Partner
Business Visa
Reciprocity Program 17 December 2008
Member companies who currently participate in the AmCham-China Business Visa Program may use the AmCham business visa programs in Guangzhou and Shanghai for their direct-hire employees. Under the new reciprocity program, an AmCham-China member company with an office in Shanghai or Guangzhou may arrange for expedited visa interviews for their employees there by contacting AmCham-China.
As the visa referral programs of the Embassy and the two Consulates have some differences in terms of who may use the program, appointment reciprocity will be offered only to the subset of applicants that the three programs share: a direct-hire employee of a company that is a member in good standing of the Embassy's Business Visa Program, the Guangzhou Consulate's Business Visa Program or the Shanghai Consulate's Corporate Visa Program, and who is working and residing in another Consular district. (Example: a direct hire employee of company XYZ, which is a member in good standing of the AmCham-China Business Visa Program, who is working in a subsidiary sales office in the Guangzhou Consular district.)
Below is an explanation of how the reciprocity program works:
1. If a "reciprocity" appointment is needed, the corporate member contacts AmCham-China to request a referral to the AmCham corporate visa program of another Consular District. (Example: Company XYZ, a member of the AmCham-China Business Visa Program, contacts AmCham-China to request that a referral be made to the Guangzhou AmCham for an XYZ direct-hire employee working in a subsidiary sales office in Guangzhou.) The company provides all contact details for the individual wishing to make an appointment. AmCham-China members are invited to contact Caroline Wang at cwang@amchamchina.org with their reciprocity requests.
2. AmCham-China checks to ensure that the company is a member in good standing of the Business Visa Program.
3. AmCham-China produces a standardized referral letter and sends it to the receiving AmCham requesting that they make an appointment for the individual.
4. The receiving AmCham contacts its Embassy/Consulate visa referral program staff to ensure that the appointment is allowable. (In general, corporate entities ineligible to be members in the local AmCham, suspended from the local corporate referral program, or denied membership to the local visa referral program within the last twelve months will not be allowed to make appointments through the reciprocity system. Individuals denied non-immigrant visas in the last twelve months will not be allowed appointments through the reciprocity system.)
5. The receiving Embassy/Consulate should respond within two working days to the local AmCham to indicate whether the appointment is allowable.
6. The receiving AmCham will notify the applicant whether his/her request to use the reciprocity program has been approved. If the request for an appointment is approved, the applicant contacts the receiving AmCham to make an appointment for the individual through their regular processes.
7. The individual pays the standard fee of RMB500 for "reciprocity" appointments to the receiving AmCham and prepares all paperwork required by that visa referral program.
8. The individual appears for an interview at the receiving Embassy/Consulate.
9. Feedback is provided to the sending AmCham and/or Embassy/Consulate by the receiving AmCham and/or Embassy/Consulate if the applicant is denied a visa or if serious questions arise during the interview.
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