Starting a business in China to get a visa

[BradenLJH]

Hello, hello.

So I've been reading forums and travel websites for more time than I want to think about. I've also done a bit of searching on the topic I would like to bring up here, and it may be bad news that I have not found similar threads on this forum.

However -

A few places mention in passing that you can obtain an F visa if you were to start your own business. In this case, I'm pretty sure they were talking about starting a business in China, which requires way more money than I have.

I've started cold-calling visa agencies in the US, where my passport is from, and have been given hints that all one needs when applying for an F visa while in the US is a formal letter (i.e. a letter on letterhead) stating my intentions, how long I will be there and how my trip will be funded.

My question is, has anyone tried - or heard of anyone - setting up their own business in the US, naming themselves/someone else as CEO, creating a logo, putting up letterhead and using this as their letter of intent? If so, has it worked?

If it were not to work, I would only be out 35 USD, so I'm not necessarily worried about the cost. However, I would need to worry about being denied a visa and the time it would take from me getting a visa.

Are there any restrictions on how quickly one can apply and reapply for a visa, in the chance that it doesn't work?

Any suggestions on what would pass as a business? Or do you all think that the only way this would work is if it was a business I started in China?

THANKS,

Braden

Edited August 6, 2009 at 12:20 AM by BradenLJH
Edit: to apologize for the apparent double post

[muyongshi]

It has to be a business in China issuing the invitation.

[BradenLJH]

I was told that this works for a number of countries. Are you sure this is not an option for visas in China? The embassy website has this to say about F visas:

"Visa Notifications Form from an authorized Chinese Unit, or invitation letters from the host company, meeting or exhibition organizers in China, or an introduction letter from applicant's US company, etc."

[muyongshi]

But that is with the permission of a China based company, even if the US issues the invitation. Sorry, it's pretty straightforward.

You could try! You might slip through a crack... But, I'm not BSing you here, simple and straightforward and yes I am VERY sure.

[roddy]

Why not ask the agencies to clarify the hints?

Certainly in the past F visas were issued pretty easily, but things tightened up a lot in 2008. Now, I don't know.

Bear in mind that an F visa could be for three months, with the requirement to leave the country every thirty days - it's not necessarily a license to float around China doing what you want for a year.

That said, you can get some breaks. Spoke to an American recently who'd applied for an F visa for a semester of study at a university - he had the enrollment letter, etc. He got eighteen months worth of visa (F, multi entry, 180 day stay, enter before date one year in the future).

[BradenLJH]

Thanks Muyongshi,

I was hesitant about the idea from the get-go, but was advised by a veteran traveler that this might work. I'm not going to try it, too much risk that it will waste more time. I'll wait to see if anyone else has much to say about the idea, but unless I hear a "yes it works" story, I probably won't bite.

Roddy,

Thanks for the heads up. I'm not really looking to float around doing what I want for a year in the bohemian sense, but I am looking for that "for a year" part. I've just been trying to find the breaks you're talking about. But it's like counting cards, there are ways to beat chance...just don't know how to do it.

Here's the real situation, my partner and I are planning on living and doing independent research, "visiting scholar" type of stuff in Yunnan. (I'll be attending classes and all.) Just having graduated, there isn't enough money in our pockets to live abroad AND to pay enrollment, so the most obvious route is out. We do plan on getting a job, but then there's the whole thing about returning to your home country to get a Z visa, which we couldn't afford the round-trip on, which makes it seem safer to just pick the longest stay we can get.

Roddy, I've read your post about the Qingdao run, but I'm worried that when I arrive in September, these runs will be shut down for guoqingjie the following month.

I suppose I should just suck it up, get an L visa and expect to make a few trips here and there to ride out the storm. I'm just worried that the storm is permanent.

I'll deal with the problem when it's a problem, I guess.

[AxelManbow]

I'm dazed and confused, but like your ingenuity!

It might work for some countries, but in China, to echo the posters above, you need an invitation letter from a local company. There are some agencies that issue an F visa from their China office (the China office acting as inviter).

If any visitors come across this post in the future with the idea of starting a company actually in China in order to grant yourself a perennial Z visa - minimum realistic capital requirements are 100,000 CNY, there's loads of administration, if you don't declare the income the tax office think you should earn you'll have to pay the level of tax they decide anyway, if you move away from the city/district you incorporated in the local government are unlikely to remain your friend and will ask difficult questions every year. I wouldn't recommend it.

[billiardsmike]

As you've already seen, the answers vary. That's because the rules vary from day to day and depending on who is asking. All I can give you is my personal experience.

In January I had to return to the states in order to convert my X visa into an F. I did this by supplying a letter from my American "boss", requesting an F visa so that I could do some purchasing research. That's all it took. No Chinese invitation required. I got my 90 day F visa in about a week. In Beijing, I was given a 180 day visa when I renewed, simply by showing them the same letter.

I recently received my Z visa. I was told by everyone I talked to that I would need to return to the U.S. in order to convert an F to a Z. After the physical exam showed that I did not have swine flu, I asked my agent why I was being required to go to the states and risk exposure. He called me back the next day and said that they would handle it in Beijing. I got the visa one week later.

So, in answer to your question - maybe. It's been done before.

[DoubleD]

Hi have read your question and I don't understand what you are trying to achieve. Do you want to set a business in China or do you merely want a visa to go to China ????