afadfiofieadiblargh!!!
Apr. 25th, 2005 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
As I'm sure all of you know, I'm going to China. This requires a visa. Having no desire to take time off of work, I looked into applying for said visa by mail, which is possible through the Nagasaki embassy. I got the information; my traveling companion Andy had a Japanese friend look into the particulars. We applied for our visas together at the beginning of this month.
Andy received his visa two weeks ago, although he didn't actually have it delivered until sometime last week. I did not receive my visa. Once Andy put two and two together about the mysterious missed delivery slips he'd been receiving for a week, I put two and two together about the mystery phone calls I'd been receiving throughout the same period. (I usually don't answer unfamiliar calls because of the possibility of billing scams.)
Sure enough, it was about my visa. It costs $50 for British citizens to apply, but $70 for American citizens. I longed to be angry at Andy for not thinking of this, but the fault is all mine, because I was perfectly happy to let him do the application legwork at the time. It was eight days to departure and no visa for me. I asked the woman on the phone if I could send the remaining $20 to her by bank transfer. I could not.
I emailed Andy to get the information our Japanese friend had sent him about the application process. He didn't respond for two days. Only he had, but he'd been sending short texts, which my DoCoMoFo cell phone cannot receive. I applied anyway, crossing my fingers that I was sending the money to the right division. It cost $15 to overnight the $20.
I had to work Saturday, so I received Monday off as a replacement holiday. I'd meant to get up and cracking, but 11:00 found me still lolling around in bed when the doorbell rang. Hoping against hope, I sprang up, threw a robe over my pjs and answered. Hallelujah! It was my passport (with visa), and thanks to the kindness of fate I was at home to receive it.
The COD charge was $9.50. I'd spent over $25 in total on mail order fees to apply, but dammit, I had it.
I opened my passport to gaze upon the glory that was my Chinese visa, the source of all these troubles, to discover a nice, handwritten note to the effect that visas for American citizens are actually only $60, and could I please tell them my bank information so that they could send the remaining $10 to me by bank transfer?
They must be taking cues from my electric company.
Oi.
That will be all.
Andy received his visa two weeks ago, although he didn't actually have it delivered until sometime last week. I did not receive my visa. Once Andy put two and two together about the mysterious missed delivery slips he'd been receiving for a week, I put two and two together about the mystery phone calls I'd been receiving throughout the same period. (I usually don't answer unfamiliar calls because of the possibility of billing scams.)
Sure enough, it was about my visa. It costs $50 for British citizens to apply, but $70 for American citizens. I longed to be angry at Andy for not thinking of this, but the fault is all mine, because I was perfectly happy to let him do the application legwork at the time. It was eight days to departure and no visa for me. I asked the woman on the phone if I could send the remaining $20 to her by bank transfer. I could not.
I emailed Andy to get the information our Japanese friend had sent him about the application process. He didn't respond for two days. Only he had, but he'd been sending short texts, which my DoCoMoFo cell phone cannot receive. I applied anyway, crossing my fingers that I was sending the money to the right division. It cost $15 to overnight the $20.
I had to work Saturday, so I received Monday off as a replacement holiday. I'd meant to get up and cracking, but 11:00 found me still lolling around in bed when the doorbell rang. Hoping against hope, I sprang up, threw a robe over my pjs and answered. Hallelujah! It was my passport (with visa), and thanks to the kindness of fate I was at home to receive it.
The COD charge was $9.50. I'd spent over $25 in total on mail order fees to apply, but dammit, I had it.
I opened my passport to gaze upon the glory that was my Chinese visa, the source of all these troubles, to discover a nice, handwritten note to the effect that visas for American citizens are actually only $60, and could I please tell them my bank information so that they could send the remaining $10 to me by bank transfer?
They must be taking cues from my electric company.
Oi.
That will be all.
no subject
on 2005-04-25 04:29 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 09:38 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 09:39 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-26 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 12:12 pm (UTC)I never did finish the game, because I couldn't figure out how to feed the llama in order to get my mail.
Glad you got your visa and are off to China soon!! I just hope my SD comes before you have to leave. (It's been disgustingly late recently... twice I haven't gotten it until the very end of the month. The lateness seems to be directly proportional to how much I'm looking forward to the next chapter of G-Defend.)
no subject
on 2005-04-26 01:29 am (UTC)I wonder how much of my visa troubles stem from the current unrest between China and Japan. Except for the abovementioned Andy, just about every friend I have who's going to China has had visa trouble, compared to those who went a few months ago and had none.
no subject
on 2005-04-26 02:09 am (UTC)Have you considered doing summaries of chapters in advance of proper translations? Summarizing is a lot faster than translating, I'll bet.
no subject
on 2005-04-27 02:39 am (UTC)Akujunkan: I'm a friend of S-chan's and Firesign10. I've been sneaking peeks at your journal from time to time and am enjoying your posts! The one about Japanese toothpaste was a hoot.
Anyway, your woes in getting your visa were enough to make me nervous for you. I don't think I would have been able to remain as calm as you did.
A few years ago, when I was getting ready to go to England, I applied for my passport. I think it was 8 months in advance so I had plenty of time. The first time they sent it to me, my last name was spelled incorrectly. I was going to leave it, but thought better of it when I had a nightmare that I couldn't come back home because my last name didn't match my charge cards.
The second time they sent it back, they had fixed my name (I was happy to see) but deleted my address. At this time I had to go have my pictures retaken because they didn't have them on file any longer. The third time they sent it back it was because my photos were too dark and they couldn't tell I was me. By this time, to say I was upset was an understatement. I finally did receive a corrected passport -- two weeks before my flight. I can tell you, I was sweating!
Here's to getting what we need, when we need it!
(=^.^=)
no subject
on 2005-05-03 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-25 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2005-04-26 01:31 am (UTC)And there is a Chapter Two to the electric company fiasco, which I will write up shortly. Stay tuned for that. ::weeps::
no subject
on 2005-05-01 08:30 am (UTC)