Confucius Institute Scholarship

[shuoshuo]

amvtop10 - That's not going to be a problem, as long as you register on time.

[Chris.Raspberry]

Hi guys! I need your help - I've received the Scholarship and I'm supposed to start it in september. Unfortunately, due to many problems in my private life probably I won't be able to go to China. Do you know how can I officially quit from the scholarship? I couldn't find what kind of consequences this may cause. Have you ever had a simillar problem? Any advices?

[ATkinG]

@amvtop10 well my registration date is also same as yours, but i contacted to my host university and they told me that i can avail dorm facility from 1st of September. Therefore i booked my ticket on 27th of August, so i can travel a little bit before my classes starts there.

You should also contact to your host university and book your ticket accordingly.

[shuoshuo]

@Chris.Raspberry - If you applied through your Confucius Institute, let them know about your decision. If you applied online, you can email the address that's available as soon as you log in. If you let your university know that you will not be attending, they could also relay the information to the Confusius Institute department. Alternatively, you can just miss the registration date and that will count as giving up the scholarship.

@ATkinG - Doesn't that mean you will have to pay for accommodation from the time you arrive until the 1st when the dorms are officially available?

[ATkinG]

@Chris.Raspberry -yea, shuoshuo is right!

@shuoshuo - actually i emailed them in Chinese with the help of one of my Chinese friend and they got much impress with it and emailed me that " your Chinese level is so good, therefore we'll do a favor for you by arranging dorm on 1st of September for FREE." lol

i don't know what was that but i am happy with it

[shuoshuo]

@ATkinG - I mean if you will leave your country on the 27th, that means you will arrive in China before the 1st. Is this correct? So if you arrive in China before the 1st of Sept (maybe 28th-31st of Aug), will you have to pay for the room during this period?

My university told me that the accommodation will be available from the 1st of Sept. So I was planning on arriving on the 1st (I will have about 10 days to hangout, until the start of the semester). Now I'm thinking of going 1 week earlier (so that's almost 2 weeks before the start of the semester). I will probably have to live somewhere else until the unversity accommodation is available.

[ATkinG]

@shuoshuo - Well, I've booked the connecting flight to China, which will go to Thailand first and after one day, another flight will take me to Wuhan province. That would be an awesome journey

And offcourse after reaching there before due date, i have to stay outside of campus in some hotel ay my own expense, as they told me that dorm would'nt be available before 1st September.

[amvtop10]

I need help! One of the question on the visa form asks

"2.7在华期间是否有医疗保险?如有，请填写保险公司名称及保险账号。Do you have

medical insurance covering your visit in China? If “Yes”,please fill out the name of the

medical insurance company and your account number."

I know that the scholarship covers basic medical insurances. So do i put yes or no? if yes how do i find that information?

[fruitie]

@amvtop - I asked that question before. shuoshuo advised:

"if you have the information, then fill in the form with the information you have. Although I would expect your school to have the information when they sent you the visa form."

interestingly, I can't see anything on the visa form my school sent me......

[amvtop10]

Just went to the Chinese embassy on 12th avenue today (didn't realize there was like no embassy in the NE, luckily it was near where I live). Super Easy! Waited in line for like 20 minute. Handed in my papers, within 1 minute I get my receipt and done. Lol. Just need to pick up my visa on Thursday. The review for the embassy were so bad that it scared me to even step in. They were all lies! I guess they never been to the DMV.

The girl in front of me I think also was awarded a CI scholarship but they didn't take her papers and she was sent upstairs. She looked mad. Was anyone at the Embassy today?

I was surprised they took my papers. On my letter it said take your blood test and physical to the Embassy. I didn't take it because my doctor took too long, so i went without them. What am I suppose to do with these medical papers? Do I need shots and a check up before I go? I remember someone saying from here I can take them in China.

@Fruite yeah, same here. I can't see what is marked. I think in China, they use cheap paper. Even their envelope and boxes are low in quality.

