Visa Changes - what you going to do?

[westmeadboy]

@roddy - thanks I'll look into that school in Dalian. With the invitation letter, do I apply for a F or L visa, or does it not matter?

@hedge - that sounds great. But I thought the length of visa (and stay length) were determined more by the consulate where you apply for the visa? Or do you mean they would convert an L visa to one-year? Oh, and how much does it cost?

[roddy]

You never apply for a particular type of visa, you just fill in the form (which includes purpose of stay), hand over any documentation, and they decide what to give you. A private school will generally be an F visa, maybe L for a 1-3 month stay. Some might have connections with a university and get you an X visa that way.

Sounds like hedge's school are going through one of the agencies to sort out the visa - in this case you may well be better off doing it directly as there may be a middleman's cut involved. However, these agencies only exist (afaik) in Shanghai and Beijing, so unless you're there you need to make a trip. Although I think Emoo in Shanghai takes postal applications, I never like entrusting my passport to the postal service in any country.

[westmeadboy]

I read that Guangzhou processes visa application at the airport and train station:

http://www.gdcrj.com/en/transparency/t20031020_3454.htm

But it looks like you need some kind of invitation (eg from Trade fair).

Thing is, flights from Kathmandu to Guangzhou are relatively cheap (as far as I remember) so that could be a way to get into the country and then change the visa up in Beijing.

Having said that, maybe Hong Kong might be a safer option - if a little more expensive.

[westmeadboy]

@roddy - just wondered: if using a beijing agency to convert/extend a visa to something like 6 months or 1 year - does the extension start from the moment you convert/extend or from when the original visa expires?

[roddy]

From whenever they put the new one in your passport, so if you're not careful you can 'lose' Chinese visa time.

[westmeadboy]

Just one thought - is it an option to get some package in Kathmandu that will take me into China through Lhasa? I don't know if those Beijing agencies can convert/extend such visas though...?

[adrianlondon]

I'll be going to a visa agent (probably FBT despite the nausea-inducing web page) tomorrow to get my L visa, as a UK citizen, for China. Although 850HKD is a bit steep, I think they're all the around the same price. I would have gotten it in London but I'm currently working in Germany and the embassy in London has stopped the same-day service.

If anyone needs me to ask anything about other situations while I'm there, post here before tomorrow late morning.

[roddy]

If you're just after a standard 30 day L visa you should be able to get it yourself at less expense (though maybe more queuing at the China Resources Building where the official 'consulate' is.

If you're at an agency, you can ask them if there's any news on when F visas without stay restrictions for UK passport holders will be available.

@westmeadboy - check the travel forums like Virtual Tourist, Lonely Planet's Thorntree, etc, for the latest, but as I understand it if you're heading into Tibet you can only get a group visa, and splitting these so you have a visa each is somewhere between impossible and painful. But do check elsewhere, things do change and it might be possible.

[adrianlondon]

The official embassy in HK says that unless you have HK ID or proof that you work in HK permanently then you need to apply for your visa back in your own country. This is what the consulate in Munich told me when I asked if I could get the visa there. Unless, of course, you meant this place which might be worth a visit.

I'll ask about F-visas without stay restrictions for UK passport holders.

[roddy]

I'd be surprised if you don't get one, to be honest - even over the summer someone on here got a Z visa in HK, despite that. 'Course, I can understand if you don't want to risk the queue . . .

[adrianlondon]

I went to the FBT visa office yesterday around 11am and dropped off my passport. They gave me the L visa form to fill out, took a photo and gave me a receipt. Luckily, the office isn't as forever bright as their website.

I picked up my passport at 1pm today and paid HK$870. This is a $170 premium ($20 was for the photo as I didn't bring one) over the embassy's next-day price. Considering that they check the form over (and it seems never have an application rejected), are located in Kowloon close to my hotel, speak good English, and there are no queues at all, means that the fee they charge is a bargain to me.

I asked about F visas and it seemed a bit complex. You need to physically go there to apply for your first F visa and then 6 month multi-entry F visas can be done by post. I think what this means is that they can issue 6 month multi-entry F visas, by post, for those who already have a valid F visa. They gave me a leaflet explaining it all and I'll drop it of with Roddy over the coming weekend.

The important bit .. it costs 2300y (including posting it back) and it says there's a surcharge for British and American passports. I didn't notice that while at the agency so didn't ask how much it was. They seem friendly enough so one could phone or email. They responded to an email of mine within 24 hours.

[roddy]

Dropped FBT a line - all they said was that from March 2 you'll be able to get single or double entry F visas, 90 day stay each entry - IF you have an invitation letter from a company in Guangdong. Not a huge amount of use.

