中国赴美签证之痛

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国家里，中国人需要忍受很多事：在人挤人的火车上站40个小时；睡在医院外只为能挂上号；等一年多时间才拿到驾照。

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

现在，得在这份清单里加上获得美国入境签证。

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.

申请者在五个能处理签证的美国领事馆前等待60天才能预约成功。在这儿，他们经常排着长队，一个挨一个去面试，几秒内就可能失败而归。

"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）的商人说：“我希望能有个法子来改善签证系统，这对中美两国都有好处，现在这个过程很让人恼火。”这位中国中部地区的飞机部件制造商说他在美国的生意耽搁了两个月，因为他和四个合作伙伴都在等签证。

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.

美国官方也意识到这对美国贸易提升有帮助，新上任的美国驻华大使骆家辉承诺要优先减少签证等待时间。

"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.

骆家辉上月在北京一次演讲中说：“如果我们想加强同中国的贸易联系，并为美国人民增加新的工作岗位，我们就需要简化中国商人和旅游者的赴美程序。”

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.

赴美签证在“911”事件后变得更加难以申请，据美国旅游协会统计，恐怖袭击使美国在赴美游客身上花费了约6.06亿美元。这一时期，世界其他国家赴美旅游人数也在增长，美国将接待额外的7800万游客。

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.

最开心的除了航空公司和旅馆，像百货公司，餐饮店和折扣直销店也很欢迎外国消费者的到来。在议会上提议了一项两党提案，为全世界的美国领事馆提供更多的资源来缩减签证等待时间，要求等待时间在两周之内。

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.

尽管巴西的赴美签证需求量在飞速增长，但中国大规模的签证申请给美国领事团提出了严峻挑战。美国驻中大使馆和领事馆处理的非移民签证数量是三年前的两倍，首次达到每年1百万，这个数字之前只有墨西哥达到过。

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

目前在中国只有约100名签证官，在夏季，旅游者和学生申请高峰期时会显得捉襟见肘。

"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."

美国驻北京使馆领事事务参赞，查尔斯巴内特（Charles Bennett）说：“这不是个轻松的工作，你一天要做出很多决定，这些决定有时会改变别人的一生，这会导致身心疲惫。”

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.

为了适用这种情况，美国领事服务延长了签证时间，新增加了12名工作人员，预计明年春天会再增加20名，还会增添一些设备。