Expired Visa Issues

[oldgrag]

Hi y'all!

My situation is as follows - my visa expired 12/31 (11 days ago today).  My recently expired visa was a temporary residence permit (and a student visa before that).  I am exploring ways to extend my stay in China.  First option - go to Hong Kong, pay the fine for overstaying, and apply for a tourist visa.  My question with this option is that I am not sure if my overstay will affect my chances to receive a tourist visa.  

 

The second option is to go to the police and explain my situation, hopefully pay a fee, and get a 10 day extension on my visa.  If this is the case, then I would plan to attend a university to obtain a student visa.  Again, I'm not sure if this is a legitimate approach to the situation either.  

 

Thirdly, can my original university extend my expired visa?

 

Is there a big difference between applying from HK and applying from a different third country, say Thailand. 

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

[Angelina]

Talk to a lawyer. If you can't do that, I vote for the second option. Good luck!

[ChTTay]

I'm surprised how relaxed/calm you are about overstaying by a 11 days!!

This could be a really serious issue. Do you have a good reason for your overstay?

I know that there have been people on this forum reporting just getting a small fine. However, you could end up with a big fine. It could hurt your chances of getting another visa.

If you always intended to get another visa of some sort, why let this one lapse without any kind of plan to get another?

I would get this sorted as soon as possible! And maybe a lawyer or at least translator wouldn't be a bad idea, depending on your Chinese level.

I think heading down to the border with an expired visa (option 1) doesn't sound such a good idea. I'd go for option two.