Visa for a year

[rezaf]

Is it possible to get a one-year student visa if I pay for a year? My Vietnamese friends have got it but my teacher says that it is not possible in most of the cases.

[stephanhodges]

It's not a problem at any of the Universities in Harbin that I've heard of. I just went down to the police station 1 week ago to get a 1 year visa extenstion. Other than waiting in line, the actual processing time took about 10 minutes total (three different windows).

Took 30 seconds to pay my 800 rmb.

I'm American.

However, school, location, and nationality might make a difference. You didn't mention any of those for yourself.

[roddy]

Should be no problem - I've been on a year long student visa this year, and I can't see any reason why a school would want to not give you one. Although it might just be for the academic year rather than a full 12 months. Is that the issue?

[rezaf]

I don't know, maybe it's because of the Olympics or maybe it's because I am Iranian? The problem is not from my university. My teacher said that I can try it but she wasn't so optimistic that the visa bureau would agree. She said that it's difficult to get it recently.

[pandaxiongmao]

This has happened even before the Olympics. When I started studying at Hainan University a few years ago, my initial residence permit was only for 6 months. Apparently the quota for 1 year residency permits had already been hit (as of September that year).

I had come in on an X visa. When it came time to renew in January, 1 year or longer wouldn't have been a problem.