general visa info?

[L-F-J]

I just have some general questions. I'm thinking of going to China this summer. August or so. But I am not so sure of how to obtain the correct visa and so on. I haven't really looked into it and just want to ask for some basics. I plan to go with my soon-to-be wife to Guangdong province. We plan to go to her home town to see her family and friends and stay for a year. While there I'll probably find a job teaching English or something, but will find out when I'm there. So, for this, what type of visa do I need to stay for that amount of time and for those reasons? What do I need to obtain it and any other general information about it you could share is appreciated.

[Josh-J]

If you want to work legally I imagine you'll need a Work visa (Z). But to get that I think you'll need some kind of proof that you're going to be working. If there's an embassy or consulate near you, I'd recommend you go in and ask them (not that I know how helpful they'll be). Either way, the only visa that I can see that fits your circumstances is the Tourist (L) visa which includes family visiting. However as standard that'll only give you 30 days in the country at a time unless you can renew it.

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/default.htm

Note: I'm fairly new to this myself

Oh also, to actually get it you just go to the nearest consulte, or organise it through a travel agent. The embassy website should detail what you need to take with you.

[roddy]

I think you should be able to get a 90-day L visa fairly easily. Once you've done that you can see how things go - you may want to / be able to extend that further once you are there (given that you have family connections) or if you wind up working your employer may be able to arrange a working visa. As you will be in Guangdong, a visa run to Hong Kong is also an option.

Roddy

[L-F-J]

Yeah, I may be going to either GZ or HK after visiting their hometown. I guess it would be fairly easy to renew in HK in that case, or get a different visa type if I need.

Thanks for the link, Josh.

[L-F-J]

So, if you are going to China but are unsure of exactly how long you may stay, because you may renew or change your visa type, will the embassies still give you a 90-day L visa if you have a one way plane ticket? It doesn't prove how long you'll be there and I thought that's a requirement. So what should you/do you have to do in that case?