AIT to launch virtual visa counseling service

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) An online virtual visa counseling service will soon be initiated to help familiarize first-time Taiwanese applicants with the relevant procedures for U.S. visas, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Tuesday.

"The service will be helpful to those who have never applied for a visa before," said AIT spokesman Christopher Kavanagh at the launch of a new virtual platform that allows users to access various displays online using panoramic 720 degree photographic techniques.

"This exciting new online tool is our latest effort to share AIT's resources and programs with more people in Taiwan," Kavanagh said. The platform could well be the first of its kind initiated by a U.S. overseas representative office, according to the spokesman.

"The Virtual AIT World takes programs and exhibits that might have only lasted a short time and gives them a much longer life, enabling more people to enjoy them," he said.

For example, people who missed AIT's exhibits can browse through photos, manuscripts, video clips, paintings and artifacts in their own home at their own convenience, Kavanagh said.

Displaying an image of a controversial birth certificate of the Republic of China's founding father of Sun Yat-sen on the virtual platform, Kavanagh said the public can now access the document at will.

Meanwhile, Kavanagh said that AIT is expanding the platform to include an online visa counseling service that will be introduced in the next few months.

The virtual platform now features three popular AIT exhibits, namely "American Footsteps in Taiwan," "Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the United States," and "Picturing America."

More displays will be added in the future, said AIT, which represents the United States interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. (By Nancy Liu) ENDITEM /pc

Source: http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSOC&ID=201110180021