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。