New Passback Procedure

January 25, 2008

The U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai is pleased to announce the latest improvement to our visa processing procedures.  In order  to offer  more expeditious service to residents of Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, beginning February 18, 2008, all successful U.S. Non-Immigrant Visa applicants at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai will pay the China Post Courier Service fee at the designated window within China CITIC Bank Shanghai CITIC Square Sub-branch.  This CITIC sub-branch is conveniently located at 1168 Nanjing West Road, just across the street from the Consular Section.  This procedural change will create additional space in our visa interviewing area and allow more visa applicants than ever to be interviewed each day.  This latest change has been adopted to facilitate the positive and growing trend of legitimate Chinese visitors to the United States for the purpose of business, study, tourism, and more.

In order to facilitate payment for this service, all visa applicants will receive a China Post mailing label upon payment of the visa application fee at any branch of China CITIC Bank (Click here to view the China CITIC Bank branch's info) within the Shanghai consular district.  Prior to the interview, this mailing label must be filled out completely (Click here for sample) and submitted with other application materials.  Successful applicants wishing to track the delivery of their passports are encouraged to make a record of the mailing label tracking number prior to their interview.

For applicants who are approved for a U.S. Non-Immigrant visa, the interviewing officer will provide a green slip to the applicant providing payment information and directions to the China Post Courier Service located in China CITIC Bank - CITIC Square Sub-branch.

The U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai places a high priority on the efficient processing of the rapidly increasing number of U.S. visa applicants in the East China region.  The United States welcomes Chinese visitors to the United States and continually looks for measures that will ease travel to the United States for foreign guests while also adhering to relevant immigration and security requirements.  According to Consul General Kenneth Jarrett, “This change will allow us to increase our daily capacity for visa interview appointments to meet the increasing demand we have for non-immigrant visa services.  We continue to have an excellent working relationship with China Post and CITIC Bank, as both have proved reliable and efficient partners to speed up processing and visa delivery services for our valued Chinese travelers.”

Applicants qualifying under the "Frequent Traveler" program (limited to applicants whose visas have recently expired within the previous 12 months) with CITIC Bank will pre-pay the courier fee upon submission of a visa application to CITIC bank for facilitated visa interview appointments and delivery.  Information about who can qualify to use the "Frequent Traveler Program” can be found on the consulate’s website at http://shanghai.usembassy-china.org.cn/drop_box.html

At the same time, the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai and China Post have simplified the delivery charges for visa courier services, allowing for easier payment and delivery.  In order to provide this improvement of service, China Post will allow one passport for envelope.  Applicants will be charged RMB 25 per passport for Self Pick-up at designated post offices, or RMB 45 for Door-to-Door Delivery.