Chinese Visa's True or False..........

[Paul Todd]

Types of Chinese Visa's :- 

 L Visa = Tourist visa
Issued to foreigners who enter China temporarily for touring, family visiting or other personal affairs. Single-entry, double-entry tourist visa are available.

  F Visa = Business/Visit Visa
Issued to foreigners who are invited to China for business visit, research, lecture, scientific-technological and cultural exchanges. Single-entry, double-entry, 6-month-multiple-entry, one-year-multiple-entry business visa are available.

  Z Visa = Work Visa
Issued to foreigners who are to take up a post or employment in China, and their accompanying family members. Valid for 30 days

  X Visa = Student Visa
Issued to foreigners who come to China for study or intern practice for a period of six months or above.

  C Visa = Crewmember Visa
Issued to crewmembers on international aviation, navigation and land transportation missions and their accompanying family members.

  J Visa = Journalist Visa

  G Visa = Transit Visa
Issued to foreigners who transit through China.

  D Visa = Residence Visa. The holy grail of visa's!
Issued to foreigners who are going to live in China permanently.

In China visa rumors spring up every where, and it can be difficult finding out what is True and what is False. While rules change, the official websites listing them do so at an alarmingly slow rate, it can take months for them to catch up! Regulations vary from province to province and the interpretation of those regulations vary as well. Whats true for Beijing may not necessarily be true in Shanghai. Visa agents on the other hand exist in there own special Chinese twilight zone of legality, but they can often accomplish things that individuals on their own could not. Of course a quite large fee is required for any services they may offer and I would advise using them with caution. So to help clear up a few general misconceptions here is my list of True and False facts about Chinese visa's:-

False:- Being married to a Chinese national gives you the right to live and work in The Peoples Republic of China

True:-  All you are entitled to is an extended L or tourist visa, nothing else. At the moment it is being/has been changed from 1 year visa to a 2 year extended L visa. In theory if you have been married to a Chinese national, lived in China and been a tax payer for 5 years you can apply for a Chinese green card. Even if you meet  all of the requirements, the Chinese government issues relatively few of these green cards and most of these to go to foreigners with large  financial ties to China rather than personal ones. This may change in the future, I for one hope it does!

False:-  A  Z visa is a residence permit.

True:-  A  Z visa allows you to enter China for the purpose of employment and is only valid for 30 days. This can then lead to a Foreign Experts Certificate and a residence permit.  The residence permit is a sticker in your passport and it allows you to work legally,pay tax's and is multiple entry.

False:-  You can work in China if you have an L or F visa.
Sorry but this is just not true. Some employers and I'm talking about schools now will tell you it's Ok to work on an F visa. I have read a lot about schools in Shenzen especially who get around the need for a  Z  visa by listing employee's as adviser's and not as teacher's. I believe this is because they do not have a government licence to employ foreign teachers.Beware.In the grand scale of things if your are tempted to work on an F visa it is "less" illegal in the eye's of the police than on an L or tourist visa.

True:-  It is illegal to work  on any other visa than a Z visa with a legitimate residence permit. If get caught working without the correct visa, you could be subject to deportation and fines. The police know they can shake you down for some easy money and more incidents are coming to light of this happening. As I said it's easy money for them and you will be the target .Get the right visa and if the school or company can not supply it then walk away. There are plenty more employers looking for you!

False:-  You can change the visa you have in your passport to another type in country. The only way to do this is to enter the twilight zone of the Chinese visa agent. You can see them everyday in the English printed newspapers here advertising Z or F visa's for sale. I checked one of these companies out when I was faced with the trip to Hong Kong to get my Z visa. They could do it alright but the price a whooping 5000rmb. If I had gone down this route what problems might I have encountered in the future? No idea but I wasn't about to take the chance. If your extremely lucky and your employer's connections go very deep as with every thing else here it's possible.

False:-  If you overstay your visa you be thrown in jail.

True:-  You can be fined up to 500rmb for the first 30 days of your overstay and the officers at the airport/boarder post will be non to pleased with you to say the least. Quite frankly if you overstay your visa for that length of time your taking the p### and deserve what ever is coming to you. Respect China and it's laws at all times they don't mess about here.

False:-  There are absolutes when it comes to the enforcement of any laws in China.

True:-  While it is certainly true that China has a written code of laws the enforcement side of it can depend on which way the wind is blowing. Two people in similar situations can end up with vastly different results. Being polite and conciliatory helps and of course personal contacts in the right places certainly smooth your path here. You would do well to cultivate these people as this is often the way things are done here.

Visa shops that have been recommended by members here are:-

US- http://www.visaexpress.net/
UK- http://www.chinesevisadirect.co.uk

[Okie_Rob]

Question ? ... for L visa ... the marriage has to be in China ? ... or does China recognize marriage in another country ?

