Visa Changes - what you going to do?

[gougou]

So overall, on the grand scale of the Chinese economy, it won't even register.

Except for the sales of TV series' boxed sets, which are going to drop by at least 50%.

[huaqiao06]

does the following gel with what others have heard?

F visa - no grants or extensions till at least October (they are possibly discontinuing this visa class)

Private schools - generally not recognised by the PSB, so if you want to keep studying in China you'll have to enrol with a university for visa reasons

L visa - no grants within China, max 2 30-day entries, need to show return air ticket and hotel booking

[Lugubert]

L visa - no grants within China, max 2 30-day entries, need to show return air ticket and hotel booking

I had gotten quite scared by some rumours, like you had to present a return ticket from your port of entry to your port of departure in your country, and prove hotel bookings for the entire visit.

It seems that, in my country, it will be sufficient to have any exit ticket, and some hotel booking for the very first days.

I (multi-lingual in Europe) will be travelling with a true multi-lingual (speaking "Mandarin"and "Cantonese" and a fair number of European languages plus Vietnamese), and we don't want to plan too much too rigidly in advance.

There's still an uncertainty about Tibet requirements. Official websites tell us that we have to phone China (from Sweden!!) to get clearance in advance. My planning will presuppose that there will be no problems that money can't solve in for example Shanghai (we're so curious about the Tibet train, but I don't think that visiting Chengdu would be ideal this autumn).

[BrandeX]

According to BBC News, foreigners are banned from Tibet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7433659.stm

[lilongyue]

A while ago I mentioned in a similar thread that I was going to apply for the "marriage visa" one can get through their Chinese spouse. This thread seems a more appropriate place for the response, actually (the other thread was about Z visas in Hong Kong). I'm going to the gong an today, and will tell everyone what happened, i.e. do I need to leave the country, etc. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[kylemchan]

I don't know if this is relevant, but last week I received a multiple-entry, 90 day tourist visa valid for a year. I'm American and got it through the consulate in Houston. All I had was roundtrip airfare and hotel accommodations. I didn't even go to the consulate myself, I sent it by mail.

Good luck everyone.

[lilongyue]

OK, am back from the PSB. Here's what I needed to show them:

1. My passport

2. My Chinese marriage certificate (结婚证)

3. The slip of paper that showed I registered with the police. I was told that I should go and register again, since the last time I registered was 1/5/2007.

4. My wife's ID (身份证)

5. Her temporary residence permit (暂住证), because she isn't from Hangzhou. Not too sure on the translation of this document, but it's something like that.

6. Her Household Register (户口本)

7. And lastly, because I'm currently on a student visa, I need to provide a certificate that shows I've completed my studies, which I don't have yet as the semester hasn't finished.

So, because we were married in China I don't have to go back to America. Even though my wife is from another province, and we had to go back there to get the marriage certificate, we don't have to return to her home province to get the visa (thank god). As I said before, this is an "L" visa, meaning it's illegal to work.

P.S. It's 940 RMB for the one year visa.

[BrandeX]

Thanks for the update! Will be going in to the PSB in a few months to do the same thing.

[lilongyue]

Forgot to mention that it's 940 RMB for Americans. Since America made 1 month and 1 year visa for Chinese the same price, the Chinese government followed suit.

[Socks]

I have 3 visa questions. Any help would be appreciated...

1. Are Chinese visa regulations nationwide or province-wide? I am under the impression that they are nationwide, but when I go to my PSB to get a visa they say "you can get a one year L visa for being married to a Chinese in Beijing, but you can't get one here"...

2. Does anyone know where/how to find Chinese visa regulations/laws (IN CHINESE)?

3. Lilongyue (or anyone else who knows). What is this one year L visa for marriage called in Chinese. I'm trying to find more information on it, but I don't really know what it's called.

Thanks.

[lilongyue]

When I asked for information about this kind of visa, the guy at the gong an gave me a piece of paper entitled "L Visa for Foreigners Who Come to Visit Relatives in Hangzhou, Or to See the Doctor, or for Other Private Business." The Chinese is "外国人来杭州探亲,看病或处理其他私人事务申请L签证所需材料."

Sorry, I posted this in another thread. "Marriage" isn't specifically referred to in the name of the visa type.

[roddy]

Post-Olympic bump for this - anyone got any news or stories to tell? I'm summering (well, almost autumning) in the UK and keeping an eye on the visa situation. I notice that Japan Travel is listing three-month multi-entry visas. Not sure if that's F or L though. And still no joy for Americans.

[self-taught-mba]

Roddy, summering? You didn't get caught in the Visa thing to did you?

