Am I the only one???

[se_lang]

Well Thanks a lot guys!!!

 

        I guess I was the only one treated like that! LOL I'll definately be ready next time with a notepad and pen nearby.  I do feel a lot better now that I talked about it......at least I know I wasn't just being oversensitive.  Anyway lets just forget all that and go back to worring about our fiance's coming to America!  I called NVC today to get a DHL number for my information being sent to GZ and they said they don't have that information.  I guess I'll just suck it up and wait.  One question, if you know that Guangzhou sent out packet 3, could you have one already filled out and just send it to them before you even recieve theirs?? HAHAAHA Just a crazy thought! Anything to get a shortcut around this waiting game.

NVC wont have that info try this LINK I did it a couple days ago the guy was a little confused at first but was very helpful.

[Dean Hall]

As Donahso stated, everything can be downloaded, studied, and filled out in advance. Then when P3 arrives, it can be quickly filled in and sent back.

 

As stated, the P3 turn around time is critical to a healthy P4 time.

[tonyontherock]

If you are traveling on a US Passport, you do not need a visa to enter Hong Kong.  If I was treated like that on my return from any one of my several trips to China, I would have gotten his name, and badge # and I would go straight to the Immigration office at the airport to report this persons conduct..

No. That was in 1985, just after the news that Hong Kong will return to China some day. I was carrying a Chinese passport. Drinks were free and they gave me a bottle of wine as a gift. So when I landed in HK I was having a little problem standing up. The require visa going in to HK but not if you go from Shen zhen to HK and then fly out. It was confusing. Any how the customs guy or may be he was a cop accused me of punching him to the ground. I only pushed him and he fell himself. It ended up with me in detention center and they found my knife that I carried on me. Lucky for me I was carrying a diplomatic passport and they asked me what I wanted. I told them I had to sleep. Threw up, slept and woke up and was escorted to China.

The last few trips were ok. Although I always had to wait while they check my name in their computer. I think that they may have a record or something. The mainland does that too each time I land in Beijing, for a different reason.

[tonyontherock]

Ok, I do have to get a visa now going to HK from the Chinese embassy. Not sure if it was because I would be going into the mainland afterwards.

[Orrin]

Personally, I never had any problems getting through Immigration and Customs on my returns to the States. The only questions I was ever asked were "What was the purpose of your trip?", and "Did you have a good time?". I've had more trouble getting in and out of Canada.

 

The only problems that my wife and I encountered were when we were leaving China with her IR1 visa envelope. We had thought that, if we were going to have any trouble, it would be as we were leaving Zhuhai. As it turned out, leaving Zhuhai was the easy part. Getting in and out of Macau, and getting out of Taipei (where we changed planes) was considerably more difficult.

 

It took my wife over 1 hour to clear entry into Macau from Zhuhai. According to her, 3 different Macau inspectors inspected her visa package and asked her countless questions. All of this time, I was waiting at the exit door of the Customs building with the porter we had hired for help with our luggage. The REAL fun,however, began at the Macau airport, where it took over 2 hours to get our boarding passes.

 

There, everyone and their sister wanted to look at, touch, examine with a magnifying glass, and photograph her visa envelope. The ticket agent even called the resident security officer to question my wife and examine her packet. The security officer was even about to open the envelope when I intervened. When we first met the security officer, she told my wife that she didn't speak any English, and the entire conversation, up to the point where se wanted to open the envelope, was in Cantonese. When I protested her attempt to open the visa envelope, however, she broke into almost perfect English with a slight British accent. Getting out of Taipei wasn't too bad. We were only delayed about 10 minutes while 2 gate agents looked over her envelope.

 

When we got to Seattle, I directed my wife to, what I thought was the correct gates, while I cruised right on through with only a "Welcome back home" from the immigration agent who looked at my passport. For my wife, however, It wasn't quite so simple. She stood for over 1 hour in the queue for those with non-immigrant visas. When she finally got to the inspector's gate, they directed her to the queue for immigrants. Once there, it took another hour to get her paperwork processed, and cleared into the country. We were the very last people to leave the entry hall from the 300+ who were on our flight. Luckily, the customs agents never opened any of our bags, and only asked us if we had any "moon cakes" or any other food items with us. They were also very helpful in directing us to the correct terminal to catch our connecting flight to Salt Lake City. I guess that it all depends on whether or not the inspector that you deal with is having a good or bad "hair day."

 

Incidentally, for any of you who are planning a trip to China, be aware of this. The fee for a 90-day, single-entry tourist visa has recently gone up from HK$180 to HK$490!!! At least that's the price at the visa office at the Zhuhai border. I don't remember exactly how much that works out to in RMB, but be sure to change enough $$ before you get there. Otherwise, you might experience some lengthy delays getting into China.