Urgent! Business Cover Letter/Invitation Letter for F Visa.

[Mike N]

Hey all,

I've been absent for a while for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is that I was interviewing for a job in China--which I got! I'm headed back to Beijing in just a few short weeks!

This has, however, put me into a high-pressure situation. I need to get my visa and I need it next week. Period. I don't qualify for the work visa (Z) because although I'm 25 and graduated, I don't have the 2 years of post-grad working experience. As a result, I'm going for an F visa and the company will convert my F visa into a work permit over in China.

It seemed like it should be simple enough, but now I'm running into the issue of this business cover letter/invitation letter. I'm just not quite sure how to instruct my company to write it for me. Anyone able to shine some light on this and give me some tips/tricks?

Thanks very much.

[dlee85]

It's been a while since I got an F-visa (2009). But from what I can remember, I had to take an official looking stamped document to the embassy in Hong Kong. It was very much like the document you would get for a student or z-visa.

[xiaoxiaocao]

You can't just have any Chinese company write you a F visa invitation letter. The company has to have approval from the local government. They then have to fill in a bunch of forms, show their business license etc before they can get an invitation letter for you. Does the company you will work for have this approval? If they do then it should be an easy process for them. Also, keep in mind everything is going to be closed down from this weekend for 7 days.

[GaryM]

I have had an F-Visa before. One of the key things is that you need a letter of invitation from a "authorized unit in China";

For details see here;

http://www.visaforchina.org/LON_EN/visainstruction/250044.shtml

In my case the invitation was from a state owned enterprise. I am not sure that schools generally would have the authority

to issue these kind of invitations.

The second issue is the ability to convert from an F visa to a Z visa. There is mixed information on many websites

but one thing to keep in mind is that it might be necessary to leave the country when you receive your first Z visa

as described here;

http://answers.echinacities.com/question/2544

Sorry not to be able to bring you better news. Although I do know of someone who worked in China whilst

on an X Visa (Student Visa), I do not know if this is strictly legal. I also know of cases of graduates who have

not had two years of work experience who obtained a Z Visa. Although I don't know if they were altogether

honest about declaring their work experience.

[Mike N]

Thanks for the info Gary. Initially, it sounded like it was such a casual thing. Get your F visa and then come get your work permit. No big deal! Now I'm starting to feel like I might be in a little over my head. I sent an email to my company's HR division and hopefully I can get a quick and informative answer.

[Matty]

From what my latest information is, you can't convert an F-Visa to a Z-Visa in the mainland, except maybe in Hainan, unless your company is absolutely huge with alot of pushing power or some great relations. In which case they would have to organise you some forms for working in the mainland and send you abroad again to apply for your new visa.

I should also warn you that it is possible that the company is not intending to give you a Z-Visa and is intending to make up excuses later and have you working illegally on an F-Visa.