I'm going to be living in Kunming soon and I need a 6 month double or multi-entry business F visa. I've spent time researching the visa online but I'm still uncertain whether I need an 'official invitation letter' or an 'informal invitation letter' and exactly what details the company I'll be working with needs to include in the letter.

Has anybody obtained an F Visa recently, if so how? Did you go to HK or Bangkok, or did you pay a visa company to supply it? Any advice is really appreciated...

What do you mean by an "official" invitation letter as opposed to an "informal" one? My dad always gets F visas easily from the Chinese consulate for his business trips to China, however, he always renews his visas at home. He usually gets a 1 year multiple entry visa, requiring exiting China every 60 days, though he rarely stays more than about 2-3 weeks at a time, if that.

I'm pretty sure any sort of letter from a registered company sent to the Chinese consulate where you are applying (or alternatively given by your company to you so you can hand it over to the consulate officials yourself) should be good enough - simply get them to send a one page letter with an explanation of what you will be doing in China and that will suffice. Perhaps you could try checking with the consulate you intend to apply at for more details. I hear Hong Kong is as good a place as any to apply in this region, otherwise try Bangkok (as you have suggested) or Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh or Vientiane (Laos).

BTW Many Chinese consulates in Australia, Europe and North America are able to provide 1 year multiple entry tourist visas that don't require anything other than maybe a flight itinerary and the required fee. Perhaps this is not convenient for you this time round, but worth noting if you are a citizen of one of these countries, should you be planning a trip back home sometime and then need to come to China again.

You need an official letters from a registered company.

I am not sure but this may also need to be counter signed/stamped/approved by a local bureau as well now.

Once you have the paperwork you can apply for the visa in your home country. If you are not in your home country it can be done at the country you are currently registered in.

If you are coming here to work, rather than pursue business, beware employers who expect you to get your own visa.

@tigertiger, that last point you made is interesting. I remember applying for a foreign chamber of commerce job in Chengdu recently and they told me they couldn't organize a work visa! I was confused because how can I legally stay and work in China on a visa that isn't a work related one? Secondly, the only way I could stay in China long-term on any kind of visa would be to get a student visa, but then again it isn't legal to work on a student visa in China (unless the rules have changed?) Anyway, I don't understand how a reputable organization isn't able to provide a work visa; that just made me very suspicious of that organization.

Hi thanks, I'm currently in China on a L visa and I can travel to neighbouring countries to get the F visa but I don't want to risk travelling to a random city and encounter problems!

My experience of phoning embassies/ immigration hasn't been positive in the past... so I'm just looking for a recommendation- or a company I can pay to obtain for me in China. I found a visa company in Beijing but their fee was 4700RMB and I'd have to stay there for a week. Many other companies have suspend the F service, especially for visits longer than 30 days.

I will ask the company I'm going to work with to phone a Kunming PSB and try to get the invitation letter stamped, then I'll choose a destination (probably the cheapest to travel to from China).

Any other advice welcome...

By the way I would like a Z visa ideally but this has proved impossible in Kunming as I don't have a degree. I want to find work making videos for charities and businesses and teach some film making and photography skills

Film making might be difficult. It may be seen as Journalism, which needs a different visa; 'J' I think.

Even on an 'F' you are working illegally.

One way around this. Set up a company back home, needs about 300 pounds in UK. Then get a company to invite you over, and bill them. As technically you will be coming here to do business and not be on a payroll here, you are legal. You will have to do a tax return back home, but you never show a profit.
That is how you can do it legally.

I'm self-employed in the UK so if I do find any paid work maybe it's OK to invoice Chinese companies and get paid to my English account?