I got back a few hours ago from the Chinese Consulate to apply for my visa to China and had the most pleasing experience there! I had heard from several people that it would be miserable, that lines are long, that the place is mobbed from the second it opens to when it closes, except for the 1 hr lunch break everyone goes on.
A few days ago I went to the website to find the documents I'd need to fill out beforehand. The website barely works. Literally. Pages either do not load or take 10 minutes to load... even the page titled "Notice about the technical problems of the website" DOES NOT LOAD! I could barely get some of the FAQ pages and even the hours of operation page. For the PDF I needed to fill out, I ended up going to the webpage for a service that does visas for a fee... their page actually works and they had a copy of the PDF file to fill out.
Anyway, the consulate website explains that the office is busiest in the afternoons, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, Monday mornings and basically all other times. I was pretty nervous and decided I'd arrive first thing in the morning - at 9am, when it opens. I obviously slept late, till about 10, because I'm just no good at getting up. I anxiously headed over to 42nd and 12th avenue... so far from anything that no one can hear you scream. Except I guess the Intrepid, which is right across the highway.
I walked into a room like the DMV - windows with the call number on LED signs and rows of seats with people waiting. I picked a number and needed to get my photo taken first. That took about 3 minutes with 2 people in front of me. Then I was ready to sit and wait for 10 hours. There were maybe 50-75 people in the room, waiting, filling out forms. It was not crowded but who knows how long these things take. I figured it'd take forever. Sure enough, though, I looked at my number and compared it to the LED signs... It appeared they had already called me. Was it that fast? So I went up to a window and asked, and the nice lady said "do you have your form filled out" I said yes, gave her my passport and photo and form. In 10 seconds she hands me back a slip and says "pick up on Thursday".
Holy crap that was efficient. This was not the bureaucratic, inept, miserable experience I had nightmares about. It was easy, painless. Thank you Chinese Consulat for starting my day off so well. I can't wait to go to your country and buy pirated goods and spend $3 for a 10 course meal. Can't wait!!
A few days ago I went to the website to find the documents I'd need to fill out beforehand. The website barely works. Literally. Pages either do not load or take 10 minutes to load... even the page titled "Notice about the technical problems of the website" DOES NOT LOAD! I could barely get some of the FAQ pages and even the hours of operation page. For the PDF I needed to fill out, I ended up going to the webpage for a service that does visas for a fee... their page actually works and they had a copy of the PDF file to fill out.
Anyway, the consulate website explains that the office is busiest in the afternoons, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, Monday mornings and basically all other times. I was pretty nervous and decided I'd arrive first thing in the morning - at 9am, when it opens. I obviously slept late, till about 10, because I'm just no good at getting up. I anxiously headed over to 42nd and 12th avenue... so far from anything that no one can hear you scream. Except I guess the Intrepid, which is right across the highway.
I walked into a room like the DMV - windows with the call number on LED signs and rows of seats with people waiting. I picked a number and needed to get my photo taken first. That took about 3 minutes with 2 people in front of me. Then I was ready to sit and wait for 10 hours. There were maybe 50-75 people in the room, waiting, filling out forms. It was not crowded but who knows how long these things take. I figured it'd take forever. Sure enough, though, I looked at my number and compared it to the LED signs... It appeared they had already called me. Was it that fast? So I went up to a window and asked, and the nice lady said "do you have your form filled out" I said yes, gave her my passport and photo and form. In 10 seconds she hands me back a slip and says "pick up on Thursday".
Holy crap that was efficient. This was not the bureaucratic, inept, miserable experience I had nightmares about. It was easy, painless. Thank you Chinese Consulat for starting my day off so well. I can't wait to go to your country and buy pirated goods and spend $3 for a 10 course meal. Can't wait!!
Labels: productive day, travel
posted by Jeffro @ 3:29 PM
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