Question! Did you use their concierge service or do it yourself through CIBT? We got passport pics done but NOW I see the size is wrong. GAH! Visas always stress me out because I'm afraid they'll lose our passports or won't let us in the country. My husband finally took over our Vietnam visa application because I was a nutterball! hahah
I did it myself through CIBT. I called CIBT at one point to walk me through some questions I had about the forms and the woman there pretty much told me if I followed their checklist, I was good & the Concierge service wasn't necessary (she stopped just short of saying it was a waste of money).
What I did about the photos was, I went to CVS for the pictures, and asked them to leave them uncut. Then I sent the larger photos to CIBT, and they trimmed them themselves. CVS gave me multiple pics, and CIBT sent the ones they didn't use back with my passport. There's a page in the "kit" they send you that is pretty explicit about what they want picture-wise (ie, size, shoulders showing, ears showing, no smiling, etc).
Speaking of the "kit", make sure you call CIBT and tell them that you are going with ABD, and give them the ABD account # (I'll find that when I get home). They'll send you a "kit" (a pdf) that has all the forms you'll need (plus some you won't unless you do the concierge service) pre-populated with the info about ABD. I mentioned earlier, the only thing they didn't mention was that they need a copy of your flight itinerary to show you actually have a flight scheduled to leave China when you say you are. The email from ABD that shows the hotels & internal flights didn't have *my* flight info on it.
You really can't start the process until 3 months prior to your trip (CIBT didn't have the "kit" for me until then). They sent me a generic one so I could at least get started getting stuff together.
I have to admit, even though there really was no reason for it, I was pretty nervous they wouldn't grant the Visa. It was a big relief when they did.
I was also pretty nervous about letting my passport out of my possession, but I really didn't have an option, as there isn't an embassy or consulate anywhere near me. But it all worked out in the end.
Sayhello