Comments on: Chinese Visa Information

By: jenny

jenny — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:35:31 +0000

hello!
can i renew my L visa now in HK? my visa will be expired on oct22. i am from philippines, im not doing any work but my bf is working in guangzhou so i want to stay a little longer. i would really appreciate any info that u could provide.

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:26:08 +0000

@Wayne,

My understanding is that in general things have returned to normal. Universities in my area are now able to obtain work visas without too many problems. F visas, which were available even during the Olympic Games should be back to normal as well. However, if i were you, I would encourage your school (or place of work) to start the process immediately if you are up soon. Hopefully others on this board can help us out with their thoughts…

By: Wayne

Wayne — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:51:12 +0000

Hi Robert and readers,
I’m up for a new visa shortly, and after the difficulties obtaining the last one, I was wondering have things returned to “Normal”. I was informed by various expat friends that things would return to normal after Sept 20. If anyone has info on F and Z visas now, could you please share it?
Thanks.
Wayne

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:35:07 +0000

We were being told before the Olympics that the restrictions would apply until after the Paralympics. A contact in the Sydney visa office said no date has yet been set by Beijing for the return to normality. On the other hand a friend who is hiring teachers has said HK is now issuing 2 month tourist visas without hotel bookings etc. It is all very confusing.

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:22:41 +0000

@Robert Vance

Thank you very much for your information, I am heading to the municipal public security bureau in a few minutes. Will ask them to clarify the story and will post it right after!

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:56:48 +0000

@Jimmy

Now that the Olympics have come to a close, many foreigners in China are wondering what, if anything, is going to change in terms of the stringent visa policies that were put in place a few months ago. From all indications, it seems that the Chinese government will most likely relax the restrictions on visas as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens in China (another Tibet uprising etc).

An F Visa is the appopriate visa to have if you are going to be doing an internship in China. You can usually obtain an F visa for up to six months although in the weeks leading up to the Olympics, there were only being issued for 30 days max.

If you have an internship lined up already, that particular company should be responsible for making sure that your visa is renewed in time. If for some reason they cannot help you, then I would suggest that you look up a Hong Kong visa agent online and inquire about how much it would cost to obtain a thirty day business visa extension until your company can get everything sorted out.

I would love to tell you that you could just go into Hong Kong and apply for another business visa (or a tourist visa) but at this point, we are not sure in which direction the Chinese government is going to go….

@Levis,

I will contact my friend tommorrow and find out exactly how they got into contact with this agent although I have a feeling they found him on the internet.

By: levis

levis — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:58:14 +0000

hi i just read about the visa stuff. you did mention that an Austrailian had to dish out 1600rmb for months business vis, please can u kindly give me more details because my visa too will expire soon. how can i contact this agent.thanks

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:39:54 +0000

@ Robert Vance,

I’m the Netherlands, and the visa was issued back in the Netherlands.

Thanks!

By: Robert Vance

Robert Vance — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:29:45 +0000

@Jimmy,

Where are you from?

By: leo

leo — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:44:30 +0000

f*** you china any way i lost my job cause of your new rules , so any way i have to back to my home town now f** you