~~~This business is UNLICENSED~~~
Buyer be aware. This business is not currently licensed with the City of Seattle or the State of Washington.
I had the unfortunate experience of using their service to obtain a China Visa.
On 8/20/19, They quoted me $195 for a China Visa. I was told that because I have a Chinese surname, I better opt for the "expedited service" for an extra $60 fee because the San Francisco Chinese consulate will scrutinize ethnic Chinese applicants more closely for dual citizenship. Before I paid, I asked how soon I can get my passport back if I paid extra for "expedited" comparing with Normal processing. Ling, the Cantonese lady told me "expedited" is 6 days and normal is 3 weeks. As I was contemplating a trip to Korea for Labor Day weekend, I paid for the "expedited" service and paid them $255.
On 8/26/19, I called them to get an update on the status and informed Ling that I have a trip coming up. She said she can't guarantee I can get it back before labor day, but she could pull my passport back and return it so I can make the trip but I will need to pay her $255 again when I am ready for the Chinese visa application.
On 8/28/19 and 8/29/19, I physically go down to the office two days in a row and was told because of the fact that I have a Chinese surname, I would not be able to get my passport back for another week.
On 9/3/19, I called and was told my passport will be ready in "a couple of days".
On 9/6/19, I visited their office and was told my passport will arrive the next day from San Francisco.
On 9/9/19, a full 3 weeks have lapsed since I paid them. I finally got my passport back. When I opened my passport to the visa page, guess what it says? "ISSUE DATE: 28AUG2019". So, I asked Ling very politely: "I paid $60 for the "expedited" service, why does it take so long for it to arrive back in Seattle if it was issued on 8/28/19?" She immediately got loud with me and rudely said that I am accusing her of lying. She asked me for the hand-written receipt to prove that I indeed paid for the "expedited" service. Apparently, she wasn't even aware that she collected the extra fee. That would explain why it takes 3 weeks for them to get my passport back. I told her that she persuaded me to pay extra for the "expedited" service but failed to deliver it back in the timeframe as promised. I asked her for evidence that it was mailed out by express mail as she claimed that the extra fee is for the passport to be mailed out by FedEx. Even USPS would give you a receipt to show how and when you send out a mail. I think this is a very reasonable request to ask her to prove that she indeed sends everything out in a timely manner. Her reply was that I, as a consumer, have no right to know how she mail out my passport and that she doesn't want me to know who the "middle person" in SF is. I was shocked by this response, not only because she is saying that I have no right to know. But more alarming is that all of my personal information (Passport, Driver's License, Address, Date of Birth, Employment, Education background, Travel history, Birth Certificate, Parent's Information) were all sent to a "middle person" without my consent. How do I know this "middle person" is not a criminal and that my personal information will not be shared with any other parties? There is no accountability or privacy policies in place between this travel agent and the "middle person". When I gave A A travel the documents, I was misled into believing they are the one sending everything to the Consulate directly. There is no transparency on how they run this service from the customer's perspective. As Ling was getting belligerent, I asked to speak with someone who is calm and not screaming. This gentleman, possibly named Ken, then came over and said that I can't get the $60 refunded and suggested that I take them to Small Claim court to get the $60 back. I noticed that they don't have any business license posted in their office, so I told them that they are legally obligated to have their license posted in place of business. Ken then told Ling to pull the license from their drawer. Ling, perhaps thinking it is professional to be ironic said "We are unlicensed" while digging out their WA state DOR license that expired 01/31/19. They also said that if I want to complain, I can go online and complain. They claim that I am the only person complaining about them.
After doing some research. I found out that they are not even a licensed business in the City of Seattle and apparently dissolved as far as the WA state is concerned. Can you really trust a business and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on them if they can't even fulfill their own legal obligations to be licensed and pay their taxes? I would urge everyone to find another travel agent and not to support this illegally run unlicensed tax-evading business. read more