China Visa Service - Has anyone used it?

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CamH

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Topic # 230265 15-Feb-2018 19:53

Has anyone ever used chinavisa.co.nz? I'm heading to China late next month and the thought of showing up at the Visa office at 7am in Auckland just to ensure I have a position in line is not at all appetizing.... Is there any other alternative that I should consider? I think I'd rather spent the extra money than all the time!

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Reply # 1958767 15-Feb-2018 19:53

Allow me to introduce you folks to our new travel community: TravelTalk NZ.

We hope to see you there!

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sbiddle

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Reply # 1958772 15-Feb-2018 19:59

Why is it so bad in Auckland? It's never been bad in Wellington.

All you're doing is paying $40 for somebody to process it for you. Why not just courier them your passport and pay the $15 courier fee?

Dairyxox

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Reply # 1958791 15-Feb-2018 20:47

Ive done the one in person, at the Embassy in Auckland. Its not bad, except parking can be a wee bit of a hassle. I've heard clamping is popular now. But that is probably normal for most of Auckland now, or so it seems in the media (I'm not from Auckland).

Beccara

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Reply # 1958794 15-Feb-2018 20:54

You have to turn up with China or atleast you did 18 months ago for business and multitrip visa's. Auckland wasn't bad if you get there at 7am, We waited I think 90 minutes. You have to pay attention as they give you about 10 seconds when they call your number

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vexxxboy

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Reply # 1958797 15-Feb-2018 21:05

my son just couriered his passport and bank cheque with his visa application to the the embassy with a paid courier return envelope enclosed , the good thing about that was he could see that they had received it and that they had sent it back. We found that the Wellington office was very good and did everything in the time frame they said they would.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

CamH

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Reply # 1958799 15-Feb-2018 21:20

I didn't actually realize I could courier it. I'm going to do that instead I think!

Last time I applied for a Chinese Visa, I showed up at 10am. No parks. Had to park 2km away and walk. Got to the embassy and there were no more available "tickets" that day. Came back the next day, but I had to leave at 6am, and by the time I got there at 7:15am I was lucky to get a park and I was about 20-30 deep in the line. Swore I would never do it again!

vexxxboy

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Reply # 1958802 15-Feb-2018 21:41

CamH:

I didn't actually realize I could courier it. I'm going to do that instead I think!

Last time I applied for a Chinese Visa, I showed up at 10am. No parks. Had to park 2km away and walk. Got to the embassy and there were no more available "tickets" that day. Came back the next day, but I had to leave at 6am, and by the time I got there at 7:15am I was lucky to get a park and I was about 20-30 deep in the line. Swore I would never do it again!

just make sure you send it to the right embassy ,eg: if in Auckland , dont send it to Wellington and make sure you include the return courier envelope filled out with your name and address , they wont do it for you.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

sonyxperiageek

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Reply # 1958846 15-Feb-2018 23:38

Oh man, they are ridiculous, especially the embassy in Auckland. We literally had a full on argument with them because they had updated some stuff recently, but didn't match up with what their website said because it was "last updated in 2013"...

Don't even get me started on the parking issues. Never again.

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sonyxperiageek

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Reply # 1958847 15-Feb-2018 23:41

sbiddle:
Why is it so bad in Auckland? It's never been bad in Wellington.

All you're doing is paying $40 for somebody to process it for you. Why not just courier them your passport and pay the $15 courier fee?

It's definitely not just $40... For a single entry into China with an NZ passport, it now costs $140. $210 for Double entry...

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yitz

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Reply # 1958848 15-Feb-2018 23:51

Maybe staffing is low due to Chinese new year holiday.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1958856 16-Feb-2018 07:15

sonyxperiageek:
sbiddle:

Why is it so bad in Auckland? It's never been bad in Wellington.

All you're doing is paying $40 for somebody to process it for you. Why not just courier them your passport and pay the $15 courier fee?

It's definitely not just $40... For a single entry into China with an NZ passport, it now costs $140. $210 for Double entry...

No.. It's $40 for the 3rd party Chinese Visa company to submit your Visa - which is rather pointless when you can just courier your passport and pay $15 to get it couriered back to you (or it seems based on comments above just include a prepaid courier bag). Like 3rd party sites that offer US ESTA applications they're just acting as middle man and making money off naive people.

freitasm

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Reply # 1959021 16-Feb-2018 11:05

The Consulate in Auckland. The Embassy is in Wellington...

I handed my passport to the Chinese Embassy, with no queues, a few years back. I was told it could take a week to ten days. Two days later they call to say it was ready.

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billgates

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Reply # 1959029 16-Feb-2018 11:10

My friend recently went to South Korea via China and got a visa for China for 1 day to look around there. He couriered everything to Auckland week before his flight and paid for the urgent Visa priority which I think was only extra $50? and his passport with Visa was returned to him 4 day later.

Do whatever you want to do man.

CamH

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Reply # 1959030 16-Feb-2018 11:10

freitasm:

The Consulate in Auckland. The Embassy is in Wellington...

I handed my passport to the Chinese Embassy, with no queues, a few years back. I was told it could take a week to ten days. Two days later they call to say it was ready.

They're super efficient once you get your documents in... it's just getting the documents into them that's the pain.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1959042 16-Feb-2018 11:15

billgates:

My friend recently went to South Korea via China and got a visa for China for 1 day to look around there. He couriered everything to Auckland week before his flight and paid for the urgent Visa priority which I think was only extra $50? and his passport with Visa was returned to him 4 day later.

Why? Did they not have a passport eligible for a transit visa? Providing you're in the country for under 72 hours and not returning to the same location (ie flying through the country) you can get get a transit visa on arrival.

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