Today I applied for a Chinese visa - I took my application in person to the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in xMelbourne.
Below is a list of documents you are required to bring, without them your application will not be accepted:
a) Completed application form
b) Passport
c) Photocopy of passport
d) Flight itinerary into and out of, xChina
e) Accommodation Itinerary for whole time in xChina
The staff check your application and supporting documents thoroughly and ask how many days will you be in xChina. There is a checklist of things they look for - when checking hotel itinerary, she looked for, and underlined, certain words, eg, your name, hotel name, dates and length of stay. Same with flight itinerary.
We struck a bit of a problem - two in fact. Three of my accommodation places were done via email, I had contacted the hostel/hotel directly. The lady was looking for the dates of check-in and check-out. She said where are the dates on here? I had printed out the emails and they aren't as clear cut as booking via a website. I explained I sent the hostels an email asking them to send an email with the check in and check out dates and name of their hostel as I needed this for my visa application. She said they don't use/accept emails for bookings. I asked if this would be a problem, she said she'd go and ask.
She came back saying it should be alright. She also said it should be alright for this time, but next time you must have this - she held up a booking confirmation which had been done online through a booking agency. She then told me it should be alright because I had onward accommodation bookings made through online agencies.
The second problem was with my flight into xChina. I am flying xHanoi to xXian, which isn't a direct flight, necessitating a change of plane at xGuangzhou. The airline cancelled the flight which meant a whole new flight. I showed the original flight itinerary and the new one. The original had the logo, airline name, rules and regulations etc. the new itinerary didn't. I then had to explain the reason for the old and new itinerary looking different. Then there was a problem with where I was flying from - she didn't recognise the departure which is Nội Bài airport at xHanoi.
I was given a receipt and told when my visa would be ready.
They keep all the documents (except your passport of course) so I would advise you to print two copies - one for them, the other for yourself. I know this because I asked. I have spent the past several hours having to find, and re-print everything.
One more thing - they are very thorough and go through everything with a fine tooth comb.
