A lot of people are asking about requirements to obtain a visa for China this summer. I thought my experience this week might be helpful information to some. I would only apply this info to US citizens obtaining a visa. As well, it appears that different consulates are interpreting the new rules differently. Indeed, at the NEW YORK CONSULATE where I was, it seemed that different agents at the windows were applying the rules differently. I'll simply state the facts here and you draw your own conclusions.
Firstly, I tried many times to phone the NY consulate (and could never get through) to find out exactly what constitutes proof of airline or hotel reservation. My tour company had told me it had to be hard-copy from the airline or hotel and notarized. This scared the heck out of me but I was dubious that this was true.
I arrived at the consulate at 7:45 a.m. where a line was formed on the street waiting until they opened. They opened the front door at 8:30. We were asked to show our passports at the door. After a security screening with bags getting 'x-rayed' and a metal detector, we filed past the ticket machine and were given a number. I got #17. We took seats and waited for the windows to open at 9. The person on each side of me told me it was their 3rd trip here to obtain the same visa. One of them said on his 2nd trip he was rejected because he only had an airline e-ticket and not a paper ticket. My stomach turned then, as I only had email confirmations for everything - airlines and hotels.
I was up at the window at 9:50 a.m. I presented 22 pages of documentation, including a photocopy of my prior 2001 visa, bank statement, email confirmations for all flights and hotels, detailed itineraries, and letter from my ex-employer documenting my retirement (if you're employed I'm hearing they want documentation showing you have vacation time approved). I clipped together all the flight confirmations and labeled them on the front with a post-it note saying 'flight reservations'; and did the same with my numerous hotel reservations, and put my 3 different itineraries together (5 days traveling alone, 13 days with a tour company, and 10 days with a different group going to the Cultural Olympiad). The embassy site says to insert all your paperwork in the blank pages of your passport, but that won't fit though the slot in the window anyway. The agent checked the visa application over carefully, thumbed through all the documentation quickly. She pointed out that I had put on the application 'Yunnan province', but not listed the cities there. She wanted it listed just as it asks for it on the application - all provinces and all cities within those provinces. Luckily she gave the form back to let me write in the city names (thank god they were all in my head). Then she gave me the slip I needed to come back later and pick up the passport. I spent only about 3 minutes at the window overall.
The form says to come back after 2p.m. to get your passport. At 1pm the windows open again following the consulate's lunch break. So I got in the pickup line at 1:15, and lo and behold, my visa was ready. I was out of there just after 1:30. It's possible that if I had gotten a higher call number the visa would not have been ready early - but I don't know for sure.
My tips: especially if you're coming from a distance to the embassy -- if you think they might want to see it, bring it. Too much documentation is better than missing something that causes you to have to come back another day. I imagine it helped that I had everything organized, categorized and marked (but can't say for sure). Perhaps a glut of paperwork makes it less susceptible to scrutiny - I can't say for sure. 2nd tip: the second floor is where Chinese citizens go for their passport paperwork; whereas all chairs on the 1st floor were occupied and many people standing for hours, I went upstairs to read a magazine where chairs were plentiful and it was blissfully quiet.