Note: Also, I just want to inform everyone that you should follow the information on filling out the Visa on your Chinese Embassy website. Make sure it is the Embassy website you will be going to not the main website, because today, I saw soooooooooooooo many people who couldn't get their visa application taken. I do not know why but from the reviews it is probably because they hand fill out the application. You need to fill in the information by typing it on adobe reader. Here is a link to all the information you need to know. http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsyw/lszjx/sbqz/hcv/ Also do not staple your papers, paper clip them. I hear they don't accept stapled paper. But if you read the link, you should be out quick.

[shuoshuo]

3 weeks left and I haven't received the documents that were posted on the first week of July. I have asked my school for permission to apply for an F visa instead of the X visa and I have also asked them if they will be able to issue an admissions notice when I get to China. We'll see what their reply is (I'm expecting a reply today).

Guys, I am also thinking of applying for a 180-days F visa that should cover my first semester. Paying 800 RMB for a 1-year residence permit is starting to bug me. I mean, why pay for that when I can save 400 RMB next semester (for a 6-month residence permit)?

As soon as we arrive, we are expected to cover several fees (all or some):

• Residence permit (800 rmb for 1 year)
  
• accommodation deposit (about 400 rmb)
  
• 500rmb or so if you need to re-do your physical examinations
  
• some schools request registration fees (about 200+ rmb)
  
• internet fees (approx. 60-70rmb per month)
  

Make sure you've got enough cash on you in case they delay with our monthly allowance.

[amvtop10]

Wow!!! 150 dollar for a residence permit. 50 dollars for an accommodation deposit. 100 dollar for a physical examination. 30 dollar for registration and 10 dollar for internet?

Actually that is not bad, but that do sound annoying having to pay for everything yourself even though you are under a scholarship. My internet better be fast!

Why did you mention the visa? Don't we get our visa in our own country before we step in China? We need another Visa once we get in china? Where did you find this information?

[SuEn]

The fees might be even more than what shuoshuo said. My previous school had a 1000 RMB deposit if you stayed one semester, 2000 RMB for the whole year. But it's just a deposit, you get it back when you move out. The physical examination might cost quite a bit of money, especially if they have you do a new one. Even if you don't have to do it all over again, you're gonna have to get it certified.

@amvtop10 - I think I already explained a few pages back the difference between visa and residence permit. Obviously, it doesn't help that shuoshuo keeps using "visa" as another name for it. What you have to get within 30 days of entering China is RESIDENCE PERMIT.

@shuoshuo - Issue the admission notice when you get in China? How are you going to get your visa? Your Chinese Embassy must be really generous with 180 day F visas if what you're proposing is possible. I mean, I can imagine some places are more lenient than others and I know you've applied for for a Chinese visa before but I thought I'd warn you about this. It used to be very easy to get a visa a few years ago but then they added more requirements. The last three times I went to the Chinese embassy, I've seen so many people refused because they don't have all the required documents. While I can kinda see how you might be able to negotiate 180 day F visa instead of a X visa when you have the admission notice and the visa application form from your university (though why should they give you 180 day F visa when clearly the appropriate visa is X? The duration of your scholarship is on the visa application form, they will know you're gonna stay for a year), I don't think you can get 180 day F visa if you don't have the admission notice and visa application form from your university. What is your purpose of stay?

If you know what you're doing, sorry for the unnecessary advice. I'm really curious where you're from. I want to move to a place where the Chinese Embassy gives out 180 days visas so easily. If this is possible for you, it's great, but if you write about it here, I think you should indicate that this might be a special case, otherwise you're kinda giving people false information. If someone tried to do this at the embassy here, they would be refused within 30 seconds.

[shuoshuo]

Sorry I used the term 'visa' when I should have used RP (I have the habit of coming here in the early hours of the morning when my brain is only half-working). I have corrected this in the above post.