[westmeadboy]

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).

Hey Roddy - I was looking on another forum and some guy who went to the chiang mai consulate in Nov 2008, said this:

[http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=223068&view=findpost&p=2355559]

All I needed was a completed visa application, one passport photo, and my passport. Airline and hotel confirmations not required per the consul straff.

I went with the one day service which was 5600 baht. Submitted application at 9 AM and picked up passport with visa at 3PM. I requested a 12 month multiple entry visa for tourism purposes but they would only give me 6 month double entry visa with two 30 day stays.

Any ideas why he only got 30 day stays whereas you got 90 day stays?

EDIT - from the fee it looks like he's a US citizen so I guess that could be it.

Edited March 10, 2009 at 03:51 PM by westmeadboy

[Hedge]

Sounds like hedge's school are going through one of the agencies to sort out the visa - in this case you may well be better off doing it directly as there may be a middleman's cut involved. However, these agencies only exist (afaik) in Shanghai and Beijing, so unless you're there you need to make a trip. Although I think Emoo in Shanghai takes postal applications, I never like entrusting my passport to the postal service in any country.

Yes I'm pretty sure they are going through an agency. Just got my passport back with a shiny new 1 year multiple entry F visa, unlimited stay per visit. Cost me 5000 RMB though (!), but at least I'm set for a while.

I'm in Shanghai, but the visa was issued in Beijing so they must have sent my passport there. I wasn't aware they would do that, I also don't like sending my passport anywhere.

[laurkiik]

Here's a cry for help....

I am in Xi'an. Have an L visa, which I extended once in Beijing. It is over by 18th -- in four days.

All the numerous shady 'companies' that I have contacted can't do 3 and 6 months F visas since January already, as you know. Probably because of the 两会? This time I don't have anywhere to get the 3000USD on my bank account, which is required to extend the L visa 30 days, either. Thus, probably I'll have to spend lots of money to go to Hong Kong by Wednesday and do the visa somewhere over there...

Does anyone know a better way??

If not, what agency in HK would you recommend, if applying for a 3 or 6 months visa?

[pazu]

Roddy, Hello, long time no see!

Laurkiik: From what I gathered from the past few months, you cannot change an L to F visa easily anymore (please let me know if I'm wrong). I hope I don't give you any incorrect information, what you should do is to exit mainland China, go to Hong Kong and get an F visa through a tour agency (FBT, etc) for around HK$450 - 600, or more for Brits and Americans.

Use this 30-day F visa to enter back into mainland China, send this passport to some other tour agencies in Shanghai or Beijing and get a 6-month or one-year extension. From my understanding, you must exit mainland China once.

[laurkiik]

hey, yes, got back from HK a few days ago. The only visa that FBT was able to do was L. The max was 2x 30 days L. So I got it...

Hope to get a working visa soon, if I get hired by some English language school.

On the bright side, although I spent lots of money on the road to and back from HK, I also met a lot of interesting people. On the 30h train ride from Shenzhen to Xi'an alone, I chatted with about twenty different Chinese young and old, changed eight QQ numbers, learnt how tragic this economic crisis really is on some youth's life, etc..

[roddy]

Pazu, nice to see you back again. Where's Kong? Hope you're looking after him.

L visas CAN be changed to F visas, I'm told, but it's pricey. I was quoted RMB5000 to go L>6 month F in Beijing last week. As I'm not actually needing to do this for a couple of months I didn't attempt to bargain or anything, so I don't know how realistic this price is. All I can suggest is to get in touch with the agencies that seem to be more active / established, and ask. They mostly seem to have MSN / Skype details. Emoo, Traders-link, Leeo are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Personally, I'm idly looking at jobs. If I can get the kind of set up I had a few years back - plenty of money to live off and save, part-time hours and a Z visa - I might be tempted.

[leigao]

I found this on the consulate website:

A Chinese-American born in China (Taiwan, HongKong and Macau included)may apply for a Multiple Entry “L” Visa valid for 24 months.The photocopy of the personal information page of his/her passport is required to provide.

Does this mean I can stay in China for 24 months or that it's valid for 24 months but I have to leave the country every 90 days??

Also, I still have my Chinese passport (not expiring until 2012). It's obviously not valid for entry, but perhaps I can still use it for hotels and banks?

[peekay]

1) 24-months is the validity of the visa, not the length of each stay.

2) I would leave your Chinese passport at home, and use your American passport exclusively (especially for hotels, banks, etc.) Pretending you're still a Chinese national gains you nothing, can land you in jail, and it's just not worth it. Sometimes it's "better" to be a known foreigner anyway, especially in crisis situations (God forbid.)