You thought 6 hours to

You thought 6 hours to process a tourist visa for China was fast (back in April when we went to Chicago), how about 20 minutes for a work visa? Yeah, thats right, I got a work visa (Z) for China processed in just about 20 minutes here in Hong Kong. Here is the story… As you know from my previous posts, I was missing the invitation letter to get the visa. I informed my company Thursday around 3:30/4:00PM that I needed that document. They checked with the government, and luckily they could get it processed overnight. All I had to do was fax both sides of the “Alian Employment License” that I had (1 of 2 documents issued by the government that is required for a work visa) to my office in beijing, and wait for a faxed copy of the invitation letter the next day. So, the Visa office is open daily 9-12, 2-5. I was told I would probably get the fax around 1 or 2, maybe as late as 3. I thought that was pushing it, but I would try any way. Waiting in my hotel room (I was having it faxed to the hotel), 1pm, 2pm, 3pm (getting very worried), 3:50something, I get a call from the office saying the document was faxed. I rush down to the reception desk to retrieve the fax - it is now 4pm. I had about HK$200 in my pocket (obviously not enough), so I quickly walked (in the direction of the China Resources Building was [where the visa office is]) so I could stop along the way at an ATM. Well, I got money, and I decided to catch a cab as I thought it would be faster than trying to navigate myself around the streets. Well, walking down the road, no available cabs in sight, I find stairs to a pedestrian overwalk (one of the many in Hong Kong), in front of it, a sign to the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre, Immigration Tower, etc… The China Resources building was right next to that area, so I ran up the stairs ….speed walking, navigating around slow old people, business people, beggers with missing limbs, and merchants selling fake goods. I got to the visa office, 4:15pm. Lucky for me, there wasn’t a line infront of the building, a good sign. I go through security, up the elevator, and into the visa processing room. Only a few people were there. I got my number, immediately, one of the windows was free and signaled my number, so I went up to it. I told the officer that I needed a visa. She told me it was impossible as they don’t take applications after 4pm. Well, crap (I was thinking). I said “you know, the problem is, my flight back to Beijing on Sunday”. She asked to see my tickets, which I had, and she went to ask someone in the back. She returned, took my documents (the faxed copy of the invitation letter was no problem), and she told me to have a seat. 20 minutes later (no joke) it was ready! HK$650 later, I had a temporary Z-visa (work visa). Wow, what a day! I think this was the first time ever that I had a HK$1000 bill in my possession (that i got from the ATM). But of course, I didn’t have it for long… So, the moral of the story is: always make sure you have all the necessary documentation. From the beginning, having the necessary documents would have helped, but the plane ticket really saved my wallet (so I didn’t have to extend my into the following week).