China Visa

So today I finally got my China visa, though people weren't kidding when they say it's quite a hassle. The first time I tried to drop off my passport and application was on Wednesday, after I had spent a good amount of time thoroughly reading through the Chinese Embassy's website. I studied the requirements, made sure I got every little piece, and even tried to visit at the recommended non-peak hours (of course I didn't get up early enough, but it didn't matter, when I got there, there was no line anyways).

The lady at the window looked through my paperwork. Passport? Check. Application? Of course. Passport-sized pictures? Yes. Plane ticket? Enclosed as well. She eyed me closely a few times. Then she pushed all of my documents back to me, and said that I still need to show documentation for a hotel reservation. I protested that I was not staying at a hotel; I was going to visit a friend. She responded that in that case, I would need an invitation letter from my friend.

So Wednesday night, I had my friend in Beijing write me a letter and email it to me. I printed it out, and on Thursday, I once again set off for the embassy to try my luck a second time...

Once again, everything went smoothly... until the invitation letter. This time, the woman at the window frowned. "This is a copy," she stated matter of factly, "and we do not accept copies."
"But my friend is currently in China! It would take some time to get the actual document!"
"We only take actuals or faxed copies," She added, tersely.
"Fax copies?" In my disbelief, I had to check twice. She nodded.

Defeated, I headed out of the embassy somewhat annoyed. They accept fax copies but not printed copies? What kind of logic is that? Don't they look exactly the same except fax copies are slightly less readable?

I was not immediately sure what my options were. I did not own a fax machine, and would have to designate one for my friend to send to. In addition, I don't think my friend has a fax machine either, and since Beijing and New York are 12 hours apart, that probably means one of us has to be up in the middle of the night trying to send/receive this fax. Clearly, this was not ideal.

However, another idea struck me. I took a bus back to the Times Square area, and asked around until I found a Staples. I checked with the store clerk, who said that they can accept faxes, and gave me the fax number. Next, I found a Fedex Kinko's around the corner, and set my brilliant plan into motion: I would fax my copy of the invitation from Fedex to next-door Staples!

The copy came out, the only difference major difference being that it was slightly harder to read, and there was also a line on top which said "FAX" and had a timestamp. With renewed energy, I marched back towards the embassy for a third time, and successfully submitted my paperwork without further incident. Indeed, perhaps even if they knew how I obtained my fax copy, it wouldn't have mattered. After all, I had provided what they had requested, they had abided by their strict but silly regulations, and no one was any worse for it. And it's not like I forged the invitation letter, right? Utterly ridiculous regulations should be handled via utterly ridiculous workarounds.