New regulation 1st September 2013 (convert tourist to student visa)

[RiccardoDM]

Hi!

I know there are already posts regarding this topic but I need an update

Nationality: Italian

It is a quite long story. However now I am in this situation.

- I need to fly to China in 5 days.

- I have an accepted 3 months tourists visa (family invitation)

- And I have been accepted for a 3 year master program in China (I got all the original documentation and invitation letters but it is in China) so I do not have enough time to receive it and make an X visa from here

- I cannot postpone my flight ticket

The university told me to come with a F or X visa. and they were pretty annoyed when I told them that I did an L visa (I did not know about my acceptance yet)

Now my question is with the new rules: Can I convert my L visa in student visa in China?

Can I go to Hongkong and do it? my documentation is all right.

I would like to convert it in China. Otherwise it would be ok to go to HK but I am just scared of getting stuck there.

Do you have any suggestion? advise? I would really appreciate some help

[cultureyard]

Hi there,

As far as I know, at least according to how things were before, there shouldn't be any problem applying for and X visa while you are on an L visa, it creates a tiny bit of paper work for the university, but nothing more than that. I've done it before myself and I know people who have applied to universities recently (last month) while in Beijing.

Hope it helps,

Ilya.

[zhouhaochen]

no way of telling how this will work out right now, it will depend on the local regulations in the city you study in (the X-visa conversion process works differently in every province/city/university). For Beijing, this used to be possible, but with the current visa changes, I would assume that not even the Public Security Bureau would be able to tell you how things will be like after the 1st of September. I was there yesterday and they are still not clear on what the current regulations are supposed to be (three people, three answers and all three people said they were actually not sure and are waiting for further clarified instructions).

It is a mess! Now this is obviously not very helfpul for you, so I would suggest to fly to China and then try. A 3 month tourist visa is good (lucky you got that if you are Italian, they are usually not that generous in Italy at the moment), so at least you have some time to work on it. In China there is always a way - I just think nobody can tell you yet which one it will be.

[muyongshi]

I will also add that you shouldn't count on Hong Kong right now. All my friends who used to do HK now are in HK FedExing their passports to home country to do visa stuff. This is not to say its not possible but they are being very strict right now.

[RiccardoDM]

I wrote to to foreverbright

and they told me that there should not be any problem, even after the first of september, are their worlds trustworthy?

I am going to Fujian in the city of Xiamen, do you have any experience about it?

I have never been to Hongkong what is this HK Fedexing, like a mailing service? I can send back my passport and get my visa done in my home country in the worst

case scenario?

Thank you for you previous answers

[roddy]

You say the university was annoyed, but what else did they say? Are they telling you to just come on the L visa, or something else?

[RiccardoDM]

They told me that I should come on a X of F visa otherwise I will have to face the consequences by myself (has written in the registration form - I did not know at the time I made the L visa)

I emailed them and they told me that they have a standard process for registration and that making the papers to covert the visa would require extra and special work.

I apologized and told them that we can find a common ground to solve the problem.I cannot postpone my flight ticket and do not plan to go to HK because it is too risky. I told them that according to the immigration office, it should be possible, so I would really appreciate if they could help me to solve the problem.

Furthermore I might be wrong, but according to my understanding this new regulations is to facilitate foreigners who have serious commitment in China and legally try to do it.

Personally I came with a legal visa, and I have more than half of the document I need to make a conversion at the immigration office in Xiamen.

worst case scenario I was even thinking about looking for a job once there, do you think that would be possible to find a company who could help me with a work visa?

I do believe that HK might be a feasible solution, however I do not want to risk when It is apparently possible to convert in China, although it is not standard.

[roddy]

they told me that they have a standard process for registration and that making the papers to covert the visa would require extra and special work.

Then personally, I'd do that. The extra work won't kill them.

[dandmcd]

I switched from an L to X inside China in Guangzhou just a couple days ago, and it was no problem at all. I had the same paperwork all others had at my school, they didn't care that it was an L and the paperwork was the same. Of course every city will be different, so this is just my experience. They say it might cause them extra work, but that's just because they like to keep everything uniform and everyone following their procedures exactly as they tell you. They do that to avoid too much confusion, as you know the language barrier can cause a lot of problems. I find it likely you will run into no issues! From what I know the new visa regulations won't be changing the rules on switching from one visa to a residence permit. As long as you have the documents needed, the JW202 yellow copy, admission letter, medical exam and other stuff your school gives you, have no worries!

[zhouhaochen]

Check the HK visa thread there seems to be at least one agency in HK that can do visas there at the moment. If you can get it done in China much better though I would say.

@muyongshi: your friends went to HK, then sent their passport to an agency in their home country to apply for a visa there? Does that work? Do not know of anyone who has done that, but sounds logical, assuming that they do not require the applicant to be currently in his/her home country when applying (meaning checking the HK entry/exit stamp dates in your passport). You have any details there?

[Nicole Zhang]

If you hold a L visa, you need to fly to HK at least. I consulted the exist and entry office in Shanghai, there is no possibility to transfer in China. You need to leave and come back.

[bobbadeer]

Can anyone please provide an update on the situation in HK for converting tourist to student visa?

[RiccardoDM]

Hi, guys. sorry if I did not update anyone with my situation before. 

at the end I got to china and I sucessfully change my visa L visa in X visa with the university help. 

 

I think that it all depends if the university really decide to help you. I got personal good support from my school.

If you have the right support nothing is impossible 

 

Thank you guys for your advises 

[Matty]

Congratulations, and thanks for being one of the few people who come back to tell us the result.

[bobbadeer]

Hi RiccadoDM, thanks for the update. Out of interest was it an easy process? Have heard of people not being able to do it so would be interested to hear how you went about it. Thanks

[RiccardoDM]

Hi, It was not an easy process at all. 

I have been running to different offices for 2 entire days (from 8am to 5:30 pm) using always a taxi otherwise it would have taken a week only to move from side to side of the city (and Xiamen is not big) 

 

I will provide the specific description of the documents once back home  I need to check. 

but essentially the school made me an official paper stating that they require to let me convert my visa 

 

However it is something I do not recommend to anyone else. Be smart and come with a student visa directly. 

 

Regarding visa I can only say that each history will be different

 

I heard of people getting  1 year TOURIST visa and studying in China with it just becasue they had contacts