Switching a tourist visa to Z visa without leaving China?

[ineedsomecheese]

I accepted a job with a university in Beijing, and they couldn't send the Z Visa "invitation" paper in time for school to start, so they assured me that if I came on a tourist visa, they could switch it once I was here. Yes, I know this is a big "no no," but I researched the school, knew it was legitimate, and my Chinese friends had heard of it. They just lagged on sender the papers, for some reason.

But they're saying I must go to Hong Kong (or even back to USA) to get the visa. They've (finally) given me the invitation papers, but this is ridiculous. If they insist that I have to leave to do this, I'm prepared to try to get them to pay at least some of the travel expenses this is going to cost - but otherwise I'm actually pretty happy with the school, so ideally I'd like to resolve this without threatening to quit. Actually, all this information has been delivered to me by some young, perhaps inept girls in the school's foreign affairs department (responsible for this whole mess from the start), so I don't 100% trust what they're saying. The dean of my school *thought* that switching the visa wouldn't be a problem, but according to the foreign affairs girls, they've told the dean that I must go to Hong Kong.

I found a website for a Beijing company that claims they can do it (http://www.cn-visa.com/). I already sent them an e-mail, but is this legit? Is there any other possible way to do this without leaving? Price is no objection, as long as its cheaper than flying to Hong Kong or even L.A... I also read that the Z is only the entrance visa, and then you must get a residence permit... so theoretically, I only really need the residence permit, not the visa... any experience with this stuff would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Senzhi]

It is true, a Z-visa can no longer be obtained initially from within China, and I'm not even convinced it can happen from Hong Kong, but should happen from your country of origin.

A Z-visa is only for entry in China and is only valid for a 30-day period from entry. Within this period it has to be changed into a residence permit for one year (renewable), after you acquired a work permit as well as had the medical check formality.

Many schools seem not to be aware of this procedure: I have colleagues who had to go back to the UK to get things sorted out ... and guess what: all at their own expenses.

[Rincewind]

They can do many things with the visas. However, it might not be possible in all cases or locations to do all things. It depends how connected your school is - or you are. I know other people working at other schools or universities here who have had to do the Hong Kong visa run. On the other hand, the last visa in my own passport is a L and I've had several residency permits on the back of it. Course I used a bit of Guanxi and I have a previous Z visa so that maybe altered things a bit.

[roddy]

Visa rules are becoming steadily stricter, and it's no great surprise that even universities are getting caught out. Couple of things I might try are:

Asking the university to pay for the trip and seeing what they say, and if the extra potential cost spurs them to look into local ways to get this done.

Get in touch with agents and see what they say - but make sure they know what you want and be firm about it, otherwise they may well do what they do for most foreigners and get you a business visa, which you shouldn't be working on. Also, there's no reason why the school shouldn't cover this expense either. This would be a bit of an usual situation, as normally people go to visa agents because they don't have a supporting employer / institution - you do, they just can't do what you want.

Check the listings magazines for agents, and I'd only speak to those which have a proper office and deal direct with the Beijing PSB rather than anyone outside of Beijing.

[ineedsomecheese]

Thanks for the advice. Another thing I had considered is Fedexing the passport and papers back to L.A. and having a friend walk into the consulate for the Visa, but I'm guessing this won't work because of the entrance stamp (an exit stamp would be needed).

I will talk to the school leaders today and see if requesting them to pay for this will spur them into using whatever connections they have. The foreign affairs office first said Hong Kong would be okay, but most recently they did say that it must happen in USA....

[nomad]

I would push for the z-visa, if they're not willing to cover the airfare. It's their mix-up in the first place. And I think the FAO girls could be right about the visa switch.

My university had to quickly replace a teacher and they hired one locally and he has gone back to his home country to switch his tourist visa to the z-visa. They wont even let him teach on the tourist visa. He'll start in late October (almost 2 months after classes have started). But then again my universty is doing everything by the book.

[Rincewind]

I think the terminology might be the thing that's causing problems. You don't need to turn an L into a Z. You need to turn the L into a Residency Permit. The question should be "Can I get a Residency Permit on an L visa." the answer to that may be quite different to the one you asked at the top of the page.

I wouldn't send your passport back to the states. That's going to cause all sorts of paradoxes that may be difficult to explain. Also, before running to HK, check the various threads on these forums for advice on which agent to go to and opening times. Pay particular attention to the nationality of the person giving advice as the rules for US and UK passports may be different.