@amvtop10 - The embassy will give you a visa which you will then have to convert to a residence permit when you get to China. Apologies for the confusion above. Right, the fees aren't that bad when converted to USD. But look at it this way: we're paid only about $230 a month. That said, the cost of living in China is much lower than many other countries. So in comparison, these fees are quite steep. With the 400 RMB that I'm trying to save, I can pay for park & zoo entrances. I can also stretch out 400 RMB in about a week and a half or 2 weeks.

@SuEn - I suppose you're right. There may be a possibility that there's a lot of leniency in some countries. However, I don't see how it's entirely inappropriate for me to use an F visa. I see a lot of people mentioning here that the F visa is a tourist visa. An F visa is a short-term stay visa which is also used for businessmen & for short-term students.

If I receive my documents which includes the Jw-201 form by the time I apply for my visa next week, I will apply for an X visa. But if not, I will have to attempt to apply for the 6-month F visa (please note that there is always that possibility that they may choose to offer me a 30-day visa instead). My host institution has replied to my email, according to him he can issue me an email version of my admissions notice or a letter which will help my visa application. I don't know how convincing an email print-out would be though.

[SuEn]

@shuoshuo - I'm not saying it's entirely inappropriate. F visa is in fact a type of student visa (in the old system, I have no idea what's gonna happen with it in the new one), meant for students who stay in China for less than six months, this is also related to the medical exam - if you stay in China less than 6 months, you don't have to do it, so if you get F visa, you don't have to get a residence permit, which means you don't have to do the medical exam. However, if you are going for a year, you're required (by law maybe? I know this is one of the rules related to visas/residence permits) to do the medical exam and to enter on X visa which you convert to a residence permit (this is also much more convenient if you want to leave and re-enter China within your study period). The information on the Chinese Embassy website in my country is very clear on this - F visa is the student visa for 1 semester, X visa is the student visa for more than 1 semester (obviously your embassy might be a little different but I'd say this should be pretty much the same everywhere, I've heard the same from a few other countries). I had 180 day F visa myself last time I studied in China, but my paperwork from the university said one semester, so that's why I was able to get it.

Obviously not all people here have accurate information, F visa is definitely not tourist visa. Does the embassy in your country not have any information online? Check that and you will know if what I'm saying applies to you.

Of course you can try to get a 30 day tourist visa (L type) and enter China on that but I would advise against that. In fact my previous university was specifically warning against this, saying they would not be able to help us convert to a residence permit and that it is at your own risk if you enter China on any other visa than F or X. The PSB has different rules in every city so every university might be different. I've heard of people converting 30 day L visas to residence permits but I think it's more of an exception.

I think you still need the documents from your university even if you want to get the F visa. What I'm saying is that 180 day F visa is most likely not an option for you if you haven't received your admission notice. You still need some official documents to support your application if you want to stay in China this long, like an invitation letter. I've heard that some embassies accept faxed or emailed invitations. This might be an option for you if your university agrees to issue some kind of an invitation (maybe only for the first semester now to make it more appropriate for the F visa?) and email or fax it to you so you can get the F visa.

I suggest you call your embassy, tell them you still haven't received your paperwork and see what they say about accepting a print out of the admission notice or if they have any other suggestions. You have received a scholarship to study in China, this is one of the easier situations for visas, in my experience, I'm sure this will all work out fine. Just call/email them and ask. It's not like you're trying to figure out a way to cheat them into giving you a visa or anything.

Sorry for the long post but there seems to be so much misinformation about visas. I've been to the Chinese Embassy enough times and I've seen with how much misinformation people come there and waste not just their own but everyone else's time because they get repeatedly refused because they do not submit all the required documents or insist they get another type of visa than is appropriate for their situation.

[shuoshuo]

SuEn, actually I really do appreciate the lengthy response! I appreciate you taking the time to help me find some relief in this stressful situation (while my documents have gone AWOL!). So yes, thank you!

