End of story.

What did you expect to happen?

I just received an email from Mary Wheeler at the Portland Consulate stating that they have been advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to issue visas by mail. She requested that you should contact them by phone for any further info.

Thank you for this concrete update. I have still not heard back and this saved me a lot of grief versus mailing without hearing from them.

It says to enter before March 18, 2014. So I should be OK to do use all three entries, even if I get 30-day extensions on both of the first two.

I don't follow the timing on this.

Assuming the Honorary Consulate issued your visa in the mid-August period, a use before date of mid-March would be 7 months -- not 6.

I also wasn't sure why it is valid for 7 months. My only thought would be that they perhaps issued the validity for 6 months beginning after I enter the country, which I stated as September 17, although I didn't think they do that. The triple entry visa I got last year from Portland was valid for 6 months from the issue date.

Why not check with the consulate as suggested by Mightycabage before firming up your plans ?

I called a few times, did not get through, and emailed last week. What I meant really was is the 6 month window starting on date of issue or date of planned entry? If it's once issued then I ideally will wait a few weeks. But mightycabage if yours says March 18th that is 7 months from date of issue, yes?

Yes, not sure why that happened. Also, if they now said they're not doing mail in applications anymore, I think I got lucky by sending mine in before they reopened up and made that claim. I'm surprised though that there still haven't been any changes to the website.

I also wasn't sure why it is valid for 7 months. My only thought would be that they perhaps issued the validity for 6 months beginning after I enter the country, which I stated as September 17, although I didn't think they do that. The triple entry visa I got last year from Portland was valid for 6 months from the issue date.

Why not check with the consulate as suggested by Mightycabage before firming up your plans ?

I called a few times, did not get through, and emailed last week. What I meant really was is the 6 month window starting on date of issue or date of planned entry? If it's once issued then I ideally will wait a few weeks. But mightycabage if yours says March 18th that is 7 months from date of issue, yes?

Yes, not sure why that happened. Also, if they now said they're not doing mail in applications anymore, I think I got lucky by sending mine in before they reopened up and made that claim. I'm surprised though that there still haven't been any changes to the website.

I don't think 7 mos is normal. Whatever the reason might be for MC getting his, I don't think I'd count on it going forward, certainly not without contacting the consulate you plan to use and asking them about it first, however difficult it might be to get a response. The same goes for mailing in your application to an HC. You can try, but have a plan if they send it back denied. All life is change, and this seems to be no exception. I guess the services are still an (expensive) option though.