Coronavirus - those in China, and general discussion

[Saxondale]

Update: so one more day until freedom! i did my final covid test (just as brutal as the airport) on Tuesday. I will be issued with release papers and test results upon checkout that will allow me to freely travel until my health code turns green. My 社区 in Beijing asked me to fill out another WeChat mini app form that details my return to Beijing - they require me to report my temperature twice a day for 7 days once i'm back in Beijing. I've heard some other 社区s have asked people to quarantine for a further 7 days at home...

[mungouk]

Congrats @Saxondale ? !

 

When you have a spare minute, it would be great to hear your tips for what to take into quarantine...

 

Currently on my list I've written earplugs, movies, DIY drip-coffee and a bottle of duty-free single malt. 

 

[Saxondale]

22 minutes ago, mungouk said:

When you have a spare minute, it would be great to hear your tips for what to take into quarantine...

I actually didn't bring much with me! just a yoga mat, coffee, laptop and a book. Some of my friends took lego, adult paint by numbers, nintendo switch, pot noodle, cereal bars etc. Work, exercise and waiting for films/shows to download took up most of my day.

 

Btw, 07/09 onwards you will need do your covid test 72 hours before departure - this makes it very difficult especially if you need to do it by post.

[mungouk]

2 hours ago, Saxondale said:

07/09 onwards you will need do your covid test 72 hours before departure - this makes it very difficult especially if you need to do it by post.

 

Well spotted... I've been checking the IATA advisory daily and noticed that "5 days" was being gradually changed to "3 days" for some countries... as of today (3 September) it looks like all of them now say 3 days, in other words 72 hours.

 

That more or less rules out doing an at-home test by post I reckon.

 

On the plus side, it does says the result has to be issued a maximum of 3 days before departure, rather than the test has to be dated then.  Still, it's not going to make it any easier.
 

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must have a medical certificate with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) nucleic acid test result issued at most 3 days before departure. 

 

 

[mungouk]

This looks like it could be fun.

 

I just went online to check out the NHS testing system, and I'm being told that the nearest drive-through test site with available slots is 223.1 miles away, in Dundee.

 

 

Edit: OK, it looks like there might be walk-in options a little closer to home...

 

[arreke]

Is it possible for a foreigner with a new visa to enter Shenzhen from Hong-Kong? 

[mungouk]

According to the IATA announcements I've seen, so long as your "new visa" was issued on or after 28 March then it will be valid.

Whether there's any restriction on entry from HK I don't know. I don't see why would there be, since you can enter from almost everywhere else now, so long as you have the following:

 

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a medical certificate with a negative Coronavirus (COVID-19) nucleic acid test result issued at most 3 days before departure. They must also have a green QR code with an 'HS' mark, or a Health Declaration Form issued by a Chinese embassy or consulate before departure.

14 days quarantine still required of course.

[Saxondale]

I still don’t think it’s possible to transfer through HK unless you’re a diplomat. 

[carlo]

Non-residents of HK (no ID card or visa for HK) can enter the city only from China, Macau and Taiwan, with a few exceptions (such as family members of residents). So even if you could enter mainland China from HK, you probably can't get into HK. Plus all transit services at the airport are suspended, so you can't get on a transfer flight from HKIA.

[Takeshi]

Are you sure non-residents of HK from China, Macau and Taiwan are allowed in HK? I doubt it. I know they weren't allowed sometime before, but I haven't really kept up if they became allowed later.

[carlo]

One has to be very careful with words these days... In practice the above means that if you're a non-Chinese resident of China, say an expat working in Shenzhen, and have no resident status in HK, HK will still let you in if you did not leave China during the previous 14 days, subject to quarantine obligations in HK. On the other hand, if you're a Chinese national, mainland Chinese rules also apply for you to get out (通行证), so it's more complicated.

 

A summary: https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/html/en/WhatSOn/Novel-Coronavirus.html

[Takeshi]

Interesting. I didn't know that. I guess it's to help foreigners get flights home when they'd otherwise be basically trapped in China. I guess these "non-Chinese residents of China with no resident status in HK" only affects a small minority of people. I didn't know it was Chinese rules that blocked Chinese from entering HK now, I thought it would have been something on the HK side.

 

I guess this also means that people from Macau and Taiwan can basically come to HK now.

[carlo]

I'm not up to date with mainland requirements but anecdotally: (1) many of my friends have 7-day permits, so while they could enter HK in theory, the quarantine lasts longer than the permit. (2) some people have longer duration permits so they can come, but 1+ months of quarantine time (both sides) for a business person used to making day trips makes little sense. (3) some have reported issues in renewing their expired 通行证, possibly because of reason (1)

[Saxondale]

Testing seems a mess in the UK at the moment - I know a few people that missed their flight back to China because of delayed test results. I would suggest going private if you're traveling from the UK in the next few weeks.

[mungouk]

11 minutes ago, Saxondale said:

Testing seems a mess in the UK at the moment

 

It's a complete omnishambles, and has unfortunately become a political football too.  Rules and procedures changing every few days.

 

I've just got my ticket to Shanghai for 25 October so hopefully things might have settled down a bit by then, but yes I've been researching private options — anything from £125 up to £300!

 

[Flickserve]

"China’s foreign ministry has announced that foreigners with valid residence permits can enter the country without needing to re-apply for visas from 28 September.

Foreigners whose residence permits expired after March 28 can apply for visas at Chinese embassies and consulates for entry, the ministry said in a statement on its website."

 

 

From The Guardian 23/09/2020

[mungouk]

Yes here's the MFA announcement dated today, 23 September.

 

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/t1817370.shtml

 

Although this is frustrating for those who don't already have a residence permit, it may have the effect of speeding up visa applications for everyone since some people no longer need to apply.

 

In my case I applied for my visa application appointment recently and was given a date 3.5 weeks hence which they said was the earliest available, whereas a colleague of mine applied yesterday at the same Visa Application Centre and was given a date next Tuesday. 

 

 

[pan.kasper]

too bad students are left out, as always. I'm starting to lose hope we'll be able to go back this year

[ptyfriend]

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too bad students are left out, as always. I'm starting to lose hope we'll be able to go back this year

 

Hopefully we will be the next ones! I've been patiently opening the MFA website every single day for the past couple months...

 

Did you make it back to Europe? I remember you were stuck in Korea, right?

[carlo]

15 hours ago, Flickserve said:

"China’s foreign ministry has announced that foreigners with valid residence permits can enter the country without needing to re-apply for visas from 28 September.

Am I right that 居留许可 always refers to residence permits for stays above 6 months? I used to have one when working on the mainland, and it was issued by the local PSB. Contrast with 签证, which may be issued even for multiple stays of 3-4 months at a time by consular visa offices outside of China and are not 居留许可, regardless of reason (please correct me if wrong).

So what this means is that they are letting residents of China with foreign passports back in?