Chinese consulate retreats and reopens online scheduling – 03/10/2023 – Panel SA

The Chinese Consulate in São Paulo backed down from the decision to cancel online visa scheduling and decided to reopen the procedure.

The resumption takes place after applicants began to form queues at dawn at the door of the organ in the capital of São Paulo in recent days to try to make an in-person appointment. This Thursday (9), the consulate released a new list of guidelines in which it states that the online system for applying for visas has been reopened and that it will increase the number of service spaces, previously restricted to 30 people per day in person.

As shown by Panel SA on Tuesday (7), companies that need to send their professionals on business trips to the Asian country are concerned about the bottleneck in releasing documents. The problem started earlier this month, when the São Paulo office suspended online scheduling.

“As the number of visa applications continues to increase, in order to better meet the demands of visa applicants, the Consulate General will further streamline the application process and related requirements for China visa applications,” says the new announcement.

The change was received with relief among immigration companies, which are experiencing a surge in demand for corporate travel to China after a long period of suspension of the freeze on flow in the pandemic.

“This measure has an immediate impact on Brazilian business. When a company is going to plan new businesses, it takes into account the amount of bureaucracy that the project involves. And the immigration part, visas, is the first bureaucratic barrier. If this problem if it persisted, we would certainly see companies needing to review their strategic plans. Almost every day, we receive new clients who did not pay attention to these procedures, made contacts abroad, and even booked trips without knowing about the bureaucracy to get a visa. A simple electronic scheduling changes the direction of a negotiation”, says Diana Quintas, partner of the Fragomen immigration company in Brazil.

Joana Cunha with Paulo Ricardo Martins It is Diego Felix

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