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Visas in China

Posted in: Forums > Living in Kunming • 17 posts • Newest

• • manalishi
    July 27, 2010
    6 posts
  • Hello all,
    I'm looking for some help with my china visa. I'm a traveller who will be passing through China and Kunming over the next while. I will be arriving august 10th on a tourist visa. I plan to stay for 5 months. Is it possible to do the following;

    tourist visa 30 days
    extension 30 days
    student visa 90 days

    Techincally this should be possible. I have a course lined up for the education visa, how many hours a week are mandatory to get the visa?

    Has anyone got a visa extension recently? has anyone got an education visa recently? is it very difficult? i've had warnings saying the officials don't give visa extensions?

• • PerNordin
    July 27, 2010
    45 posts
  • Hummmm... why not just apply for a 6 month tourist visa? Who cares if you use some of that time to study? I think 180 days is the max you can apply for as tourist, so you are covered plenty. What your use your tourist time with is not important.

• • onlyone
    July 27, 2010
    93 posts
  • 10 classes a week is mandatory to obtain a tourist visa .

• • manalishi
    July 27, 2010
    6 posts
  • Uhm, I don't think it is possible to apply for a 180 days tourist visa.
    Anyway, I am in Vietnam at the moment and unfortunately yesterday I have put my application in for 30 days tourist visa. I didn't know I could have asked for more days!

    10 classes a week is mandatory to obtain a student visa for 3 months? What about the 6 months student visa?

• • manalishi
    July 29, 2010
    6 posts
  • well, here's what happened when we went to the consulate in Ho Chi Minh. They refused my tourist visa for 30 days without an explanation. They just said 'we've been told to refuse.' Sounded like passing the buck to me. So infuriating!!!

    One lady started explaining why we were refused when another official interupted our confab with a blunt retort, 'It's refused. No reason. Refused.' The first lady was starting to explain that we didn't have a hotel address, functioning contact phone number (we gave our home cell numbers) and return flight out of China. After the interuption she apologetically said 'Sorry, I dont know why refused.'

    So now we're going to have to try other means. Paying nearly $800 for 2 flights to Hong Kong and try to apply at the immigration office there. But will that even work. I heard Hong Kong follows the rules of common sense.

    I'm tearing my hair out especially at their pig-headedness.

• • rejected_goods
    July 29, 2010
    27 posts
  • chinese visa refused in ho chi minh city.
    did you get a official visa application fee receipt from the staff?
    if you didnt, that is the reason.

• • manalishi
    July 29, 2010
    6 posts
  • Yes, I did.

    I had it in my hand with the money to pay for the visa.
    They took the ticket out of my end and told me 'refused'.
    At this stage I would just like to know if I would be able to get a tourist visa in Hong Kong, if it is easy or not.

    Has anybody else done this?

• • no way
    July 29, 2010
    30 posts
  • what's your nationality? there are reports that china
    embassy/consulate in vietnam are refusing all visas
    for french citizens.

• • rejected_goods
    July 29, 2010
    27 posts
  • oh, you had the receipt and they took it before telling you the "bad news"? now, you didnt have it, right?

    my friend had the same encounter last year. she thought the receipt did not look real official. anyway, she ended up getting one in hanoi without any problem instead.

    yes, you can get a 30 day stay tourist visa in hong kong from the China Travel Service (hong kong) Limited, very straighforward there. yet, if you are an american, Brits...... you have to pay higher fee tho. :-(

• • rejected_goods
    July 29, 2010
    27 posts
  • oh, if you an also take a ferry ride to macau from hong kong, ther you can get one for HKD$400 same day or 285 if you wait 2 days while you are having fun in macau. :-) of cos, it costs more if you count the ferry trip and hotel bill.

• • mingdao
    July 29, 2010
    41 posts
  • Why not just get a Tourist Visa for 6 months? Or one year? Don't know what they offer in HK, but we just got one-year multiple entry Tourist Visas in America in June. All the Visas cost the same. They were $130 USD. You will find China reciprocating with US prices. Since US just went up on China Visas to $150, maybe China did the same.

    Many Visa offices in HK:

    http://www.chinavisa.com.hk/
    http://www.hotelinhongkong.net/[...]

    If these don't suit you, ask at the airport.

• • JingWei
    July 29, 2010
    20 posts
  • Manalishi, your nationality might be an issue. Save yourself some money and time, give a call to one of the visa service in HK, tell them your nationality and ask them what is the best visa you can get. Keep in mind that it is common that a 6 months double entry means that in a 6 months period you can enter china twice, but each time for a duration of 30 days only, so be careful to check the length of each entry!

    Yes American can get 180 days tourist visa, if applied in the US, but i never heard any other nation getting this preferential treatment.

    And if you are French you definitely need to have some hotel booking and return flight booked in advance, otherwise they will refuse the visa. Sino-French relation are very good at the moment! Hotel can be booked on elong (which ask you to pay on arrival) after that they can do nothing to make sure that you are actually showing up in the hotel you booked ;)

• • manalishi
    July 30, 2010
    6 posts
  • I hold an Italian passport and my boyfriend an Irish one. Thanks for all the infos, a this stage I hope we'll be able to get the visa in Hong Kong, but it would be great if you could get one in Hanoi. We read all the forums around this subject...and unfortunatelly it seems that nobody has managed to obtain a chinese visa in Hanoi for the past while!!
    We are just surprised to realize that it is so difficult almost impossible to get a chinese visa outside your native Country... :(

• • Stork
    July 30, 2010
    1 post
  • I am American, I went to HK earlier in July with all appropriate paperwork to get a 3 month F visa, and was only able to get a 30 day F visa. I was told they are only issuing 30 day work visas, no matter what your circumstances, and advising that you apply for an extension while in China. I am not sure about tourist visas but I would not be surprised if 30 days is the most you can get in HK right now.

• • rejected_goods
    July 30, 2010
    27 posts
  • you can get a 30 day tourist visa or a double entry visa valid for 3 month (maximum stay still 30 days for each entry) if you are not a hong kong resident. technically, the F visa are only issued to hong kong residents.

    you can get a Hong Kong Identity Card(in fact, you are required by law to get one) and become a resident if you stay in hong hong for more than 180 days.

• • manalishi
    July 30, 2010
    6 posts
  • ok, here's the latest. Our very friendly hostess in our hotel in Hanoi checked the visa situation for us at with Chinese Embassy Hanoi. There is a new rule as of July 24 that all tourist visa applications will be rejected apart from those who've already visited China. By this I interpret that they mean to refer to all those in China looking for extensions.

    This sounds just unbelievably draconian!!! WTF is going on? Are they getting antsy about the international pressure on the Yuan? Is it something related to the World Expo? In 2008 during the Olympics there was a temporary clampdown - how the olympics relates to foreign relations and visa policy is beyond me - could the same 'clampdown'be happening again?

    I wont be looking for an F visa only an L (tourist visa). Now i'm wondering is it worth my time going to HK at all. flights are now $500

• • onlyone
    July 31, 2010
    93 posts
  • well,
    You can contact Chinese school to study Chinese for short time like three months .They will issue some legal papers to you to obtain x visa you enter the country change to residence permit and at the same time touring around in the city you will study .