million in sales yearly, with very high profit margins in | | | | service. Anything far above this is simply price gauging |
| part due to their high fee schedule. Many of the | | | | and preying on applicants that feel under the gun to |
| mid-level companies, such as It's Easy Passport & | | | | get their China visas. The expeditors' fees are in |
| Visa or Travisa, focus on providing a much higher level | | | | addition to the fees charge by the Chinese |
| of personalized service to corporations, travel | | | | government, which at the time of this writing range |
| agencies and the public. These firms can make the | | | | from $130 to $160. You should also expect overnight |
| process of obtaining a China visa much easier than | | | | shipping fees as most expediting firms are |
| attempting the process on your own and generally | | | | uncomfortable using anything other than FedEx or |
| deliver in a timely manner for a modest fee. | | | | UPS. |
| Most visa expediting firms are internet based, although | | | | |