akujunkan: (kisama)
[personal profile] akujunkan
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.

on 2005-04-25 04:29 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] shoebucket.livejournal.com
Contrary to thoughts I've had my entire life - after hearing all of your endeavours, I am never visiting Japan.

on 2005-04-25 09:38 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
But then you can't come see me!! And anyway, this was the Chinese embassy screwing me over. I've never had a problem with my three Japanese visas. ^.^

on 2005-04-25 05:25 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cienna.livejournal.com
I had a similar problem when applying for my visa. The travel agency was under the assumption that all foreigners paid the same amount for visas, so I was also 2000 yen short. Luckily my friend was able to pay the difference for me, so I didn't have to mail them any money. What you had to go through sounds pretty ridiculous, but at least you got the visa in the end!

on 2005-04-25 09:39 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
So how much was your visa? I was told 7000 yen, but now they want to refund 1000. Not that I'm complaining, but I am a tad bit confused.

on 2005-04-25 02:34 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] cienna.livejournal.com
I think for everyone else going (the lucky non-americans) it was 7500 yen and for me it was 9500 yen. Possibly it was more expensive because we got the visas through a travel agent?

on 2005-04-26 01:33 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
Yeah, that'd be why, but ironically, with all the trouble I had getting my visa on my own, it probably comes out to the same cost in the end. :(

on 2005-04-25 12:12 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com
Did you ever play the Infocom game Bureaucracy, written by Douglas Adams? (Ooh, am I ever dating myself. I used to play Infocom games on an Apple IIe.) Sometimes your life in Japan sounds frighteningly reminiscent of that game.

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.)

on 2005-04-26 01:29 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
I hope your SD comes too, because man oh man does Sugiura drop a few bombs for us readers. And once again, her psychology is flawless.

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.

on 2005-04-26 02:09 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com
In case you didn't see the squee post in my journal -- it's here, it's here! I look forward to your insights. ^_^

Have you considered doing summaries of chapters in advance of proper translations? Summarizing is a lot faster than translating, I'll bet.

on 2005-04-27 02:39 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] wrenwyn.livejournal.com
I hate when I can't figure out how to feed my llama!

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!

(=^.^=)

on 2005-05-03 04:19 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
Yes, indeed! Why is it that the more important or urgent the government document, the more screwups are invovled in getting it? I'll have to do a post about my alien registration card sometime - it's earily similar to your passport story. Anyway, glad the lj amuses. Drop in any time!

on 2005-04-25 12:24 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] firesign10.livejournal.com
I can't imagine going through the hurdles and mazes imposed by bureaucracy there! I remember the electric company thing and that was an ordeal in itself. This sure upped the suspense of your trip - "Am I going? Am I not??" Glad it's all worked out now (and hey! a little bit of it back anyway!).

on 2005-04-26 01:31 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] akujunkan.livejournal.com
Yeah, thank you. As of Sunday night, I really thought I'd just bought an expensive piece of paper claiming to be a plane ticket.

And there is a Chapter Two to the electric company fiasco, which I will write up shortly. Stay tuned for that. ::weeps::

on 2005-05-01 08:30 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] ishuka.livejournal.com
err... i hope you have a nice trip to China anyway ^^;;

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