X Visa Extention during Summer in BeiJing

[dbanderson01]

As the olympics are fast approaching, I am finding it difficult to extend my X visa here in BeiJing. Is anyone else also having similar issues?

I have been studying at BNU since July of 2007, and want to continue studying here in BeiJing for another year. The issue is BNU does not offer a Summer Program this year due to the olympics, therefore can not extend my visa for the summer. This leaves me with BNU only extending my X visa until June and not being able to extend it again until September when class starts again. When talking with the BNU office about this 3 month gap their only reply was just go home! Obviously I would rather spend my money on learning chinese than airline tickets, hotels, etc.

The questions I have are:

1.) Does anyone know of any schools in the BeiJing area that will offer summer programs and can extend X visas?

2.) As this is my first time doing a visa extention, are there other options available without having to leave China?

Thank you in advance for your help!

[adrianlondon]

Could you not ... get a 3 month tourist visa just before your X visa expires and then ... get another X visa when course starts again in Sept 2008 (which, hopefully, is just before your tourist visa runs out).

[mr.stinky]

what if you pay next year's tuition in advance? they should be able to give you a full

year renewal.

[dbanderson01]

Just a quick clarification, its not the X Visa that needs to be extended since this is only used to enter China. Its my Residence Permit associated with the X Visa that is only valid until June. This issue is BNU will not renew the Permit until class starts again in September.

Adrian, the 90 day tourist visa is an option that I will certainly consider. The problem is that I will spend money on traveling to Hong Kong and also will lose my X visa. Which will mean I will have to have to go through all the steps again in obtaining the X visa, ie. JW202forms, Health forms from China hospital, etc. Also I've been told that there is no guarantee that in June and July the China government will be handing out 90 day tourist visas. I am trying to avoid having to make the trip only to have them tell me they can only offer 30 day tourist visas.

Mr.Stinky, I tried that when we were registering for classes last week. I had a year's tuition in my hand and tried to give it to them, but they would not accept it. The BNU office said because in June I have already studied for two terms, I would have to reapply for the fall term, but would have to pay application fees, and they would only issue the Residence Permit for Sept.

By the way, Adrian, your recommendation for BNU was spot-on. The teachers are excellent, the campus is in a good location, and I could not ask for a better learning environment. Which is why I'm trying to get this permit issue fixed so I can study here for another year.

Thanks again.

[adrianlondon]

By the way, Adrian, your recommendation for BNU was spot-on.

Glad you like it there! When I was studying there, many people said they were only at BNU because of stuff I'd written about my decision to pick that place here on chinese-forums. Luckily, no one was angry with me ;)

I wish I was back there, really. One day ... probably not at BNU, but living next to the campus having private tuition. That's the plan.

Annoying about the visa.

I think you can get a tourist visa as an "extension" to a stufy visa (F or X) without leaving the country.

[heifeng]

Yes, similar issues. In the past I was extending my x visa thru a small language school, but b/c of the olympics they couldn't extend it any more past 1/1/2008. So I had to switch to an F (which ended up paying an arm and a leg for in comparison to just extending my other one)...

I tried that when we were registering for classes last week. I had a year's tuition in my hand and tried to give it to them, but they would not accept it. The BNU office said because in June I have already studied for two terms, I would have to reapply for the fall term, but would have to pay application fees, and they would only issue the Residence Permit for Sept.

when I was at BNU, if you wanted to extend over the summer you would have to pay a bit and they would extend it till Sept, and then afterwards you would pay for the full year in and THEN they would give you the full year permit. (something like that)

so, anyway, the point is the X is a pain now in BJ b/c they want to get people outta the city b4 the crowds come for the games....so have fun with that

[leeovisa]

As a visa agent, I am afraid a visa that spans Olympics and don't require you to leave is quite difficult to get.

At least, till now it is true.

If BNU cannot help you extend your Residence Permit for study, I am afraid the other small schools can NOT help you at all.

