校園生活:中國赴美簽證之痛

The Chinese put up with a lot living in the world's most populous country: standing on over-crowded trains for 40 hours; sleeping outside hospitals to secure a doctor's appointment; waiting more than a year to earn a driver's license.

生活在世界人口最多的國家裏，中國人需要忍受很多事：在人擠人的火車上站40個小時；睡在醫院外只爲能掛上號；等一年多時間纔拿到駕照。

Add getting a U.S. entry visa to the list.

現在，得在這份清單里加上獲得美國入境簽證。

Applicants here have waited as long as 60 days to secure an appointment at one of five U.S. consular locations in Chinathat process visas. There, they're often greeted by long lines, followed by a face-to-face interview that can end badly in a matter of seconds.

申請者在五個能處理簽證的美國領事館前等待60天才能預約成功。在這兒，他們經常排着長隊，一個挨一個去面試，幾秒內就可能失敗而歸。

"I wish there was a way to improve the system," said an aircraft parts manufacturer from central China who said his business deal in the U.S. was delayed for two months as he and four co-workers waited on their visas. "It would benefit both countries," said the man, who gave only his last name, Ren. "Right now it's very aggravating."

只肯透露自己姓任（Ren）的商人說：“我希望能有個法子來改善簽證系統，這對中美兩國都有好處，現在這個過程很讓人惱火。”這位中國中部地區的飛機部件製造商說他在美國的生意耽擱了兩個月，因爲他和四個合作伙伴都在等簽證。

For the most part, U.S. officials agree. Recognizing the potential boost to American businesses, the newly installed U.S. ambassador to China, Gary Locke, has pledged to make reducing wait times a priority.

美國官方也意識到這對美國貿易提升有幫助，新上任的美國駐華大使駱家輝承諾要優先減少簽證等待時間。

"We know that if we want to strengthen our commercial relationship with China and create jobs in America that we need to make it easier for Chinese businesspeople and tourists to travel to the United States," Locke said in a speech last month in Beijing.

駱家輝上月在北京一次演講中說：“如果我們想加強同中國的貿易聯繫，併爲美國人民增加新的工作崗位，我們就需要簡化中國商人和旅遊者的赴美程序。”

Tougher visa procedures since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have cost the U.S. an estimated $606 billion in spending from visitors from China and elsewhere, according to the U.S. Travel Assn. Had growth in international travel to the U.S. kept pace with the rest of the world over that period, the country would have received 78 million additional visitors, the group said.

赴美簽證在“911”事件後變得更加難以申請，據美國旅遊協會統計，恐怖襲擊使美國在赴美遊客身上花費了約6.06億美元。這一時期，世界其他國家赴美旅遊人數也在增長，美國將接待額外的7800萬遊客。

The pain isn't being felt only by airlines and hotels, but by department stores, restaurants and outlet malls that would have gladly welcomed foreign spenders. A bipartisan bill being proposed in Washington would provide more resources to consulates around the world to cut wait times to just under two weeks.

最開心的除了航空公司和旅館，像百貨公司，餐飲店和折扣直銷店也很歡迎外國消費者的到來。在議會上提議了一項兩黨提案，爲全世界的美國領事館提供更多的資源來縮減簽證等待時間，要求等待時間在兩週之內。

Though Brazilian demand for U.S. visas is growing at a faster rate, China's sheer size poses a unique set of challenges for America's consular corps. The embassy and consulates in China are processing twice as many non-immigrant visas than they were only three years ago — recently hitting the 1-million yearly mark for the first time, a number that had previously been reached only in Mexico.

儘管巴西的赴美簽證需求量在飛速增長，但中國大規模的簽證申請給美國領事團提出了嚴峻挑戰。美國駐中大使館和領事館處理的非移民簽證數量是三年前的兩倍，首次達到每年1百萬，這個數字之前只有墨西哥達到過。

Yet there are only about 100 visa adjudicators in China, creating a crushing backlog during the summer when tourists and students travel the most.

目前在中國只有約100名簽證官，在夏季，旅遊者和學生申請高峯期時會顯得捉襟見肘。

"It's not easy work," Charles Bennett, minister-counselor for Consular Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said of his staff. "You're making, in some cases, life-changing decisions many times a day, and that can cause fatigue."

美國駐北京使館領事事務參贊，查爾斯巴內特（Charles Bennett）說：“這不是個輕鬆的工作，你一天要做出很多決定，這些決定有時會改變別人的一生，這會導致身心疲憊。”

To adapt, U.S. consular services expanded their hours, took on about a dozen additional staff and hope to have another 20 officers by spring. Several facilities are also being expanded.

爲了適用這種情況，美國領事服務延長了簽證時間，新增加了12名工作人員，預計明年春天會再增加20名，還會增添一些設備。