The Trip: Visa problems delay journey two weeks
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Some of you may be wondering what I am doing up at this hour. Perhaps you think I should be getting some rest, because, after all, I am starting a big cross-country journey of China on July 1. And, well, technically it’s July 1.
But I probably wouldn’t get very far without my passport. And some “visa consultant” named Magic has my passport right now. You see, my visa was set to expire on August 30, and I was planning on being somewhere in remote Sichuan at that point. And I’m pretty sure they don’t issue visas there.
So, I had to extend my visa before the trip began. And this process is turning out to be a time-consuming one. I have a Z visa, a working visa, issued to me because of my status as a “Foreign Expert” with Shanghai University. But I no longer work for Shanghai University (I am still coming to terms with the loss of my “expert” status) and, actually, I no longer work for anyone. Freelance writer is just a nice way of saying unemployed.
This caused a problem. No valid contract with a Chinese company equals no more Z visa. I learned this just around a week or two ago. I had figured I could get my visa extended … somehow. You know, grease the right wheels, spread some guanxi. But evidently the Z stands for “zilch” — I had zero good options. My only choices were to get another job — very quickly, and to a company that didn’t mind the fact that I would be out of town until October — or to leave the country, negate my Z visa, and apply for another kind of visa. And receiving a new visa is no sure thing these days for a US citizen. Other countries are ratcheting up the restrictions on Americans in retaliation for all the shit we’re pulling on their people.
Anyway, long story short — and I am being purposefully vague here — I do not have to leave the country, my job title is still Freelance Writer and I should have my new Z visa within 10 working days. There is a good story here, but I will likely wait until I no longer live in China to tell it.
So, the trip will definitely happen. Just hit a little snag. The first of many, I presume.
So the new tentative start date is sometime in mid-July. I will no longer set definite dates for anything. This is China, after all.
NOTE: I am still looking for contacts all over China. Click on the link for the map up above, and e-mail me if you would like to help. See you on the road! (Well, in a little while.)
07.01.2004, 2:19 AM · The Trip
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US Immigration Statistics Study for DUMMY:
Adjustment of Status (US Name of “Changing Visa” has the following characteristics:
Adjustment of status may be slow. For adjustment of status based on employment-based immigration petition (Visa), an average of 1 to 2 years processing time is expected. For example, the processing time in Texas Service Center is about 22 months, California Service Center is about 8 months, Nebraska Service Center is about 19 months, and Vermont Service Center is about 18 months. For adjustment of status based on family-based immigration petition, 3 months to 3 years processing time may be expected depending on the different district office. For example, the processing time in the Philadelphia district office is about 3 months while the processing time in the Houston district office is about 3 years.
Source: http://www.immigrationportal.com/