[adrianlondon]

Wasn't sure which of the many visa threads to stick this, but this'll do ...

I've just got a simple tourist single-entry visa from London. They've changed the procedures here and you're meant to use the separate visa company to do this. The advantage is that you can do everything by post. The disadvantage is that it costs.

I'm not sure for how much longer this'll work, but for the moment you can still go to the embassy once you book an appointment. These seem to fill out quickly (the time slots get released at the beginning of the month) so keep an eye on the UK embassy's website. However, I did this, got an apppontment exactly when I wanted, and walked straight in and handed over my forms.

I wanted the same-day service, but they've tightened up on this, too. Now you need to justify it ideally with a flight to China THAT DAY. I explained I was living/working in Germany and showed them my flight back to Stuttgart for this evening. Cool - they took a photocopy and told me to come back in one hour.

You DO NOT need to show flight tickets or hotel bookings for the L visa. Cool. Easy.

I went back an hour later, paid £50 (£30 for the visa, £20 for the same day service) and got my visa/passport. I said 谢谢 to the girl behind the counter and after a few minutes of her saying how good my Chinese was (which, as we all know is code for "it's shit but I kind of understood you") she took my email address and said she'd like to do language exchange if possible. Can't help to have a friend working in the embassy ...

Anyway - in summary, getting an L visa from London was very easy. Just make sure you either make an appointment online, or go through the separate visa company (all linked to on the embassy website). No proof of itinerary needed.

[lilongyue]

A French friend of mine who also lives in Hangzhou just switched from a tourist visa to a 6 month business visa in Shanghai. It cost 3,000 RMB, which is a bit pricey, but if one adds up all the costs of a trip to Hong Kong, it doesn't turn out to be much more, or might be around the same as going and doing it yourself. The company said it still isn't possible to do this in Hong Kong yet.

On a related note, a school I recently spoke to in Tinajin said it is still necessary for foreigners to go back to their home countries to get a working visa. I guess many of the new visa policies are still in effect, if they will ever completely change back to the way they used to be, that is.

[roddy]

Well, after a few months back in the UK and a bit of a holiday in Thailand, I'm looking at heading back north. As far as visas go, at the moment it seems to be:

Hong Kong: Just whatever the 'consulate' will give you, it seems.

Beijing / Shanghai: There are agencies able to provide six month / one year F visas. In Beijing Traders Link (subtly advertising in thatsbeijing as handling 'stay certificates' or something) and Leeo, with Trader's Link being cheaper, but you're still looking at the best part of RMB3000 for six months. Emoo seem to be the main player in Shanghai. They quoted me a shade under RMB4000 for six months, single entry F. Couple of people I know are using independent agents, but prices are similar.

So I toddled along to the Chinese consulate here in Chiang Mai to get a tourist visa to get me into the country, and ended up getting a double entry, 90-day stay each entry visa - ie six months, but need to hop out of the country halfway through - for THB1650 (GBP30, give or take, five day processing). I think I'd been under the impression that they were less generous than that with tourist visas and that 30 or 60 days would be the most I could hope for. However the form actually only started at 90 days (four options, 90 day, 180 day double entry, 180 day multiple entry, one year multiple entry). I'm now wondering if I could have been cheeky and got a year, but never mind.

If you're already in the south west of China, Chiang Mai's not a bad alternative to Hong Kong for a visa run. Direct flights from Kunming (Thursdays and Sundays), cost of living and accommodation is very cheap and the consulate was empty and efficient. There's a Thai consulate in Kunming, although I think most nationalities get a 15 or 30 day stay on arrival.

Edited November 10, 2008 at 07:00 AM by roddy
Imron.

[markshark83]

got a one year tourist visa in UK last week, but with the 30 day limitations

[BrandeX]

Married people's visas appear to not have changed. I just picked up a 1 year L with unlimited entries and duration at the end of last month in Guangzhou. Fee was the standard 940 rmb for all USA passport holders, regardless of visa type issued (as they informed me when I asked about other types/prices)

[heifeng]

I just got a 1 yr multi entry, each stay 60 days for 130 USD (as all L visas are now 130 for US citizens) through the consulate in the US directly, but I didn't have to supply any plane ticket or hotel confirmation...which means I could have applied for my visa later ugh...but I was keeping the worst case scenario in mind, ie. that they would ask for stuff I didn't have and would have to scramble to get:mrgreen: Glad I didn't have to scramble though...

Edited November 10, 2008 at 03:15 PM by heifeng

[adrianlondon]

When I tried to get my visa in Germany, they refused as I'm not officially resident here. Interesting that the visa office in Chiangmai doesn't care whether you're an official Thai resident or not.