Visa expiration in 4 days, what solutions is for the best?

[Andrea.dispe]

Hi all,

I have a problem and trying to figure out possible solutions.

My visa is going to expire 24th august (in 4 days). So atht he beginning  I thought to come back to my country and do a business visa the company i work with promised to give me. But just yesterday that company told me they cannot give me a business visa anymore so now these are my options:

- going hong kong and spend 2000rmb to get one month tourist visa (plus plane ticket cost)

- or trying to get a student visa paying some private school which provide me that visa. Thing is: i already asked them and they told me there is not enough time. But one of my friends told me last week her visa expired and she completely forgot. She realized it just the day after expired. She went to the police station and paid a fine of 500rmb and they extended it for 10 more days.

Now i was thinking if I do the same thing, pay the fine, get 10 days extension and then get the student visa from the private school (which i would have enoough days), instead of going to honk kong and save some money, would it works? What could the possible problems to be?

 

thank you all

[Silent]

I don't know whether it would work, but I would not recommend it. Depending on who helps you at the police station and what mood he is in or you will manage to do so and possible consequences. A far better option would be to go to the police now and ask for an extension, if needed explain you decided to study but the school needs time to organize the student visa. Preferably with paperwork to support your story.

 

Don't know what you're doing there and why, but reading between the lines it seems to me you're going to work illegally. I think you should carefully consider or it's worthwhile to do so. If the company won't help you with a new business visa, they apparently are not that interested, so why take the risk of an illegal route? (depending on the situation it may be worthwhile, but do weigh the benefits against the possible consequences.)

[shuoshuo]

What is your current visa type? Please note that it might not be possible to extend your visa nor change it to another visa type. It is possible however, to convert it to a residence permit. If you want to do that as a "student", the tuition fees might cost a lot more than the visa run through Hong Kong. But being a "student" will keep you in China as long as your course is complete which could mean a lot more than just 1 month.

 

You actually have 4 days (your visa at expiry) + 10 days. You will not be charged a fine unless you have exceeded 10 days after the expiration. Within the next 2 weeks, there are plenty of universities who will commence their registration dates. Lots of short courses, one-year courses, and then the degree courses. They will be able to provide you with documents necessary for a student residence permit as soon as tuition is paid for. It is up to you if you want to check them out. They are much cheaper than private schools. I do not however, advise you to work on a student visa or residence permit. But I'm sure you are well aware that if you work while you are officially a student, you are doing something illegal.

 

As much as possible, try to not assume that things will work out exactly the way it has done so for your friend. When I was in China, I met a few people who were in the same predicament as you, and they were believing lies that their friends were telling them (friends who were overstaying their visas)...and oh boy the number of crappy companies who promise work visas to people who are just trying to make their lives better!

 

Your best bet right now is to exit China and re-enter. That will give you a clean record (there is a question on the visa forms: have you ever overstayed your visa?). But if you plan to work for that company while you are on a tourist visa, you will go through the same situation over and over again (just like the bunch of people constantly doing visa runs through HK).