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[North China Laowei]

Effective as of April 28, 2008, same day visa issuance in Hong Kong, either through an agent, or directly at the Visa Office, is no longer available. The MINIMUM turn-around period for all visas is now 24 hours.

Additionally, whereas the "F" visa had been previously available to businessman on sponsored trips to the PRC (which replaced the old "F" easy-to-obtain visa), the "F" visa, as of April 28, 2008, has been basically suspended in its entirety.

For those of you in or around the Greater Shanghai area who require tourist visas with extensions to tide you over through the Olympic period, there appears to be one small window still open.

Read here:

http://www.visainchina.com/faqs.htm#q7

Mind you, however, you should expect to pay premium prices for visas during this time, whether it be through an agent or at the Visa Office itself -- anywhere from 2x to 6x the normal cost.

Additionally, if you are from the one of the thirty-three scheduled countries for non-issuance of a visa, there is not much hope, short of returning hope to obtain a new visa (L).

[andrew_gz]

Thanks for your efforts to keep the board informed.
Cheers,
Andrew