Allowed to study with L visa?

[shoe83]

I am wondering if schools have restrictions on who they enroll based on visas. If I have an L visa (tourist), will I still be able to take classes for a month? It didn't occur to me until just now, and I'm leaving very soon...uh oh. Anyone know anything about this?

Thanks!

[trevelyan]

Lots of people come over to study short term on tourist visas. Have a good trip!

[roddy]

Yeah, you might have trouble trying to enrol long term in a university course, but anyone offering one month courses is unlikely to care.

[self-taught-mba]

Yes. I own a Chinese school in Beijing here . It is perfectly legal and frequently done. Also, a "f" visa which is used to study is much harder to convert into a tourist visa later. (Without using the overpriced "agents" anyway)

This may be important if you want to combine travel and study.

[herewego]

But it`s better not to tell in the embassy or whereever u apply for visa the real aim of your visit. It`s not allowed by law to study by L-visa...(sh)

[Xander]

This is not directly related to the post, but deals with the visa question.

Visa issue,

I need to get a visa for six months, but I am not planning to attend any classes at a university. I could either travel through Hong Kong and get a visa there, as other knowledgeable people already have pointed out on this forum. Or I could “enroll” at a university, pay the 100 USD but never actually attend any classes. The question is if this is sufficient for getting the residence permit, or will the uni report to the local police department that I am not attending any classes?

As I see it Hong Kong is the better way, but how much would that cost me?

Where can I book/find flights from Hong Kong to Harbin?

Thanx for all the helpful replies.

[mrtoga]

No problem to study for the summer courses on L visas, however some embassies will not issue a 60-day L (as opposed to a 30-day L) unless you have a good reason why you will be in China for that long. For this reason universities holding summer courses issue Notification of Enrolments to students, who can take them to their embassies and get the 60-day L visa.

This is what is supposed to happen. In practice, some staff at some Chinese Embassies / Consulates still do not issue 60-day L visas upon presentation of these Notification of Enrolment forms. As the final decision rests with the embassy / consulate, the only option for unfortunate applicants is to extend the visa here in China (this happened to one of our applicants from at the consulate in Los Angeles recently). It is not a big problem, just a hassle.