商务礼节美语第3期:签证申请(1)

王小姐到美国使馆签证，签证官Bob Jones受理她的申请。

B: Hello miss. Can I see your ticket number? 小姐你好。我能看下你的飞机票吗？

W: Sure, here you are. And here are my application forms as well. 当然，给你。这是我的申请表。

B: Thank you . I'm Bob Jones and I'll be handling your application. 谢谢，王小姐。我是鲍勃·琼斯，我负责处理你的申请。

W: Nice to meet you Mr. Jones. 很高兴见到你，琼斯先生。

B: The first step is to determine your eligibility for a U.S. visa. Let's see 're applying for a special business visa. Why is that? 第一步是要确定你美国签证的合法性。让我看下这里……你已经申请了特别的商务签证，为什么呢？

W: Well, my first order of business will be attending a conference in Seattle, but after that I intend to spend two weeks visiting my friends. I assumed a business visa would be required. 嗯，我第一件要处理的是去西雅图开会，然后打算花两周的时间去看望我的朋友。我想商务签证应该可以行得通。

签证官Bob说，首先要决定，王小姐是否符合申请美国签证的标准，eligibility is spelled e-l-i-g-i-b-i-l-i-t-y, eligibility，是符合标准的意思。签证官问王小姐为什么要申请一种特殊商务签证，a special business visa.。王小姐解释说，她是先到西雅图开会，first order of business 意思是第一件要处理的事情，然后还准备去看朋友。

B: I think a regular visitor's visa should suffice. With this visa, you can stay in the United States for up to 90days. 我认为旅游签证就已经足够了，有了这张签证，你可以在美国待上90多天。

W: So I can attend conferences and do business on that visa? 所以我也可以用这样的签证在那儿办公咯？

B: Yes. You are free to do temporary business with this visa. If you were planning on setting up a new business in the U.S. you might need to apply for a long-term visa. 是的。你可以持着这张卡在那里暂时的办公。如果你打算在美国建立新的业务，你可能需要办一张长期的签证。

W: Oh, I see. I think 90 days is more than enough time. 哦，我知道了，我想90天足够了。

签证官觉得，王小姐申请一般的旅游签证a regular visitor's visa，就可以了，suffice is spelled s-u-f-f-i-c-e, suffice 是足够的意思，她凭旅游签证能在美国停留90天，而且也可以做生意。王小姐说，90天的时间已经足够了。

B: You said you plan to attend a conference. May I see your official invitation letter? 你说你想去参加一个会议。我能看下你的官方邀请函吗？

W: Of course...I've also attached two reference letters from my senior management who can confirm my itinerary. 当然……我还收到附带的两份公司主管的信，使他们给我安排了行程。

B: I see. Your passport has quite a few international stamps in it. You do a lot of business traveling? 我知道。你的护照上有一些国际印章在上面。你曾常商务旅游吗？

W: I'm out of the country almost half a year. I'm a Chinese antiquities consultant and advisor. Our company has an office in Zurich. 我几乎半年都在出差。我是中国古迹顾问。我们的公司在苏黎世有办公处。

王小姐把会议方的邀请函，the official invitation letter，交给签证官，还附加了两份公司主管的信，证明她的行程，itinerary. 她说自己 I'm out of the country almost half a year，每年几乎有半年的时间不在国内，签证官说王小姐护照上有quite a few international stamps, 这里所说的 international stamps，是指入出境时在护照上盖的章。原来，王小姐是中国古迹专家，她所在的公司在苏黎世有办公处。