Hooray to the Chinese embassy

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I'm all set with the visas to China. Yes, exactly, it's visas, the multiple. With my Russian passport, I need a visa to enter China and another one for Hong Kong. Both visas are issued by Chinese embassy, but mine had a slight complication.

At first we thought that getting the visas would be a piece of cake. We gave it to some random shop in China town who ran to New York with our passports to get the visas. We both got the Chinese visas alright, but my Hong Kong visa was missing. The reason: the consulate did not know how to deal with Russian passports. What? It's like you go to a dentist, who drills a big hole in your tooth and then says 'Sorry, don't know what to do next'. And we already had our tickets set to fly back from Hong Kong.

Some research showed that it's really hard to get any information about the Hong Kong visa on the web since Chinese embassy really doesn't have anything on the topic. It appeared that the Hong Kong is not only a separate territory, but also has separate immigration institutions. So, they recommended to send my passport to Hong Kong. Right. It also appeared that Russia is one of few countries not allowed to enter Hong Kong without a visa.

After that my passport traveled to Texas and visited Houston consulate 2 times. Just searching on the web showed this agency that specializes in visas - Passports Plus. I've never heard about them, but they turned out to be exactly what they promise. They called me multiple times, reported an issue with my visa, ran to the consulate twice and eventually got me my passport with the visa and all wrapped up in a plastic case with their ad all over the case. Good job! On a side note, Chinese visa really did not require anything except of the will to travel to China. Hong Kong visa required all this crap about me that really showed that there is no way I could get a visa to Hong Kong if I lived in Russia.

Worries are now behind, my passport is stamped with 2 good looking Chinese visas, and I'm all set to go.

Katya

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Photos

My passport
My passport is back from the visa agency all wrapped in anew plastic cover with the ads of the agency all over it.