Had to renew my visa (spousal resident visa) after 3 years (was set to expire 11-15-2021) and to my surprise it was a ghost town. I remember 3 years ago it use to be packed with Chinese nationals getting their visas for overseas travels. There used to be a lot of students waiting too. The 3rd. floor only had 1-2 persons waiting. The staff was fantastic and it was a pleasant process. The visa fee is still 800 RMB payable via Wechat/Airpay/No cash when you pick up your new visa. I'll pick up the new one next week (Monday).
I will have to renew soon - what paperwork etc did you need to take with you? Did you do the medical check first?
When I did my medical check up back in 2016 the clerk at the visa office told me that there was no need for it unless I had left China. That's was back in 2016. When I went yesterday the clerk ask me for my last medical check up booklet. I suggest you ask if it is necessary (save some money if not needed). 3 years ago is a long time. It's better to be prepare. In any case of course you should have the 'medical checkup' first and make copies of the pages in the book. Bring the booklet with you. This is the paperwork that I gave them.
1. Bring in your passport with copies of your passport page with your picture and country info and entry and expiration dates. Make a copy of your 'first' entry stamp from China (mine was in 2006).
2. Have your wife bring in the 'Hukou' booklet and her Chinese ID card. Make copies of her page and Chinese ID card (front and back).
3. Bring your Police registration form (original and copy).
4. 2 recent passport photos. Around the corner from the visa building they have a photo shop that do this for 30 yuan. They also give you a printout with your picture and the day and time the picture was taken as proof it is recent. I believe this is required.
5. Bring your proof of vaccination forms that they gave you when you got the covid vaccination (bring original & copies).
6. Bring in your marriage passport book(s). Make a copy of just your book.
That's it as far as I can remember. They have a copy machine downstairs if you missed something to copy.
If you're 60 and over you should be able to get a 3 year visa or when the expire date of your passport is if it's under 3 years. My passport expires in 2024 so my visa
expires the same day as the expiration date and year of my passport.
As additional information to @livinginchina's list.
Ref. item 2. If you wife does not have a Kunming Hukou she will also need to bring her Kunming temporary ID and copies of that.
Ref. item 4. You need to get the passport photos from an authorized photo office, these produce a receipt with a bar code and your photo on the paper. This barcode is read by the PSB system. The photo office outside the Tuodong Lu building does this. The photo office for foreigners is in the outside wall, on the right hand side as you face the building, not the one on the corner of the building, it is about 10m further back.
Additional item. Your wife will need to write a letter of invitation, there is a standard form for this available in the visa office.
Yes. Good add on information.👍
Did not need wife's hukou (did need her temporary Kunming residence permit because she's not from Kunming), nor vaccine proof (might be a new thing), or letter of invitation as of May 2021 when I renewed. Would be interested to hear if these new rules are official now for the marriage visa/resident permit.
Also, as far as I've been told by the PSB, for marriage you can either get a one year visa without a health check or two years with one, the price for the visa is the same (double it if you want one for two years), but I renewed a one year visa and did not have to pay the additional cost of the health check.
Before I hit 60, I had the same choices back then.When I hit 60 before my visa was up they said you can get the visa for 3 years. That was in 2016.
@sunjiangyu: "Did not need wife's hukou (did need her temporary Kunming residence permit because she's not from Kunming),"
In this situation, the last times I applied for marriage residence permit (that was a few years ago) they could not give more than 1 year, because wife was on 1 year temporary permits as well, and mine couldn't be longer than hers.
Was your choice of 2 year permit perhaps similarly based on your wife's permit?
They asked me if I wanted a two year, so I don't think it was a problem. I just didn't want to go and pay extra for the health check.
