礼节美语 182 Applying for a Visa 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?

W: Sure, here you are. And here are my application forms as well.

B: Thank you miss...Wang. I'm Bob Jones and I'll be handling your application.

W: Nice to meet you Mr. Jones.

B: The first step is to determine your eligibility for a U.S. visa. Let's see here...you're applying for a special business visa. Why is that?

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.

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 90 days.

W: So I can attend conferences and do business on that visa?

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.

W: Oh, I see. I think 90 days is more than enough time.

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?

W: Of course...I've also attached two reference letters from my senior management who can confirm my itinerary.

B: I see. Your passport has quite a few international stamps in it. You do a lot of business traveling?

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.

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。