Major problems getting a Z Visa - Advice needed

[consultant2b]

Hi Everyone,

I am stuck in a really difficult situation and feel totally helpless. Would appreciate any sort of help or advice. I am the director of a Hong Kong based company and I recently opened a rep. office in Guangzhou and appointed myself as the “Chief Representative”. All the rep. office formalities were completed as per the Chinese laws and I even ensured that the Chinese employees hired in the office were given proper social insurance. I spent over 4-5 months and a substantial amount of money in completing all these formalities as per the laws of China.

Based on properly completing all the formalities I was issued the documents required for applying for a Z Visa, including the original “Invitation Letter” issued by the duly authorised unit. I applied for a (Z Visa) and my passport was returned back after 21 days (instead of the standard 4 days), however, none of my documents were returned. These included the visa form, photocopies of rep. office paperwork and most importantly the "Original" Invitation letter”. As I did not get the documents back, I was unable to find out the reason for rejection of my visa. Also, the “invitation letter” was extremely important for me, as it took us nearly 3 months of formalities in China, in order to get this letter. However, I re-applied on 26

^th

April, and once again wasn’t issued the visa. This time I received my documents back, but there was no reason written on the form for rejection.

As someone who has visited China frequently over the last two years, I have always made sure that I follow all relevant laws in China and have never overstayed my visa or infringed any laws at all. Therefore I was extremely disturbed by the decision. I have been left in an extremely difficult position, where I have no Visa, have lost hold of my invitation letter & I am not aware of the reason for rejection. As the representative office is operational in China, this is leading to a lot of losses and is affecting the morale of the employees in China too. I have made several attempts to at least find a reason and get an appointment with a “Visa officer” at the Chinese Embassy so I can offer any clarifications on my visa history and also explain the difficult situation that I find myself in. However, I have had no luck in this process.

I wrote a detailed letter similar to this post about my situation in Mandarin and handed it over at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. However, I was simply told that there must be a reason for rejection and they don’t always tell the reason and that they were “too busy” for an appointment. I would really like some advice on how I might be able to get an appointment or what sort of organizations I can approach for help or who I can speak to in order to get some help on this matter.

[gato]

Your situation is probably too complex for an Internet forum. I would suggest that you talk to a China immigration lawyer about this. I have worked with Fragomen's office in China and found them to be helpful.

Here is their website: http://www.fragomen.com/globalcapabilities/CountryServiceDetail.aspx?xpST=CountryServices&service=82

[liuzhou]

I was issued the documents required for applying for a Z Visa

by whom?

Invitation Letter issued by the duly authorised unit

You invited yourself?

[roddy]

Would be rep office's registering authority I think, normally the 工商局?

[consultant2b]

Gato: Thanks for the link. I will get in touch with them to see if they can help.

The invite was issued by a govt. approved agency, approved for issuing invitation letters to rep. office representatives, after verifying all the documents of the representative office. I would like to re-iterate that in terms of paperwork we have everything we need. The Visa centre does not accept applications, unless each and every "required" document is provided to them.

Would appreciate any more ideas and suggestions.

[zhouhaochen]

I might have missed it - but where did you apply? And have you tried applying at another embassy?

[panda23]

curious to know if the OP got his visa and what the problem was.

hopefully this is just an isolated incident.