WARNING: Visa agents
Please note that the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing and the Norwegian General Consulates in Guangzhou and Shanghai only cooperate with VFS Global as an external service provider. Applicants are strongly advised not to deal with any agents. Visa agents are in no way whatsoever connected to the Embassy/Consulates or the VFS Norwegian Visa Application Centers, and they have absolutely no influence over the outcome of an application. Many agents also charge unreasonably high fees for services, which are deemed unnecessary. We advise all applicants to contact the VFS Norway Visa Application Centers or the Norwegian Embassy/Consulates for any assistance.
Variations on the above text can be found on all European state visa websites, yet the majority of Chinese I've met "do not agree" and insist that you must use an agent.
These agents are worthless - sometimes don't even submit the application. Anything they do, they do it wrong. Wrong language, wrong country, wrong everything. Around 2000rmb seems to be the going rate and virtually all my chinese friends have been ripped off at one time or another, as well as, in principle, unwittingly breaking european and chinese laws. These laws are not minor irritations to be loopholed around, in fact the potential penalties are severe. Most people can get into Europe legally and truthfully, there IS a clear and fair path applicable to the vast majority of honest people.
The point of my post is, I hope some readers will keep this in mind when the topic pops up in Chinese company. I have heard, and even been involved in, terrible stories involving Chinese citizens being exploited by these parasites. The bones of the Schengen visa for a chinese person is this: you need 500 rmb for each day of the visit (saved! Not a one-time deposit), OR a sponsor/guarantor. You need a passport. You need to pay €60 on application which for most countries can be done online. You need to bring hukou and various documents including employment contract to the visa office and pay 1-200rmb there. Without an employment contract the chance is 50/50. It takes 5-15 days. Thats it. Come to Europe, it needs your tourism.
My wife's cousin used an agent to apply for a Canadian Visa. The agent made totally false statements on the application, then at the interview stage the cousin's answers didn't match the application. He was denied a Visa.
Warning noted. But sadly, most Chinese can't tackle this alone without the help of a foreign relative or significant other, because only they are going to bother to step up that much. Also, 2k rmb is nothing now and for a visa to Europe it's cheap, so they see it as a good deal. Too bad the agents are scam artists and liars, and they can just shift the denial as the consulate's fault.
@faraday
I wonder if there is a business opportunity for an honest foreigner to act as an agent. Would 2k rmb be enough compensation for you to guide a total stranger through the European visa process?
@AlPage, its a typical story. What you described is the norm. And the worst part is, who knows what kind of permenant it causes in the applicants records at the visa office.
@AlexKMG, I am considering to do exactly this soon. I've done it several times already for a free lunch, but rapidly accumulate "friends of friends" who "by the way" need help :)
I know that some agents can act for Canadian Visas, but they have to be approved by the Canadian government first. Considering the source of the approval that's still no guarantee that they know what they're doing.
