Hi all,
I'm in the process of getting a student visa through my school and they just called me to say that I have to go to the Public Security Bureau tomorrow for an interview. I'm a bit concerned and I'm wondering, is this common? Can anyone give me an idea of what to expect at the interview?

I've had PSB interviews for a few types of visas. Typically, they just want proof that you're physically present in the city where you're applying. If there is any verbal interaction b/w you and the PSB officer, in my experience, they'll just ask what you're doing in ____ city and you say, "studying at_____", "working as ____ at _____" etc. depending on the type of visa you're applying for. That's about it in my experience.

For most new students at Mei's Mandarin, the PSB interview is polite, cursory and over in a few minutes. I did hear of one prospective student who tripped himself up with a couple of lies, though, and was refused a visa by the PSB. So be honest and polite. Should be fine.

I went in for my work visa. I just sat there and said nothing, while the PSB officer told my boss that I shouldn't do bad things. Answered about 2 questions, along the lines of "have you been to China before?"

Took about 10 minutes or less.

Hey!
As a student I went to a police station for an interview about two weeks ago. But I went with other schoolmates and there was a teacher as well. She did the translation for us. I think DanTheMan was right about that, they only want to see you physically. That`s all. There wasn`t any question. They only warned us about the laws and regulations in China. It was totally pointless.

These are very routine, nothing to worry about. In the the past Kunming PSB didn't do interviews for residence visas etc, but as Beijing started to ask provinces such as Yunnan to follow the rules they started.

I went to one interview with a colleague, halfway through the interview the cop told us that he used to work in the area where our company was and we should under no circumstances ever stay over night in the area,,too dangerous,,haha

Thanks all for the replies. You've helped me feel significantly less paranoid.