Unprepared travelers looking to get a visa to the US are being ripped off by unlicensed "printing shops" near the country's embassy in Beijing, with unscrupulous copiers charging up to 400 times more than the normal price for copying one sheet of paper.
Copying a single sheet can cost 200 yuan in one "copy shop" outside the embassy. These "printing shops" are actually nothing more than cars with a copier inside, according to the report.
The printers approach visa applicants waiting in line to enter and ask them if they need to print or copy application materials, said US visa applicants.
Although their services are more basic than in most other copy shops, these "mobile shops" near the US Embassy and other popular travel destinations' visa centers charge sky-high prices.
They usually have no business license, an urban management officer was quoted by the Beijing Morning Post as saying.
The officer added that although they have made special efforts to manage these services, it is hard to stop them because they are able to move around easily.
Copying a single sheet of paper usually costs around 20 yuan in shops near the embassy areas, said a US visa applicant surnamed Yang.
In comparison, it only costs around 0.5 yuan in most ordinary copy shops in Beijing.
Unprepared travelers looking to get a visa to the US are being ripped off by unlicensed "printing shops" near the country's embassy in Beijing, with unscrupulous copiers charging up to 400 times more than the normal price for copying one sheet of paper.
Although their services are more basic than in most other copy shops, these "mobile shops" near the US Embassy and other popular travel destinations' visa centers charge sky-high prices.
