will be attending BLCU: processing X visa?

[etcetera24]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading this forum for a while and really appreciate the great advice and good stories. I will be at BLCU for one year starting this fall. I just received the Admission Notice and JW202 forms from BLCU. The "Notes to New Students" implies that the X visa can be processed after arriving in China. However, I'm thinking of obtaining the visa through the consulate general in Toronto (where I currently am) before leaving for Beijing.

Any opinions/ experience as to whether this is a good idea? Will further complicate the bureaucratic paperwork process if I arrive at BLCU already holding an X visa?

Also, I'd love to hear from anyone who will be attending BLCU in September and/or is looking for housing in the area!

Cheers,

Cat

[kikko78]

hello Cat,

i think u must obtain your student visa before u leave to beijing.. once u are in china u have 30 days of time to register your visa. I don't think u can obain a student visa once u are in china with a tourist visa... so u definitely need to apply for the visa in your home country and then to to china...

At least this is what it's written on my admission notice...

i will attend a master of laws at the Tsinghua university wich is right next the BLCU.

this is my MSN carisma1000@hotmail.com

kikko

[puja]

Hi,

I'll be at BLCU for one year starting this fall, too.

As I understood, you gotta obtain the X visa at your local consulate, but arriving in china you have to apply for a residence permit within 30 days, this somehow requires you also to present the JW202, so better get some copies of that.

There's a way of changing tourist (or other) visa to x visa once you are in china, but it's quite a complicated procedure, so better get your x visa in toronto.

I haven't decided on hosuing yet. I'll send you my email on pm, toherwise you can contact me on ICQ, yahoo or msn (same as email).

best regards,

Puja

[etcetera24]

Thanks for the replies kikko and puja. I checked with my mother who read the chinese text (she's Hong Kong chinese) and she also said to get the visa before entering China. I suppose the message just got garbled in translation to english, surprise surprise!

puja, I got your pm and will send you an email. I am also pondering housing options.

[Zoolander]

Hi all,

I was also of the impression that you need to apply for a visa before you leave for China. Any ideas on what to send to the Chinese embassy/consulate??? i'm assuming the JW202, admission notice and passport?

BTW, I'm a Chinese Australian and will be starting a short-term intensive course at BLCU in September (Spring in Australia). Also keen to discuss accommodation arrangements with anyone interested - was looking to stay in the doms, but open to options.

FYI, "greymatter" posted up some good advice elsewhere in the forum re. studying and living at BLCU.

Cheers,

Zoo

[Xander]

Hi, my name is Alexander. I’m going to BCLU (intensive language program/ one semester) this fall. I red your posts, and I am also looking for people to share an apartment with. I know from experience that living together with other people works for me, and so far none of my flatmates has complained about my behaviour. Please fell free to contact me, if you are looking for a roommate.

[etcetera24]

Hi everyone,

I called BLCU's housing office but while my mandarin is good enough to ask questions about housing, I'm not sure I fully understood the answer! The lady I spoke with thought I am much more fluent than I actually am

Anyway, the gist of what seems to be that there isn't a set date as to when students can move into the dorm because BLCU constantly has students moving in and out due to the various start dates of their programs. Once it gets closer to the start of their program, students can reserve / move into dorms. In short, try calling again when it's closer to September.

She actually said a lot more than that, but this was all I could understand (ta shuo de tai kuai!)

Puja and I have been emailing and we're thinking of staying in dorms first to meet people, then moving out if better housing options arise. Free to pm me for my email address to join our conversation about living details. When are people arriving in Beijing?

Zoolander: I'd call the consulate directly to ask. I think I also need to submit a "Physical Examination Certificate for Foreign Citizens" since I'm staying for a year. I reckon they don't want my canadian cooties in the country!

A little about me: I'm (cantonese) chinese canadian who studied mandarin for 2-3 years in university... but out of practice for nearly 2 years. I'm attending blcu for a year with hopes of attaining some semblence of 'working proficiency' in mandarin. Heck, I'll be happy if I can finally read a newspaper!!

Cheers,

Cat

[UC_nostradamus]

Sorry for jumping in unexpectedly like this (joined the forum a long time ago, but have stayed dormant as a lurker). I too will be at BLCU this coming academic year (received a CSC scholarship to study there). Would be great to meet some people there. Not sure of my departure dates, probably want to see a friend in Dalian before classes start.

Oh, and by the way, about me: Currently a third-year student at the University of Chicago studying International Studies. I have finished two years of Chinese there. Very interested in contemporary East Asia and the European Union. I am of Chinese ancestry, currently living in Pennsylvania. This will be my first time to China, so I'm quite excited. Anyways, don't want to waste space here. Feel free to IM/email me.

[Craig]

Another person here who's going to Beijing for one year this fall. I am thinking of staying at either the International Conference Center hotel on campus or the Xi Jiao Hotel right next door for the first semester at least. I will be getting to Beijing on the 25th of August and was told i could move into my room whichever i decide as soon as I got there.

I had to mail my Passport and visa application to a travel agent as I would have had to gone to NYC or D.C. to do it myself and the consulate doesn't take mailed applications (at least in the US i was told).

