Job Discussion Forums

[nomadic_meow]

I landed a fall job in PRC, but by the time everything was set, I was leaving Georgia. So the university is going to send me a letter of invitation at an address here in Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, I'm working along the Caspian Sea, on the opposite side of the country from the Chinese embassy in Kaz.

My current employer needs to fly me out of Kaz. briefly to renew the Kazakh visa, and they want to fly me back to Tbilisi. So I am wondering, does anyone know if it is possible for an American citizen not living in Georgia to get a work visa at the Chinese embassy in Tbilisi (using a letter of invitation addressed to me in Kazakhstan) ?

If so... Bonus if you can tell me how fast the Tbilisi embassy could do it.

[dean_a_jones]

The letter itself states which country the application is to be made in, I believe. So I don't believe you can do it elsewhere.

Am sure someone else will confirm this.

[nomadic_meow]

Thanks.

It sounds as if the university is hinting at something like that too, but their communications are not always crystal clear.

Now that you replied that way, I bet you're right too.

[Sumbo11]

I got my Z-visa in Tbilisi to work in China. I don't know how important the address is for the letter of invitation.

Assuming your documents are in order, I think you can get your Z-visa the next day for a fee. US citizens also have to pay more than other nationalities for some reason.

[Toast]

If the invitation letter specifies the visa needs to be collected in Kazakhstan I highly doubt they'll let you have it issued in Georgia. Between former Soviet bloc state bureaucracy and the PRC's love of paperwork and confusion you're likely going to find yourself banging your head against a brick wall.

[nomadic_meow]

Sumbo, I'm curious...

Were your invitation papers addressed to a different Chinese embassy (one somewhere else), or did they say you would pick up the visa somewhere else?

[nomadic_meow]

So the university says the letter is addressed to the Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan.

The liaison for the univ. said he's actually not sure if it is usable elsewhere or not.

[Sumbo11]

Honestly, I don't recall if it was addressed to a specific embassy. I don't remember ever telling my boss what embassy I wanted, and Ankara and Istanbul were an option for me as well. If I had to gamble, I think you could use the papers elsewhere.

Maybe you should give the embassy a call? Also keep in mind the embassy in Tbilisi is open only certain days of the week for visa processing.

[nomadic_meow]

The letter itself is formally to the embassy in Kazakhstan.

It all turned out kind of moot, as it didn't even arrive here until after I had returned from Tbilisi. But I also didn't have the opportunity to test it in Tbilisi, had I wanted to.