Tourist visa limit?

[twinmatrix]

Is there a limit to how many times you can go to China on a tourist visa with invitation letter?

 

I'm asking here first instead of calling my visa center in the Netherlands because last time they falsely had me make a 45-day long itinerary where I only "stayed for one week per province" *facepalm*

 

I plan on going to China in July, but I've gone last month and last year October already as well. Worried they might decline.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks guys X

[abcdefg]

Not sure from your post whether you are going on the same visa you used in October and February, but If your visa says "multiple entries," you can go as many times as you want until it expires.

 

What were the terms of that visa?

[twinmatrix]

I have no multiple entry visa, they told me you can't get a tourist multiple entry visa unless you have a Chinese spouse or it's for a business visa. So I always just apply for the single-entry tourist visa. I think it's L? And the first time (March 2015) I got S1 or S2. But the other 2 (October 2015 and March 2016) have been L. October 2014 was 30 days, March 2016 was 60 days. I always just apply with an invitation letter.

 

Edit: Sorry to clarify: I mean, "how many times can I apply for a tourist visa"? Not "how many times can I enter on my one tourist visa".

 

I wonder if they will decline my next application, July 2016, because it's so soon after the last visit?

[roddy]

The only way that would be a problem I can think of is if you were there so much it looked like you were working. Three times in a year isn't going to raise any problems. 

[twinmatrix]

Cool, thanks.

 

Nah, I don't think it looks like I worked. I checked into hotels here and there and I run a little video game company in the Netherlands so I don't think anything points towards illegal work.

 

I don't even understand why someone from the Netherlands would come to China for illegal work. Payment there is much lower unless you teach English at some luxury language center (according to my friend anyway).

 

By the way, is it true that a multi-entry visa only works for business purposes, and that you MUST always have a flight booked in order to get a tourist visa?

[roddy]

That all depends on what the embassy locally is handing out. It's often reciprocal - if your government relaxes rules for Chinese visitors, China might follow suit. 

[Lu]

I don't even understand why someone from the Netherlands would come to China for illegal work. Payment there is much lower unless you teach English at some luxury language center (according to my friend anyway).

Plenty of people want to teach English for a while, even if the pay is less than they would get at a serious job back home. Plenty of those people can't get a working visa, or their school can't/won't arrange it, and end up working on a tourist visa. This is not uncommon.

 

By the way, is it true that a multi-entry visa only works for business purposes?

I've had a double-entry visa for study purposes. Is that what you meant?

[zhouhaochen]

@twinmatrix

 

There is no general rule regarding how many times you can apply for a tourist visa. In most cases you can apply as often as you want, however for example in Hong Kong I know of cases were having previously too many tourist visa (and even more importantly tourist visa extensions) has lead to refused or very short tourist visas being issued.

 

As a general rule for any Dutch person visiting China, I recommend to apply for your visa either in Belgium or Germany，as the Chinese embassy in the Netherlands is a pain to deal with - I have no idea why, but I advise anyone to stay away from them if possible at all (it is almost as bad as London and just slightly better than Kopenhagen).