[Paul Todd]

Hi Rob,

Without doubt they easiest way to get your extended L visa would be to present your little red marriage book to the PSB. Any other way would cause you unknown amounts of frustration and pain and you would have to have a very good reason to put yourself through that!  I suspect that they would tell you to register your marriage in China anyway, if for no other reason than to get you out of there office and make their life simple!
You can't argue with the PSB and unless you have a "friend " there your subject to their whims. As it is the interpretation of the regulations vary from officer to officer in the same building. Sometimes it's straight forward and sometimes they send you away to get more documents. You go away bring the documents they asked for ,see a different officer and he says why did you bring this? we don't need it! Just smile and do what they tell you, there is no other way. Just to be clear it's not just us they do this to they mess with Chinese people too, maybe more I don't know.
To get your L visa in Baoding takes 5 days and costs 400rmb, no heath certificates are required. At Teds local PSB you have to have your health cert before you can apply.

[Bee964]

Paul,

Can you get a multiple entry L-visa good for 1 year with a length of stay of 90 days or is it just always 30 days?

Dave C

[Willy The Londoner]

When I had my last visa renewed at at PSB for six months. 
I received one with no requirements to have to leave th country at all.  It is just a multi entry one.  I have never left China during the life of this one.
I am due to renew it in just under a month and I will see if I get the two year one with no hassle.

Willy

[Jason B]

Dave, my L visa is valid for one year with multiple entries for max duration of each stay 60 days after entry.  I do not know if 90 day visas exist or if they do they will not issue unless you have been to China before on an L visa.

[Philip]

Paul,
I am assuming that Hong Kong is different. As you know, I am moving to Hong Kong at the end of the month. The contract with the school is for 2 years, and they have sent me a visa, which says "EMPLOYMENT 12 months" from the Hong Kong Immigration Department. The fee was HK$160.00, which the school paid.
I don't know if this is a different kind of visa from the Chinese visas you have mentioned, but I know it is a visa that allows me to work there.

[Paul Todd]

Hi Dave,
I think it's like Jason said, they do exist but not for the first application and then it would depend on whether you where a good boy or not!  I know visa direct in the UK can get 60 day stays, the default length is as you say 30.

Willy, you can get new L visa's if your married to a Chinese national without leaving the country that's right. If you wanted to change the category, say an L to an F or business visa you would have to enter the twilight zone of the visa agent or leave the country and apply there. From what I was told by my local PSB you can keep on getting L visa's for ever, they said there was no maximum number so it's on going. If your not married to a Chinese national I believe for a fee you can get an extra 30 days but after that you must leave.

Phillip, this is interesting. Your visa says "EMPLOYMENT 12 months" from the Hong Kong Immigration Department. Sounds like you don't have to change it for a Residence Permit as you would on the mainland. Must be because it's one of China's special zones. It would make sense that there are different rules there. I can enter HK and stay for 6 months without a visa being a UK citizen (of course that doesn't allow me to work). I think it's the same for a lot of other countries too,one of the exceptions being China ! I went to HK with my wife earlier this year and she had to apply to the PSB for a little blue book that would allow her to visit but only for 2 weeks.The mainland way of issuing work papers  seems overly complicated and bureaucratic. The HK way far more pragmatic. Even though I have a contract for a year my Residence Permit is only valid for 6 months, it would be a pain if I had to renew myself  but luckily the school takes care of that for me. I hope you enjoy HK I love it when I was there!

[Bee964]

Paul, Jason,

I could not remember the exact length of time but I knew it was different. So it is possible to get a longer stay there rather than the normal 30 days.

Dave C

[ttwjr32]

Paul,

i would like to add to your post what i was told at the PSB building in Guangzhou. i am not sure if they have different provisions by provinces
but for the residence visa they told me to not try to apply for that until i have recieved the yearly one at least a minimum of 3 times.

but they usually dont grant that one until the 4th or 5th year. with the 5th year being the one that they would agree to give you one.

probably want to see how you stay here and that you stay a fine citizen during your stay. not sure but in september i have to apply again
and will go for the two year one that you can do now. when i do this i will post here what i did to get it.

but then again everything is not always the same. Willy omly got a 6 month one were i got a year one???

[Paul Todd]

Hi Ted,

The regulations are not only interpreted differently from province to province but between different PSB officers in the same building Just depends on how there feeling that day as to how smoothly or otherwise it goes.
I accompanied the guy from our university who does all the paperwork to the PSB office when we were sorting out my Residence visa. I had renewed my passport in Beijing during the long application process and now of course all the old passport numbers in the documentation didn't match my new passport numbers. That turned out to be no problem at all!!!!!! but he was sent away 3 times by the same officer to change a single line in a letter from the principal of the school. 4th time lucky different officer who didn't even read the letter and just processed it without question. You just never know and I'm sure you aware arguing with them is a bad idea too. Take what they give you with a smile.

[ttwjr32]

Yes i agree if you argue with them then it becomes all mute at that point as they will pick you
apart then deny you lol!!!  it will be quite interesting what i am told next month when i go to
renew mine. i will post my adventure here in the forum for others to read and hopefully get some
insight on. i think i will go with Willy on the same day   hahaha they might throw both of us out of the
country that day

[Willy The Londoner]

As long as you do not land on top of me. That would be painful.  I mean that shirt so close to me. ugh!!!!!!!

I am off to the PSB in about 10 days when I will be applying for a two year permit if I can get it.  Otherwise it will be the year one. Still that will be an improvement on the last.

Willy

[ttwjr32]

ok enough about the shirts  for those of you who dont like them  ##@@#$#$$$%^&***(  that pretty much sums it up