Passport validity during stay in China

[yoeri]

A friend of mine brought this to my attention.

 

I am planning to go to China at the end of august to study for one year until (more or less) the end of June, 2016. My passport expires in December 2016. Can this be a problem?

 

I have read that my passport needs to have at least 6 months validity before arriving in China, but not whether it should have at least 6 months validity when leaving China. I have not found a clear answer so far and have not received a response from the visa application centre in my home country yet. Does anyone maybe have more information on this?

 

The thing is that if I have to renew my passport, the passport number on the new passport will be different from the one mentioned in my JW202 form, which I need for the visa application. Could this be a problem?

 

Thanks!

 

[Lu]

I am planning to go to China at the end of august to study for one year until (more or less) the end of June, 2016. My passport expires in December 2016. Can this be a problem?

To my knowledge, no. As you noted, your passport has to be valid for at least 6 months after your planned arrival in China, but that's it. If your passport would happen to expire in China, you can get a new passport through your embassy (and then there are some bureaucratic steps to take to make sure your residence permit in your old passport is still good). In your case, you'll likely be long back in your own country by the time your passport expires.

[gato]

Just make you keep your old passport with your visa after you get your new passport. Your visa will still be valid even though it's physically on your old passport.

[roddy]

Ignore your friend. No country in the world is going to care how long your passport is valid for when you leave, only when you enter.

[yoeri]

Yes but it could be that the minimal requirement of 6 months should be during the whole stay?

[Lu]

Yes but it could be that the minimal requirement of 6 months should be during the whole stay?

If that was a requirement, they would write 'six months valid at the time you're planning to leave China'.

 

If you insist on worrying about this, you can get a new passport before going to China. However, since China doesn't require six months of validity on leaving the country, it would be a waste of money.

[roddy]

It could be they require you to have a full set of teeth and be able to run a mile in under 8 minutes. Doesn't seem to be the case though. (actually, that says 6 months from date of visa application, which is even less stringent)

[yoeri]

Yeah I guess so, still try to contact the visa application centre tomorrow and otherwise I will try my luck and just head over there and apply for the visa.

[Lu]

Yoeri, you're free to worry if you want to, but why ask here if you're not going to believe the answers you get?

[yoeri]

I do believe the answers ;) Just still try to get the confirmation from them tomorrow and otherwise I'll head over there anyway. Thanks for the help everyone!

[jbradfor]

FWIW, this is what the China Embassy states at http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/faq/ : "Your passport must valid at least for one year, and not altered/damaged/smudged in any way."  That's it.

 

That said, I do have a vague memory of the 6 months after the END of your stay requirement.   I might have my countries wrong, but I remember a near panic when I realized my child's passport expired about 8 months after our trip, which isn't enough for a 3 month stay (I believe the stay of an L visa then) plus 6 month window.  IIRC, what ended up happening is that my wife and I got 3 month stay, while my child got 1 month stay, keeping it within the 8 months left on the passport.  This was several years ago, so it's quite possible that got changed.