Applying for a Chinese visa in the UK - new procedures?

[roddy]

Haven't seen this mentioned before, I think.

The Chinese embassy in the UK seems to have set up an independent company to handle visa applications - there's an announcement here and the website for the new set-up is here. This service incurs a fee but at 30 quid + VAT it's not far off what visa agencies charge. You can, if you want, still go to the embassy and apply - but you are meant to book an appointment online - here.

Anyone used this new service? Seems like they're setting up a commercial company to cut out or compete with the traditional visa agents. The agents can still operate, but with the new service being linked from the embassy site, I'd imagine they'll lose a lot of business.

[adrianlondon]

So, the standard £30 visa cost will double to £60 (as the new visa service costs £30).

Currently, you can still get visas from the embassy as you say but their website warns that this is a temporary measure while the new visa office settles.

Edit to add : Also, unlike the visa agencies, you still need to go to submit your application and return later in the day to pick it up (or opt to have it posted back to you, probably at a £5 charge).

[roddy]

This seems to handle postal applications.

Having a look at the embassy's appointments system - nothing available for two weeks.

[889]

The outsourcing of visa processing -- at applicants' expense, of course -- is becoming common.

The Indian High Commission in London now does this:

http://www.hcilondon.net/visa/OutsourcingOfVisaApplications.html

As does the British Embassy in Bangkok:

http://www.vfs-uk-th.com

In many places, like China, the US uses a private firm to schedule visa interviews:

https://www.usavisainformation.com.cn/eng/index.aspx

[anonymoose]

I've used the new postal service. I applied for an X visa and was phoned up saying I needed to provide the medical form in addition to all the other documentation I had provided. I booked an appointment with the doctor for a few days later and literally 30 minutes before I was going to leave, I received another call saying the embassy had for some reason now said I didn't need the medical form after all. A few days later I received my passport back with the visa, without any other hassles, inspite of all the current fuss over visa issues.

The cost is £65.25 (£30 for the visa fee, and £30+VAT for the service), but then you are also supposed to send the passport by registered delivery and also include a stamped registered delivery envelope for the return post which in total cost another £10 or so. So the total cost comes to about £75.

In comparison, I live on the outskirts of London, so can take the London Underground to get to the visa issuing embassy place. The underground ticket is about £10, and the additional fee on top of the £30 for the visa for same-day issuing is £20, so the total cost for getting the visa in one day comes to about £60. But then you have the hassle of standing in a queue for several hours, and before the new appointment booking system, still ran the risk of being turned away if you didn't reach the front of the queue by closing time. So it is still cheaper to go in person to get the visa, but for the additional £15, you can save yourself all the bother and do it by post.

真烦人。

[jbradfor]

£65.25 is still cheaper (well, about the same) than the standard fee for US citizens to get one in person. Take a look at the difference in price for different citizenships, scroll down to the price table: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84246.htm

[but who's bitter....]

[johnmck]

If you are French and for some reason do not qualify for the US visa wavier program then a US Visa costs $131 and you need to pay $14 just to book your interview!

[A life of study]

Although it seems outrageous to require visa applicants to use the services of a private company, doubling the fee, China has probably done this because the UK has done this. See http://www.vfs-uk-cn.com/visafees.aspx for the Visa Application Centre in Beijing and its outrageous charges. You have to go through this Visa Application Centre, and the fee for the standard visa at 945 yuan, works out at well over 60 quid. Even to transit through the UK, which should be free, is 655 yuan!!! 45 pound!!!

[roddy]

Completely randomly, I happened to come across this - apparently you can hand over visa applications at the UK branches of the Bank of China, in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. There is a London office, but that's not mentioned, perhaps the embassy and their handling center has the monopoly there. Anyway, might be useful for someone.