Our family's visa application was submitted on September 23rd, and we still haven't received any results. I used an agent to handle the application. Before the National Day holiday, I asked the customer service, and they said the embassy doesn't take a holiday during the National Day, but they do, so the results may come out on the 8th. However, there are still no results today. Just now, she said she will help me urge the visa process. What's going on? Our family has a very good travel record, and all aspects of our qualifications are excellent. We never thought we would be rejected. We provided very complete materials, including flight tickets, hotel reservations for each night, itinerary, tour project orders, information of accompanying persons, and multiple years of visas for multiple countries ?
New Zealand Q&A
Two trips to Italy in two years, passing through Sicily, Dolomites, Tuscany, and some other cities. Personally, I feel that the security in Italy is not a big problem. Tourist attractions are always crowded, which is unavoidable anywhere. Just be mindful of your belongings, keep some loose change in your pocket, and don't expose large amounts of cash. We added a small combination lock to our backpacks for extra security. Thieves also choose their targets, just like in our own country. I've seen many foreigners leaving their bags far away while taking photos, and their belongings were not stolen. There are armed police guarding various attractions in Italy, so I didn't feel unsafe at all ?
Italy Q&A
The United States is very large, and every time you go somewhere it's different. This summer, I went to Yellowstone and chose an SUV, but I regretted it because the high center of gravity made it tilt heavily on the mountain roads... and all the roads were paved, so if you don't have a need for a lot of luggage, don't choose an SUV. Last year, I rented a BMW 4 Series to drive around the Grand Canyon area and it felt great. I stayed in Yellowstone for 5 days, 2 days at Old Faithful, 2 days at Canyon, and 1 day at Yellowstone Lake. The itinerary was not tight, so I just played around and drove all the roads in Yellowstone. Accommodation in Yellowstone is expensive, and the itinerary was not optimized, but the gas prices were cheaper than in the Bay Area. As for cash and credit cards, to be honest, I haven't used much cash in recent years. I only keep cash for tips. Throughout the trip, I only used cash once at a strange restaurant in Salt Lake City for one night, and also used cash to send postcards at the Yellowstone post office. Everything else was done with credit cards, including self-service gas and meals. It was surprising to find out at a gas station in Carson City that they explicitly did not accept VISA credit cards and had to use a MasterCard. I remembered trying credit cards at gas stations in Utah and San Diego last year, and this year's experience was really different, as many gas stations have upgraded ?
United States Q&A