I'm also wondering what happened to the other guy that was in the interview with me. He got rejected for the same reason, I wonder what he's doing?

@ Pooliekev
Those connections make a lot of sense to me. The Chinese have a history of tit-for-tat, reciprocity on visa fees based on country, for example.

I was in Kunming on student visa for a year, I travelled quite a lot in and out of China, never consulted my travel plans with school, and just this week I got a new x1 visa without any problems. I wonder if anyone will ask about my past travels when I apply for a new residence permit next week.

@mPrin: I don't know about mailing your passport to Forever Bright (Ever Bright?), but there have been other companies that have advertsied they could get you a renewal of your (present) M visa if you send them your passport 3 weeks or so before your present M visa expires, and I have a friend who did this and it worked. However, if your student visa is expiring I don't think this will help you.

Anyway, waiting in Hong Kong while the visa is renewed is the standard method - in former years it didn't necessitate sending the passport to one's home country, but only to Macao.

ksmcqueen, and what about your's school fees ? Got you your money back ? Hope you found a solution.

Yep, I got my tuition fees back, which is nice. A couple of solutions possible. I keep getting more information from the PSB/Immigration office through a third party, apparently I can't get a residence permit for either a student or work visa, but tourist visas are no problem. All kind of hearsay until I try. Going down to Thailand tomorrow, will try what I can and keep folks informed here, for people in the same pickle I'm in now.

Hey guys! Hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, USA and a newbie in Yunnan. Do you guys know of any schools that can issue a student visa for research purposes? What are the requirements and how commonly are they issued?

Student visas can be used for research as I am currently doing, but it must be facilitated through a public university, not through a private language school. You also need to have a sponsor/local advisor from the faculty at the university who will be the supervisor for your project. If you'll be working less than six months you can also simply get an invitation letter for an M used to be F visa which can be used for shorter term research. In all cases for things to be fully official, the university will also need to vet and get your research approved by the provincial foreign affairs office as well.

Typically how long does this process take? I currently have a multiple entry tourist visa so I am curious if I should plan on having to leave the boarder and come back in should the school approve my research project.

I dont often see these as 'tit for tat' cases, rather as a worldwide movement towards regulation (generally, this means cracking down on tax evasion), and i feel a crackdown on illegal migrant workers is justified as much in China as anyplace else. The possibility for unskilled and underqualified migrant students to assume qualified positions of responsibility, such as teachers, is'nt tolerated anyplace. Its very sad for the babies that got thrown out with the bathwater, though :( Anyone have experience with the appeal process?