Complex situation I'm in, would appreciate some help/suggestions SO BAD!

[shaolin89]

Hi everyone, I just stumbled upon this forum as I searched on the web about Chinese visa. The next thing I saw is that its also a forum for people who study Chinese - great!!

Anyways, heres my situation.

I'm a guy from Denmark (EU), I got a round trip plane ticket (Already paid and non-refundable unless I call in sick on the take-off day), I take off the 15th of July and (hopefully) leave again the 6th of January. Its a flight to Hong Kong and back again from Hong Kong.

I hope to be able to spend those 6 months in the mainland China, visiting some good friends I have there. I got a close friend living in Hunan, Changsha and a friend living in Harbin who runs a school. Now, they are both willing to send me an invitation letter and everything; Support me as good as they can with accomodation.

So obviously I want to stay there until my return flight is in Hong Kong again the 6th of January.

All I need to now is getting a visa long enough to keep me inside (of course I would have to leave after some time and get back in)

Would you guys reckon that I better apply for a double-entry visa and explaining them that I wish to stay there in a total of almost 6 months? Would I have a chance to get a double-entry visa with 90 days each visit?

I have searched back and forth on the web, some says the visa rules and regulations has been more strict now, some says the opposite. To be honest, I have no idea at all, how the "market" is looking now.

For your information, I travelled the last two years each to China. I have 3 visas from China in my passport now. One with 60 days, one with 45 days and one with 30 days. The one with 30 days was one that I succesfully applied for in Hong Kong as I just had to get back into the mainland China to catch a flight back. The other two was visas I got according to how long I told them I would stay in China. Both got issued with no problem. But now that they can see that Im gonna visit friends in the mainland for about 6 months, will I not be granted that double-entry visa?

Anyways, to stress the main question again - what do I do? Should I apply for a double-entry visa and expect to get a 90 days entry each time I enter China? Should I get a single-entry for 90 days and trust that I can go back to Hong Kong and apply for a new visa for 90 days? (Or 30 days and just rinse and repeat?)

Will they look at my flight to Hong Kong the 15th and back again the 6th of january and deny me the visa as they expect me to stay illegally inside the mainland? Is it an option to tell them that I wish to get a double-entry and just leave after 90 days and come back in to my friends again?

as far as I've read, its not really possible for me to get a multiple entry visa as I dont meet any of the requirements for that.

Other methods?

Thoughts? Ideas? What would you guys do?

Would really really appreciate some decent answers or ideas on this:)

Thanks a bunch

Frederik Rasmussen

meishu@ofir.dk

[AucklandLove]

There might be people on this forum who know more about this, but as you havent got a reply yet, let me tell you what I know from my experience and what some of my class mates told me.

- you should not have your visa rejected because your return flight is later

- how long a visa is issued for is rather random and hard to predict

- longer visas are issued for people with passports and applying at embassies in "rich countries"

- you can extend tourist visas in Beijing (do not know for how long though)

What do the experts say?

[Limes]

I am no expert either, but I understand the sense of urgency you have about visas, so I'll tell you want I know

I agree with AucklandLove - the visa allocations from the Chinese Embassies always seem to err on the random side. This year I got a double entry visa, last time I didn't. I suggest you apply for the double entry visa and hope for the best. I doubt they will ask you for your motives. If they don't award it, then you will either have to extend your tourist visa (which is super-easy to do) or, as you suggest, fly to Hong Kong and fly back in again. I think (I may be wrong) you can extend a tourist visa twice before you have to leave the country (though this is also on the whim of the administrating office). So either way, I think it will work out.

I wouldn't worry too much about the date of your return flight. The best thing you can do is get your visa application in as early as possible so that if they have a problem with it, you have time to sort it out. They definitely won't 'expect' you to stay illegally inside the mainland! Good luck