I have a new teacher from South Africa who was only given a 2 week visa from the Taiwan Office in S.A. So, he needs to make a quick visa trip to Hong Kong while his work permit paper work is being done.
Does anyone know what the current situation is for S.A citizens getting Visas in Hong Kong? Are there any recent changes or problems that he should be aware of?
Is the Hong Kong Visa office for Taiwan still full of ice cold, heartless, harpies that take endless joy in complicating visa applications or crushing your will to live by not giving you another visa?
I would not say they are heartless. More than any other government worker bee whose main concern is not weather you get back to Taiwan or not. Sure, I think some can be mean just out of spite, but I have had some that were very nice and understanding. ( Those were NOT the majority )
I think attitude counts for a lot, and your choice of visa office. I think the HK visa office gets more than its share of English teachers, and I think they are the most jaded.
In the past I have run into the HKG visa office morrons as well. And although I am not on a student visa and do not work as an English teacher, my experiences in the Lippo Centre were nothing to be writing home about in a pleasant way.
Although dressed in a suit (I was in HKG for business), having brought all the documents, and staying polite, I was hassled and asked irrelevant questions. I ended up being given a 30-day without extension; the same I could have gotten simply upon arrival at CKS airport in 10 minutes flat.
Fore the last number of visa-renewals I have used the Taiwan’s Singapore visa office…let me tell you, it’s a world of difference.
Package deals/flights to SIN are about the same price as to HKG,a nd it’s a nice change of scenery with better shopping than in HKG as well. Stay in one of the Hotel 81’s and pay < 1,000 NT a night for a clean room. If you want to stay at the Hilton on Orchard Rd. for about 170 S$ p/n (NT 3,200), please let me know, and I’ll help you with the booking under our corporate rate…
How about the visa offices in Macau or even Tokyo? Does anyone have any relevant information on the situation in either of those cities? Any better than HKG?
I’m pretty sure the TTCO in Macau doesn’t issue visas. At least, it didn’t do that before. There was some fuss about this reported in the newspapers earlier this year. Maybe things have changed now and the office there can issue entry visas for Taiwan?
My addition to the list of hassle-free overseas rep offices would be Kuala Lumpur (not same-day service though). HCM city was good too, but a lot of traffic there owing to processing of Vietnamese brides headed for Taiwan.
Is the Hong Kong Visa office for Taiwan still full of ice cold, heartless, harpies that take endless joy in complicating visa applications or crushing your will to live by not giving you another visa?