I got a 2 month free visa extension after talking to my police registration office.

They made it sound like it was being granted by the Chines government as a result of the covid19 travel issues across China.

Only my passport was required.

In my case, I did not need a new China visa.

Also, it maybe a very new policy.

I think this might be the case as I originally went to the registration office to ask some different questions, and only by having them inquire about my other questions, did they end up discovering that I could get a 2 month visa extension right there and then.

So there is a chance other offices may not be aware of this possible visa extension.

DISCLAIMER.

YOU NEED TO INQUIRE WITH YOUR POLICE REGISTRATION OFFICE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

THIS MAY OR MAYNOT BE POSSIBLE FOR OTHERS DEPENDING ON A HUGE NUMBER OF THINGS, SUCH AS YOUR VISA STATUS OR NATIONALITY OR EVEN A CHANGE IN POLICY AS A RESULT OF THE CHANGING COVID19 POLICIES.

@AlexKMG, what kind of visa or residence permit are you on?

People should also check the latest information here, as the two month extension does not appear to be for those wishing to renew, but is aimed at those who will be leaving at the end of their visa. www.gokunming.com/[...]

Hi, I would love to know:

The article posted by the editor claims that the residence permit is 'automatically' extended for those intending to stay (and are not renewing visa). To that end... was any paperwork required at the police station? Was it necessary to inform them? Or could you theoretically just stay on without taking any actions?

@tiger
I have a 10 year duration 90 day per stay multiple entry visa.

I think that 2 month extension I received is the one mentioned in the March 2 update to the linked article.

@sykohull
Nowhere did I use the term "automaticlly."

I went in person to my registration office.

Neither they nor I knew about the 2 month extension at the time, but they discovered that it was available in the course of trying to answer my inquiries for other border crossing related questions.

After they knew it a possibility, they asked for my passport, then the registration officer spent 5-10 minutes checking information on the computer and then returned my passport and told me I could stay in China until May 12th instead of my planned March 10th departure.

Nothing else was asked of me document wise besides my passport. I cannot guarantee that will be the case for others.
"free" in my title means that there was no payment in rmb required.

You need to go in person and ask about the 2 month extension if you desire such as whether it's availble to every type of visa holder or nationality or any other situation isn't something I claim to know anything about.

It just happened to work out in my case when I went into the office earlier this week to ask about other questions regarding my previously planned border crossing.

Also it isn't clear if your asking questions of me or of that paragraph in tigers linked article, but I replied just in case.

@Alex, thank you for the additional information.

I have a 9 year 90 day stay.

I was booked to go out to Thailand on the 15th because I really want to go out but that can't happen now.

@Alexkmg, my current 90 days is nearly expired.
Has there been any indication of what will happen if the virus problem still exists toward the end of that extra 2 months?

Well, our local office was open today, so we went across the road to inquire.

They didn't know anything and told us to go to the PSB downtown.

Naturally that office is closed now for the weekend.

Does anybody know if they are actually back in operation or is it still phone and appointment only?

@alpage48

I think Thailand is still an available option when I looked into it earlier this week.

Ctrip was offering roundtrip flights to Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

My research indicated that you would be allowed to enter Thailand at those two airports without issue unless you were showing symptoms.

What I didn't research was whether you could return to Kunming without issues.

However, ctrip was offering roundtrip flights, so I think that was the case.

I'll add the usual disclaimer that my information could be outdated by now.

It seems the government can just grant additional extensions across the board if it wishes, so I don't see

why the government could not grant additional extensions in a world where covid19 is still hampering travel to such a degree in May of 2020.

Your situation seems similar to mine.

So I recommend going to your police registration office and trying to get the 2 month extension.

On the other hand, if you're desperate for a vacation and are willing to the risk that Thailand and China remain open for travel during your planned dates, it's still possible according to ctrip anyways.

@alexkmg
unfortunately (for me), Thailand implemented 14 day quarantine measures last night. I phoned both the hotel and trip.com this morning and they said "cancel".