My physical examinations have been completed, this was mandatory for my CSC application. I had them done late April so hopefully I won't have to do them again. But hey, it's China...I suppose one can never be sure. I even heard that they're thinking of changing the 6-month validity period of these tests to just 2-3 months. If this is the case, then my tests would already be invalid at this point.

My preference would definitely be to get an X visa then convert that to a 1-yr residence permit. That way, it's not something I ever have to worry about while I'm there for the year. But unfortunately, things don't seem to be going my way. I seem to be the only person I know who hasn't received their documents. I will not be able to apply for an X visa without the JW-201 form issued by the school. I won't risk applying for an L visa, so the only thing I can apply for is an F visa. The cost of 30 or 180 days is the same. So am I tempted to try out for the 180 days visa? Yes.

The disadvantages of course: an F visa cannot be extended. It can only be converted to a residence permit. Also, it would be a single-entry visa, which means I won't be able to re-enter China without a new visa if I plan on exiting during this period. The problem here would also be this: if I apply for a 6-month residence permit for next semester, would I have to do the physical examinations again (i.e. incurring even more costs)? This is such a deja vu (I extended and F-visa to a RP once before).

I know that the admins probably don't like us talking about visas on the CI board, but I thought it would be an interesting insight on part of the process prior to our departure on this CI scholarship.

[SuEn]

Well I didn't realize we shouldn't be talking about this here. If it's not alright, I hope the admins will let us know and split it into a separate topic if they think it should be split or delete it. I still think this might useful for someone else later.

About the medical exam, I think if you wanted to convert to RP for the second semester you'd have to do it. I had to do it when I converted because the one I did for the scholarship application was expired.

Did the university send your documents by regular mail? That's probably not traceable is it? That is so stupid. If they issued new ones and sent them to you now by EMS you might still make it. I'm not sure how easily they can issue them again, though. Is your CI helping you resolve this? They should. And I'm sure the embassy will at least give you specific information. In my experience, the people working there are strict with the rules but very helpful.

I think what you should do is call your embassy, explain the situation and ask if they would accept the documents printed out from an email (maybe your CI could give you something with an official stamp that would confirm the scholarship to support the copies of your admission notice and visa application form?). If they say no, email your university again and ask how you should proceed. It is their fault you didn't get your documents yet, clearly. They should help you figure this out. Also email your CI (or was your recommending institution something else?), if it seems like nobody is doing anything to help you, email Hanban.

Man, I would be so upset if this was happening to me so I really hope it works out ok.

I've heard of people getting their documents very late, so I think there's still hope you'll get yours. Have you already booked your flight? I suppose you have and that's why this is even more stressful for you.

[shuoshuo]

@SuEn - The university sent my documents by regular, registered mail. So I can track it, until a certain point. There appears to be a tracking update today (before this, there had been no update for 2 whole weeks)...the mail reached a neighbouring country some time last week. There is a direct flight from that country to mine today. So if my documents are on that flight, I should receive the documents in a few days at most. The good news is that the documents are not lost and they are still on their way here...albeit slowly, but surely.

Actually, I haven't booked my flight *insert embarrassed emoticon here*. I will buy the ticket early next week.

3 weeks left!

[ATkinG]

Well, i've got my documents, booked my ticket for $685 (even though my country and China r bordering countries lol), have attested all the documents and going to get visa probably on 13th of of this month.

@shuoshu Are you sure that we gotta pay *Residence permit* and *Accommodation deposit* fees? And can you suggest me that how much money should i take with me to China as i m going there for a year.

btw don't worry, i'll pray for you that you get your documents sooner

[amanda92]

I was on the CI scholarship for a year studying Chinese. I got the scholarship easily because I am a student of my CI. This year I was supposed to get the MTCSOL CI Scholarship but last minute I failed HSK level 5. I took it again however and I just barely passed. But before that I had already applied for a CSC scholarship and I got in so it's too late. I'm now on a CSC scholarship for masters in English. Anyone here going to Xiada?