Visa

[Dan Bang]

Hi...

I'm in Beijing at the moment, and I'll need a new visa from the end of july. Any suggestions on how to get for instance a one year mutiple entry? And I would really appreciate some specific suggestions, and not just "go to whathever"...

Thanks in advance!

[wtanaka]

if you can go to shanghai, check out http://www.visainchina.com/

[tomo]

You can get any kind of visa in Hong Kong, for a price.

Prices vary depending on where you come from and the kind of visa you want. 12 month multi entry visas can be processes in one day, a good place to start looking is the guest houses, many of them offer visa services cheaper than the travel agencies. One that has always worked well for me is the "garden hostel", 3rd floor of Mirador Mansion, Nathan road.

[Brantavius]

Wtanaka (or whoever else may be in the know regarding this matter):

I went to the www.visainchina.com site to peruse their visa services. Based on what I've read, I've made the plans that I've outlined below. I am hoping that someone here might be able to look over it and comment on its feasibility. (I'm from the US.)

1. Get a 90-day tourist visa while in the US. From what I gather, this should not be too difficult. Almost all online tourist visa information I encountered said that the tourist visa allows for a 30-day stay before renewal becomes necessary. However, in many of these cases, there was a footnote about 60- and 90-day tourist visas being available as long as one can provide a satisfactory rationale/itinerary in support of the extra time.

2. Spend time teaching in Chengdu for about a month and possibly visit Xi'an before heading to Beijing where I'll be doing a homestay from the end of August to early February. While in Beijing, I likely will get a job and attempt to convert my tourist visa to a work visa (all while remaining in China); however, I am not sure of this feasibility of this in-country conversion, hence the following step.

3. With approximately one month remaining on my 90-day tourist visa, go to Shanghai, where I will follow all of the steps provided on the previously mentioned website in order to obtain an F visa that will enable me to stay in China for 6 months -- all without ever needing to leave the country or actually do any of the activities normally associated with obtaining an F visa.

I'd really appreciate any comments on this plan, especially from someone who has used Meshing Consultancy Services. Also, I'd appreciate any comments regarding the in-country conversion of an L or F visa to a work visa since I likely will work for one year as a teacher elsewhere in China (probably Harbin or somewhere else that's damn cold because that's the type of thing real men do) following my stint in Beijing.

Thanks.

[smalldog]

It is possible to get the F visa in the US. See www.globalhrlink.com -- you can get an invitation letter from them.

And you can forget about converting an L visa to Z or F in Beijing. Still possible in other areas though.

[Brantavius]

Hi, Smalldog. Thanks for the link. I looked over the site's information and have sent them an email about my situation. At first glance, it seems as though I might be required to use them to set up a teaching job if I wish to obtain an F visa while still in the US. In any case, I now feel quite sure that if I enter China with a tourist visa, I will be able to get it converted to an F visa, which I can then renew every three months or so to enable me to stay for up to a year following my entry into China. I'm no longer so sure about my initial impression regarding the 90-day tourist visa. I think these are harder to come by than I assumed, perhaps mostly being given to those visiting relatives in China. (Anyone have solid information regarding this?) However, obtaining a 30-day tourist visa while still in the US, getting it renewed once in China, and then getting the tourist visa converted to an F visa while in China seems a completely feasible series of actions, according to the site you linked and the Shanghai company I originally asked about -- which is good.

The rule that one can extend an F visa to allow a stay of only one year or less seems pretty stringently enforced. I am pretty sure that after my seven-month stint in Chengdu and Beijing, I will have to briefly leave China in order to stay for twelve more months as a teacher in Harbin (with a work visa). Still, I have to ask: does anyone know a way around this rule that would be applicable in my situation?

[wtanaka]

a little bird told me you can get a visa from emoo as well