I'm coming to Kunming from the UK in November to study Mandarin. The school where I want to study says I should get a tourist visa and convert it to a student visa when I arrive. Does anyone know if this is possible or has anyone done this themselves? It would be pretty annoying to have to leave the country again as soon as I arrive...

Thanks!

Yes, that's possible, I've done that before. But it has to be a school, and you can't do that by yourself.

P.S. Check if the school is legal.

Maude, be sure you dont wait until the last day of you tourist visa expires with issuing your student visa. The school will need like 3 weeks or so for the whole paper process. At least my school needs that kinda time, because they will send it to a police station and yada yada yada...

BUT, dont "convert" your Visa too early because then your VISA will expire sooner. I dont know how to explain... Just ask the school when the last day to issue your VISA is.

To get your Student Visa at the school, you first need to make a health check too to get a Health Certificate. It will cost you about 300-400 RMB if my memory aint mistaken.. Dont bother to make the health check in your home country, because I did that and payed A LOT for it, but when I entered China - Kunming I couldnt use it to get the Health Certificate. Nope I had to do all the tests again, and pay the freakin fee again.
I cant remember the name of the place though, but someone in here should know which one I am talking about, quite near the airport.

Your student visa for one term should cost like 400RMB. Kinda funny that if you study a whole year you still have to pay "only" 400RMB... I have checked several schools about this and they all have the same way of paying for the VISA. Although, if you sign up for one term, and then want to study one more, you have to pay 400+400. Kinda f*cked up I must say.

Thanks everyone! Very useful advice, great to hear from people who have done it.

Hi, everybody,
just a question:are all schools able to deliver a student visa?

Any school with a license can easily provide a student visa. Be careful though as some schools say they can provide a student visa, but they actually pay another school for your visa.

Dongfang is known to provide visas for other schools, but when you have a problem they can't be trusted. So just make sure your visa isn't through them.

Well, I would like to set my family and I in Kunming because I'm interested in clay buiding in the north, and I need Visas for all the family(3 kids 2 adults)!!
Does anyone have an Idea about the best strategy to get those Visas for a year at least??
I'm an artist and could teach or something...Would it be better to be employed by a foreign company?
Does any one knows the good adress to get some nice and sweet informations??

If you have a student visa then it should be no problem to get a visa for your whole family(spouse and kids). I'm not sure on the exact details, but I know many who have done this.

Thanks a lot,ouyang,
see you then in Kunming next year who knows?