Waiting Game

164_6445-4.JPGI’ve mentioned it a couple times, but the reason we kind of rushed to get to Hanoi is to get our China visa. China has long been part of our itinerary and our flight home this summer is out of Beijing. We never thought it would be a problem to get into the country until recently though. From our research, it seemed that China has always offered tourist visas from 30-day single entry to two-year multiple entry visas. It turns out that their consular information is misleading; its rumored that most of the visas don’t even exist, while the max that most people get is anywhere between 30 and 90 days. Not that matters too much though, as we were never planning to stay 90 days. But with the Olympics coming up, they’ve clamped down on visas in an unprecedented way.

There is total confusion around the world regarding the visa situation. Some departments are saying that there has been no policy change, while other have issued press released detailing the new restrictions. The European and American Chambers of Commerce have lodged complaints with China, and even the Australian Prime Misnister Rudd has commented on the situation. Besides not being able to obtain anything more than a 30-day single entry visa (which basically eliminates HK from our itinerary :( ), visa applications must have R/T air and hotel bookings attached. And while every citizens of every nation on earth pay ten to thirty dollars for a visa, Americans must pay 130 for any visa! Even for a transit visa! Some Chinese embassies and consulates have stopped issuing visas altogether and some will only issue to residents of that country. Most are just plain inconsistent, which unfortunately happens to be the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi.

Yesterday, I went to the embassy to pick up the forms and ask exactly what documentation I would need. I spent a large part of the day getting everything together. This morning we arrived before it opened and were one of the first in the door. We saw a few other westerners picking up their passports while we anxiously waited. Once at the counter, the clerk looked over our papers and passports and then asked us what we were doing in Vietnam. We told him we were traveling here on a tourist visa, to which he replied we’d have to apply for a visa in America. Only Americans working here can get visas here. And that was the final verdict. Despite the fact that I’d seen how many other backpackers picking up their visas the past two days and despite the fact that yesterday they explained to me what I’d need to bring when I applied today. Most travel agents won’t even attempt to get a China visa for us because of all the hassle that it involves, but we found a couple that would try to get one from Saigon for a fee. So we handed over our passports and will have to wait a week to see if we’re going to China.

This whole thing has been incredibly frustrating, which is why I’m writing this ventful post. The Chinese government does and says a lot of weird things, but this is the first time I’ve had to deal with the giant machine personally. Information and explanations are difficult to get and rationality is absent. I’m mostly upset that we cannot go to Hong Kong and we’ll have to wait in Vietnam for two more weeks before we can enter China. Well, technically, we can go to Hong Kong and get another visa or we can enter China earlier and extend our visa once there. But since China seems to have issues with Americans, it’ll cost an additional 130 USD (260 for both of us) for either option, while any other nationality in the world would pay 30 USD max. Anyways, now we wait.

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