Bit about me: American, from about 30 minutes outside of Boston in New Hampshire. Just graduated with my BA in business and economics. I've had about a year of Mandarin. If anyone wants to email me to meet up when we get there or has any other question my email is cmriley@fas.harvard.edu

[artichoke]

I'll be at BLCU too. I had a friend who is originally from Beijing call the Dorms, and they only take bookings when the rooms are not all full. Currently they are all full. I am Australian-Chinese. I know one other person, who I work with, who is going to BLCU for 12 weeks, but she speaks Mandarin, so will be in advanced classes. I will be in beginners. I completed a BA in Chinese more than 10 years ago and have not used it since then. Other accomodation options, instead of apartments are hotels which you can book online before you arrive (so much cheaper than booking once in BJ). As for my visa, I applied at the Chinese Embassy and got it within 4 days, no problems!

[puja]

hey, seems that we're getting more and more people with time. Perhaps we should set up a "chinese-forums.com"-meeting in bj once we're all there we could get some dinner somewhere nice and get to know each other.

warm regards,

puja

[sillen]

I'm so glad I've found this forum! Will be attending BLCU this fall for a short-term course and what I'm most apprehensive about is finding a decent accomodation for a low/medium cost. All the information here has helped me alot! I'll probably stay in a dorm (if there are any availiable!?) but if not, perhaps it won't be a problem finding room mates once there. Although I'm guessing it's quite difficult to find an apartment or room outside campus when you litterally don't speak ONE word of chinese!

Anyways, it's nice to see that so many people are going to Beijing and BLCU.

Best regards, Cecilia from Sweden.

[puja]

Hi Cecilia,

welcome to these forums. You live in a great country, I've been to Stockholm about one month ago and it was real fun.

There are quite some threads on accomodation already. Interesting for you would be this site for example. it's a so called "student residence". They offer rooms with more comfort compared to BLCU dorms (at least that's what I've heard) for less money But it's about 30 min walk to BLCU or about 10 min by bike.

Cheers,

Puja

[Zoolander]

Hi all,

First of all, thanks to Cat for the reply. I've been able to contact the Chinese embassy in Australia and everything's sweet. I was also told by a BLCU rep that you can't reserve any dorm rooms from overseas. Supposedly you can only do this when you rock up to the Accommodation office when you get there! I am also thinking of staying in the dorm rooms at first to see how it goes - does anyway if you have to commit to a dorm for a certain amount of time (e.g. 2 months)?

I'm thinking about getting to BLCU a week before the semester starts e.g. 8th or 9th September... i wonder if this will be enough time?

FYI - I will be in the intensive, beginner class for one semester.

Cheers,

Zoo

[roddy]

hey, seems that we're getting more and more people with time

If anyone wants a Beijing-specific forum / usergroup / mailing list I can set it up for you very easily. Let me know - as long as there are a few people interested in it I'm happy to do it.

Roddy

[pete]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the useful info on accomodation and BLCU living. I'm also starting at BLCU this September for the short-term course, and haven't yet come to any conclusions about where best to live. Was interested in the Xi Jiao hostel/hotel, but got told that booking wasn't needed until a few weeks beforehand.

If anyone is signed up to the short-term course for September-December, it would be great to hear from you, either for ideas about living arrangements, or just to have another contact in Beijing.

I'm currently at beginner level (i guess), having had about 2-3 months classes in London with a chinese tutor. Just finished my BA in Law, and am taking a leisurely 8 months off before starting work to learn some mandarin and travel around Asia.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Pete.

p.s. does anyone have idea whether it's possible at BLCU to teach English on the side to earn a little money, or swap English lessons for Chinese lessons?

[deezy]

I was also told by a BLCU rep that you can't reserve any dorm rooms from overseas. Supposedly you can only do this when you rock up to the Accommodation office when you get there!

It sounds like one girl may have reserved a dorm in advance...but I've been emailing them and had no such luck. So, I guess I will just try when I get there...

Also, how strict are they on you having an F or X visa? All I have right now is an L tourist visa. I JUST now got their admission notice back and don't know if I can get an F in time?

[niicco13]

this is a very good question.

I am leaving in 2 days and still no forms from BLCU....only the admission letter faxed but no JW202 form.

I only have the L visa. Do they check our visa? If yes, how do we change to F visa once in BJ?

Thanks!

nicolas

[deezy]

I only have the L visa. Do they check our visa? If yes, how do we change to F visa once in BJ?

Well, it can be done in Beijing, but may take 8-10 working days! Which obviously isn't going to be near fast enough for registration!

So, the million-dollar question is...can they allow L (instead of F) visas for registration? Especially for just a 4-week class? Because many of us overseas students did not get the admission notices back in time to apply for an F visa.

Agghh...this question is driving me NUTS! I need to know NOW! Well, at this point, I don't even know if I'd have time to get an F visa here. I'm not sure how long it takes - whether to get a new one or "convert" my L visa? But either way I am RUNNING OUT OF TIME FAST! Aggghhhhh!!! Why do they have to make this so difficult?

If I could just throw in an extra 100 RMB to make this problem go away - I would!

[adrianlondon]

If I could just throw in an extra 100 RMB to make this problem go away - I would!

Give it to me and I'll send you a private message saying you'll be ok on an L-visa.

Chinese Visa is a permit issued by the Chinese visa authorities to foreigners for entry into, exit from or transit through the Chinese territory. Visas are issued according to the purpose of visit. Students studying in China for 4 weeks can obtain an L visa; less than 6 months require an F visa; and more than 6 months require an F or X visa (as well as a physical examination if obtaining an X visa). It is advised that you register for the program as early as possible, for it takes time for the university to process your student application. At the same time, processing a China Visa may take up to 6 weeks in some countries. For more information on different visa types and application procedure, please click here .

from http://www.prcstudy.com/