Dear Jean,

OK, I’ve already got the U.S passport for my daughter and the birth abroad papers, now this is the deep part my wife and I have decided to send our daughter back to China within two years to live and be raised by my daughters grandparents, of course we will go back and forth, myself more often because where I work, to make a long story short how do I get a visa for my daughter to stay with her grandparents for that amount of time, we are talking till she is at least 6 or 7 ? I have already talked to my Sunshine about getting her a Chinese passport as well, but I hear and read it may be a problem for me to leave with her if I decide to travel with her outside of China. I know it can be done just wondering if you knew how or what course of direction I need to look.

Zee

Jean answers Zee’s question

Dear Zee,

First, let me make a disclaimer. No one here at TeachAbroadChina.com is an official expert on Chinese visa policy so it may be best to contact an attorney if you believe that you are going to run into a problem.

With that said, I agree with you that getting a Chinese passport for her is not the best course of action. Attempting to leave the PRC with her on a Chinese passport will inevitably cost you time and money. Since she is already an American citizen, the Chinese government will not give her Chinese citizenship because dual citizenship is not allowed here.

If you had asked this question before you got a U.S. passport for her, I probably would have advised you to wait. Your daughter could have waited to become a U.S. citizen until she was 18. Having Chinese citizenship would have saved you some money sending her to public school.

In your case, the best course of action is to apply for a Chinese visa on her behalf. Since it sounds like neither you nor your wife will be in China with your daughter, you will probably have to apply for a tourist visa. Depending on where you live, you may be able to convince the PSB to extend that visa for up to two years if you explain to them that your daughter is living with relatives. Obviously, you will eventually have to obtain a new visa for her but I don’t think that should be a big problem.

Hope that helps and maybe we will hear from some others out here who have had similar experiences,

Sincerely,

Jean

Jean answers another question about Chinese visas

Dear Jean,

Is it possible for a school to obtain a work visa for me once I am already in China on a tourist visa? Also, how hard is it to extend a tourist visa?

Cheers,

Liam

Jean answers Liam’s question

Dear Liam,

Generally, it is not difficult for an L-visa to be changed into a work visa so long as you have a school assisting you. While I, nor anyone that I know, have ever had trouble obtaining a  work visa after coming into China on an L-visa, I have heard that sometimes it depends on where you are living in China.

The best way to know for sure about this is to check with the particular school. If they are confident that they can do it for you, then there should be no problem.

At the present moment, we are hearing that extending an ‘L’ visa is not difficult at all. Most likely, you will have to go to Hong Kong to do so but it never hurts to check with the local PSB. Sometimes, they will do it, especially, if you give them a good reason.

Sincerely,

Jean

Ask Jean about China is a weekly feature on TeachAbroadChina.com. We welcome any questions related to living and working in China. Feel free to submit your questions by clicking here. We look forward to hearing from you.