Since we booked a trip to China in May, me and my husband needed to get Chinese visas.
The Chinese Consulate is in Calgary, and since we didn't have any reason to go to Calgary (twice), we went to Gold Mountain, who is authorized to accept visa applications and take them to the consulate for you. The visa costs $50, and there is another $50 fee on top of that for them to process it for you. It takes about two weeks to get the visa back. You can also pay more to get your passport and visa back quicker, but we had no need for that.
The visa application form, as well as a few other forms, are available on the Gold Mountain website. I ended up having a couple of questions about it. I phoned once and emailed once and got good, quick answers both times. When we went into the office to drop off our passports and applications, the lady there checked over everything to make sure it was correct.
They only take cash or cheques, and unfortunately I forgot to write a cheque that morning. While Dave ran to the ATM, the lady (I believe her name is Helen) asked me about my upcoming trip, where we were going, what we were doing there, etc., and suggested some things as well. Very cute.
They'll give you a receipt with a pick up date written on it. Don't forget your receipt! Our visas were ready when we were told they would be.
Even though there is an extra fee to get your Chinese visa processed here, I still give five stars because it's the only place in Edmonton you can get it done and the whole process was efficient and easy. read more