Getting the Visa

Getting the Visa

Coming to China. Having concluded our preparations, Zeneta and I were ready to embark on our own trip, separate from Debra's, to China.

Our preparations differed, somewhat, from Debra's. While Debra went through The Buckland Group in her contacting, regarding positions in China; Zeneta and I went though another organization, Global Education Service.

The organization, Global Education Service, made a great point that we needed to insure that we obtained, "Z," visas. These Z visas are the visas that are issued to foreign experts. It turns out that in order to obtain the Z visa, more documentation is required than for the business Visa that Debra obtained.

This documentation issue, eventually, became a cause of much concern in the preparation stage. We had already purchased our tickets and still did not have the Visas. We reached a point in the plan timetable that it was essential that we have the documentation in order to get the Visas at the latest possible date, and the necessary documentation had still not arrived.

At this point, I was finally able to communicate to the person who was arranging the placement, that our plan was reaching a crisis point. We came up with two plans. While the first plan was preferable, due to issues such as travel and cost, the second plan was considered to be doable. Plan A was to continue with the attempts to obtain the Z visa. Plan B was that, in the case of failure of plan A, we would obtain tourist Visas and then travel to Hong Kong; and from there, obtain the Z Visa.

As stated, there was no longer time to wait for the necessary documents to arrive by mail. As a result, we found ourselves relying on scans of documents that are normally presented as originals. I will add that I was not overly concerned with this, as I had seen several people doing just this, on my previous visits to the Chinese consulate.

I started this leg of the trip by riding down to the home of my friend Ken, in Chico CA. I rode my motorcycle to Ken's residence because I had discovered, in a previous visit to San Francisco, that the only way to get around, efficiently and quickly, in that city is on a motorbike. At no time, in any of my visits to that city, did I ever park my motorcycle in a place that was even within sight of a place large enough to park a car.

From Ken's, I contacted Jane, the contact that I had with Global Education Service. As soon as I contacted her, via MSN, she sent me the scans of the necessary documents.

I then printed the documents on Ken's color printer. Ken is a senior field service engineer for a company that sells and services high end color copiers, faxes, and printers; as such, he had access to a very good color printer.

While the print we made would in no way stand to careful examination, it was in no way intended to, it did provide a understandable approximation of the document it was intended to resemble. The other documents that I was using were also printed on a color printer; however, not on one of the quality of the printer that I was able to use at Ken's.

With this document, the Visa application forms, and both passports in my possession; I rode off for the consulate. The ride there was normal and, for any that have entered a major US city during rush hour, not notable in any way.

When I arrived at the consulate, I noted that it was considerably busier than it had been when I went with Debra. However, there was a larger concern; well, two of them, the first was that we would not get our Z visas and be forced to fall back to plan B. The fall back plan was to get tourist visas, "L," visas. Then enter China and proceed to Hong Kong in order to process our Z visas. The second concern was that it appeared that they were not issuing same day visas. If that were the case, I would have to return to the consulate on the next day. Each ride, from Ken's, where I was staying, to the consulate was about 175 miles, each way.

It came to be my turn at the application window and I passed her all of my documents followed by the documents for my wife, Zeneta. The woman in the application desk reviewed them, and then passed them back to me for a minor correction. I made the correction and she continued to process them. Then she told me to return between 9:00 and 15:00 the next day. I tried to plead that it was a six-hour drive. However, this served to no avail and I left the consulate.

It really was that simple. There was no questioning of the documents, even though all of them had, clearly, been printed and were not originals. I returned the next day and picked up the Visas. There were no concerns raised and I left town.

There was one minor issue that has to do with the bridges in the bay area. In the past I had always gone though them during rush hour. During rush hour motorcycles and automobiles with three or more passengers (and other exceptions, buses, clean air vehicles) use the diamond lane. The diamond lane passes through the tollbooths without paying. I was very surprised to discover the gate on the diamond lane to be closed and I discovered that the toll free passage for motorcycles was only during peak hours. It seemed to serve as something of a reverse congestion charge, creating an incentive to travel during peak hours rather than a disincentive.

With my visas firmly in hand, I went to say good-bye to several of my friends in the Chico, CA area. My friend Ken, who I have remained close to since our days at Butte Community College, is also preparing to leave the area for economic reasons, house prices in California are forcing people to leave. As a result, when I return, I will not be able to, easily, visit him. I then visited my friend Scott, also a friend from my days at Butte Community College, where all three of us attended in the 1980's. I then started the ride for home.