Possible F visa

[Camlon]

I got accepted for an internship in a chinese company yesterday, and I am little unsure about the visa process. I am planning to ask the embassy in Auckland, New Zealand tomorrow, but before I ask I am trying to get some more information.

Some information about the internship

• I am there for 105 days, doing engineering work
  
• It is a quite small company. Not well known in China
  
• It is not offically paid, although they told me there is a possibility of a bonus
  
• They can give me a letter of invitation if I need one
  

So I need to figure out what kind of visa I need to apply for. I have thought about some options, butI am not certain what do to.

1. Get a letter of invitation and apply for F-visa. However, my questions are. Can I get an F-visa that last my whole internship? If not, will renewing it be a problem. Is it illegal for me to recieve any money while I am doing the internship? And do I need to get a Visa Notification Letter in addition to the invitation letter. Chinese embassy seem to suggest so. http://www.chinaembassy.org.nz/eng/lsqz/prcd/t39420.htm What is the chance of rejection?

2. Get a tourist visa that last for 6 months. I know this will be slightly illegal, so I prefer if I can do option 1. But this seems like the second best option.

3. Get a tourist visa that last 3 months and take a trip to Hong Kong, or end the internship early. This would be easy as I have done it before, but I don't want to do it. Also, the cheapest tickets do not go through Hong Kong, so it seems very suspectible if I take a two day trip to Hong Kong, but then go through Australia on the way home.

Also, I am not a New Zealand citizen. I am a Norwegian citizen, but that made no difference last time I applied for a tourist visa. So does anyone have some suggestions of what I should do?

[gato]

So I need to figure out what kind of visa I need to apply for. I have thought about some options, but I am not certain what do to.

1. Get a letter of invitation and apply for F-visa. However, my questions are. Can I get an F-visa that last my whole internship? If not, will renewing it be a problem. Is it illegal for me to recieve any money while I am doing the internship? And do I need to get a Visa Notification Letter in addition to the invitation letter.

Yes, your sponsoring company needs to apply to the local government for a Visa Notification Letter. This requirement is stated on the Chinese embassy website. The rejection rate is probably low. This is all handled by the sponsoring company, either by itself, or through an agent.

Work within China for a total of 90 days within a year is usually the rule-of-thumb cut off for an F visa, as enforcement has become strict in recent years. When you go above 90 days, some companies start to get nervous about the legality and will require a Z visa. You'll have to talk to your company about that. It varies with each company's policy.

Doing an internship on a tourist is illegal, as you have guessed, so no further discussion is needed on that.

http://www.chinaemba...prcd/t39420.htm

2.5 Supporting documents for Business Visa (F Visa)

Visa Notification Letter issued by an authorised government department in China, such as local foreign affairs office, or,

[Camlon]

Yes, your sponsoring company needs to apply to the local government for a Visa Notification Letter. This requirement is stated on the Chinese embassy website. The rejection rate is probably low. This is all handled by the sponsoring company, either by itself, or through an agent.

Actually I misread the document. It says

- Visa Notification Letter issued by an authorised government department in China, such as local foreign affairs office, or,

- Invitation letter from a Chinese company.The invitation letter must include the following information about both the inviter and the invitee:1. Invitee's personal information, such as full name, gender, date of birth and passport numbers, etc.

...

So I am quite sure I will not need a visa notification letter.

I still need to figure out the duration. I don't think the company is going to stop me, they really don't seem to care what kind of visa I get as long as I get one.

Also, I heard that even if I only get 90 days, I can easily extend it by at least another 30 days. Is that true?

[gato]

The government-issued Visa Notification Letter is required when applying for an F visa in HK. Maybe your local consulate is different. You should contact them to see if that's the case.