Visa Restrictions 2008?!!

[L-F-J]

Yo, I've been reading about visa restrictions recently.

I've heard you cant get a visa for china until the olympics are done.

Does anyone know if this applies to L visas? I'm going to southern china next month (i hope).

Does anyone know if its still possible to get an L visa for more than 30 days with flight itinerary and all?

please say yes......

[roddy]

I've heard you cant get a visa for china until the olympics are done.

Should be a well-attended Olympics then . . .

There are reports on thatsbj.com of people having to provide itineraries / hotel booking info I think, but tourist visas are still available. If you can't get any information out of the embassy, perhaps try a local visa handling service - they should be up to date.

[L-F-J]

right, i just asked the visa agent i used last year. they said there are new restrictions but they are still being given.

but i dont understand. if i'm going to china to travel how can i get hotel booking info?? i will be travelling and wont be in the same place. do they expect me to have a hotel booked for my entire trip??

what if i'm staying with friends or family. i guess i need a letter now?

it was much easier last year....

[L-F-J]

for anyone else who is wondering, i contacted the visa agent.

they told me they are still giving visas! they only change for L visas is just that they need proof of where you will be staying- contact info.

if not a hotel reservation, then an invitation letter.

in my case, going to two places to stay with people means getting two invitation letters.

[Prodigal Son]

they told me they are still giving visas! they only change for L visas is just that they need proof of where you will be staying- contact info.

if not a hotel reservation, then an invitation letter.

what kind of invitation letter: like a "please come stay at my house" note signed by a chinese friend?

[L-F-J]

well, for one, i'll be going to meet my martial arts teacher and stay at his school for a while. i'll have to get a formal invitation letter from their school on company letterhead.

the other is staying with my wifes family. they didnt give much detail, but just said an invitation letter will be enough. it needs to have their name, address, phone number, basic contact information for where i'll be staying.

[Prodigal Son]

they didnt give much detail, but just said an invitation letter will be enough. it needs to have their name, address, phone number, basic contact information for where i'll be staying.

jesus, all that for a 30-day L visa? I assume they can be extended twice in-country just as before..

[deterius]

So does anyone know, can you switch to an F visa from an L visa once in China?

[Prodigal Son]

So does anyone know, can you switch to an F visa from an L visa once in China?

good question - I've tried to find as much information on the recent visa changes as I can and I haven't found anything that indicates this particular rule has changed. asking a company which issues F visas would be a more definitive answer, though.

[deterius]

Can anyone in China call their Visa guys and find out if we can still switch from L to F? :

[cdn_in_bj]

FYI - my family just got tourist visas to visit me next month. They applied from Canada and as far as I know the procedure was the same as two years ago when they last visited me. I didn't need to supply an "invitation letter" - they just filled out my address on the visa application form.

[L-F-J]

how long are they staying though?

in order to get a tourist visa for more than 30 days you need hotel bookings or an invitation, as far as i was told by the agents.

but i was just asking in reference to a visa more than 30 days. last year, was less than 30 days so i had no problem. this year 50 or more so i need all that stuff.

[cdn_in_bj]

how long are they staying though?

They'll be staying less than 30 days.

in order to get a tourist visa for more than 30 days you need hotel bookings or an invitation, as far as i was told by the agents.

Sorry, I missed the part about it applying for stays longer than 30 days.

[L-F-J]

i'm not sure about 30 days or less. i wasnt concerned with looking that up. but this is what i looked at: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84246.htm

and then contacted my visa agent to confirm all i need.

[Poemba]

I'm planning on studying in Xiamen in september 2008. But is it possibile to get there in august 2008? I want to apply for the X visum, since i'm planning on studying there for one year!

[L-F-J]

take a look at the website of the chinese embassy for the updates on visa restrictions. http://www.china-embassy.org/

if you get your visa through an agent, contact them and ask. i dont really know about your situation.

[self-taught-mba]

Well that's easy enough --simply get that two year at multiple entry tourist visa that they list on the website.

It's there so it must be available:roll:

[renzhe]

jesus, all that for a 30-day L visa?

I had to do this as well, including an itinerary of my trip, listing all the cities I planned to visit. On top of that, the name and address of my host in China, telephone number, etc.

But I didn't have any problems or delay getting it.

[onebir]

Quote:

So does anyone know, can you switch to an F visa from an L visa once in China?

good question - I've tried to find as much information on the recent visa changes as I can and I haven't found anything that indicates this particular rule has changed. asking a company which issues F visas would be a more definitive answer, though.

Some visa agents can do this, as can language schools with good PSB guanxi. But it seems to be an unofficial power (even for the schools) - if you ask at an embassy they'll say if you go to China on an L visa, you'll have to leave the country to switch to F or X.

So in this climate, I don't think anyone can give an answer to your question valid beyond the next change in policy (ie for more than a few days). A Shanghai-based visa agent who said he could extend my F visa a few days back has just gone silent, for example...