Pay to Play

[Used to be broken 147]

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2010,1111-chodorow.shtm

Pay to Play? U.S. Consulates in China Require Payment Before Setting Appointments

by Gary Chodorow

“Pay to play” isn’t always fair. Not when politicians request campaign contributions in return for special favors. Not when club owners charge artists up-front fees to perform.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing has announced that effective November 15, 2010, the Embassy and Consulates in mainland China will require payment of the visa application fee (usually 966 RMB/140 USD) at CITIC Bank before phoning the Call Center to make an appointment.

Here’s my initial impression. Probably for most applicants the new procedure is just a minor speed bump. But an applicant with a tight schedule to go to the U.S. may be well advised to avoid paying the non-refundable and non-transferable fee without checking that a timely appointment is available. Do this:

1. buy the Call Center’s special calling card at the Bank or online;

2. then phone the Call Center to check whether timely appointments are available;

3. if so, pay the fee at the Bank; and

4. then phone again to schedule the appointment.

A bit irksome, yes. But even if you take this precaution, between your first call (to see if an appointment is available) and your second (to book the appointment), the available appointment slots may have been used up. You’re out of luck. But thanks for playing.

Applicants who seek “expedited” appointments should also be cautious. Such appointments may be granted if there is an “emergency” justifying moving you to the front of the line. But it’s not clear precisely what constitutes an “emergency” in the eyes of a consular officer. For example, the Embassy’s website mentions “humanitarian” situations involving hospitalized “immediate relatives” (i.e., parents, spouse, and children) but is silent about grandparents, siblings, etc. Nor does the Embassy mention when, if ever, an expedite can be granted for a business emergency. To request an expedited appointment, you’ll first need to pay the fee and book an appointment. Then follow the particular Consulate’s procedures to email or fax in your expedite request. But if your appointment is not expedited, and there’s no more reason to travel to the U.S, the Embassy still keeps your money.

So is it unfair to call this new procedure “pay to play”? The Embassy hasn’t yet explained why the procedure is necessary. (Too many no-shows?) Even if it results in significant cost-savings there should be measures in place to mitigate problems like those described here. And the Embassy also needs to focus on its diplomatic mission. People who feel like they gambled on the appointment system and lost may not feel warm and fuzzy about America.

I look forward to learning more about this new procedure, and I hope that my initial impression is mistaken.

About The Author

Gary Chodorow is the chief representative in Beijing for Frederick W. Hong Law Offices. His law practice focuses on representing companies and individuals in U.S. immigration and nationality law matters. Mr. Chodorow often represents clients before the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China as well as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices here. He also has extensive experience representing clients in Immigration Court, federal courts, and before the U.S. Department of Labor. And he is knowledgeable about the security and export control issues that arise in immigration cases. Mr. Chodorow is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and currently Co-Chair of the Visa Committee for American Chamber of Commerce-China.

[pushbrk 12,881]

It's a visa application fee, not an interview fee. The application has already been submitted online, so it follows you would pay the application fee prior to scheduling an interview. People applying for visas are expected to obtain them in advance of their planned travel. Are these people buying plane tickets without visas in hand?

That said, it's quite common for me to buy my ticket to China far in advance of applying for my visa but I'm confident that the visa will be issued and on schedule. Obtaining a visa TO the USA FROM China is a different matter altogether.

[Sergi9 110]

It's a visa application fee, not an interview fee. The application has already been submitted online, so it follows you would pay the application fee prior to scheduling an interview. People applying for visas are expected to obtain them in advance of their planned travel. Are these people buying plane tickets without visas in hand?

That said, it's quite common for me to buy my ticket to China far in advance of applying for my visa but I'm confident that the visa will be issued and on schedule. Obtaining a visa TO the USA FROM China is a different matter altogether.

I think the issue is, they could have created a system where when you submitted your application you could look at an available appointment calendar and select a date for appointment that worked with your travel schedule. That way if no appointment was available you could cancel submission of your application, since really no application is needed if you can't get an appointment to get a VISA. This would have saved everyone headaches, after all why process a zillion applications if only a million appointments are available?

Apparently it will always be a ####### shoot dealing with US Embassies, but with current technology one would think they could come up with a system that actually made some sense.

[pushbrk 12,881]

I think the issue is, they could have created a system where when you submitted your application you could look at an available appointment calendar and select a date for appointment that worked with your travel schedule. That way if no appointment was available you could cancel submission of your application, since really no application is needed if you can't get an appointment to get a VISA. This would have saved everyone headaches, after all why process a zillion applications if only a million appointments are available?

Apparently it will always be a ####### shoot dealing with US Embassies, but with current technology one would think they could come up with a system that actually made some sense.

The system is designed for "management convenience" rather than "customer convenience". However, because from China, a visa is far from a sure thing, I think it's far wiser to determine WHETHER you will have a visa before making plans. You do that by applying for the visa well in advance of needing it. That is the Consulate's expectation and given that expectation, I'm sure they see no issue at all.

[Darnell 8,478]

Hi ! This 'fee system' mentioned - is not for Immigration Visas, right ?

phoning the Call Center to make an appointment.

That's just not done, for K-1 or CR-1/IR-1/2/4/5

GUZ IV sets the appointment...

Is Mr. Chodorow smoking something?

Edited November 14, 2010 by Darnell

[Darnell 8,478]

will require payment of the visa application fee (usually 966 RMB/140 USD) at CITIC Bank

ah - that's the fee for a tourist visa.

ok - never mind. Mr. C isn't so caring for immigrant visas.

This 'pay to play' was always something to do -

regardless of visa type (tourist vs immigrant vs student vs business)

ie -

you could never get an interview without paying the interview fee, prior, at Citic.

Perhaps Mr. C is really drunk?