And F visas can be extended till August 1, 2008 technically now.

So I am afraid the situation is really quite harsh.

[cdn_in_bj]

As a visa agent, I am afraid a visa that spans Olympics and don't require you to leave is quite difficult to get.

Have you heard about any "problems" with renewing residence permits for those who are legitimately employed here? Mine is coming up for renewal soon...

[adrianlondon]

Very odd. I thought China wanted people to visit for the Olympics. Why are they throwing people out?

[imron]

Very odd. I thought China wanted people to visit for the Olympics. Why are they throwing people out?

They're throwing out people who probably aren't here for the Olympics to make room for people who are going to be here for the Olympics. It's all a bit silly really.

[dbanderson01]

Just thought I would give everyone an update for those that are currently in a similiar situation.

Went back to the BNU office again today to talk with them about extending my visa, issuing an L(tourist) visa or F(6-month) visa during the summer until I can register for classes again in Sept. Basically they said, not possible to all my requests. They were very firm they could only extend my visa until June 30th, after which time, they could do nothing until Sept.1st.

Knowing that BNU was not going to help, called several visa services in the BeiJing area hoping they could help me with this issue. I asked specifically them about converting my X visa into a 90 day L visa which would fill the gap between my spring and fall term at BNU, knowing the F visa is only currently being issued until August 1st. All of them were very nice, but at this time could not help me as well. All visas they are currently extending are only until August 1st.

So while my options are becoming more limited, I'm now even more determined to find a way to stay in BeiJing over the summer. Sort of feels like a big chess game with Mr.Mao. Next will be looking into other big schools that have summer classes during July and August ie. BeiYu that might have some guanxi in getting visas extended over the summer.

[leeovisa]

Have you heard about any "problems" with renewing residence permits for those who are legitimately employed here? Mine is coming up for renewal soon...

If you are legitimately employed, and if this time you need to Renew your residence permit (not apply for the first time), and if you need to renew it Soon, congratulations, there should be no problems to get a full year visa (Residence Permit for work).

Do it as early as possible.

By the way, how much is your company's registered capital? I mean your company is at least a middle-sized company, isn't it? If it's a foreign company, it really helps.

[cdn_in_bj]

If you are legitimately employed, and if this time you need to Renew your residence permit (not apply for the first time), and if you need to renew it Soon, congratulations, there should be no problems to get a full year visa (Residence Permit for work). Do it as early as possible.

Thanks. I just talked to the HR people at my company and they've started the process for renewal. They don't think there will be any problems, but they're going to double check with the agent and let me know. They did mention that things have gotten more strict because of the Olympics - previously photocopies of certain documents were acceptable, but now they require the originals to be submitted.

You seem to imply that there are problems for new applications?

By the way, how much is your company's registered capital? I mean your company is at least a middle-sized company, isn't it? If it's a foreign company, it really helps.

I have no idea about the registered capital, but yes it is a foreign company with a few hundred employees in Beijing.

To the OP:

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Can you go to HK and apply for a new L visa from there? It's a bit more hassle, but if you have time there may be cheaper options than flying direct.

[hazyrum]

I'm in more or less the same situation as the OP. I was issued an X visa by BNU and transferred to Beida for the spring semester.

Luckily, I only plan on staying until August 1st or September 1st so when my visa runs out at the end of June I was planning on just going to Hong Kong to get an L visa. Is this going to be possible this year? I've heard conflicting opinions about the ease of getting an L visa to cover this time period [though I understand getting a visa for August 1st is likely to be much easier than one for September 1st] A Beida international school office person also mentioned something about Beida being able to renew my visa until August 1st, has anyone done this before?

Oh and, what's likely to happen if I overstayed my visa, say for a couple days/a week around that time?

[imron]

Oh and, what's likely to happen if I overstayed my visa, say for a couple days/a week around that time?

You'll be fined 500 yuan a day, up to a maximum of 5,000 yuan. You might also find it difficult to get a visa the next time you want to come to China.