China Law Blog

My understanding is this:
Tourist Visa: not hard to get if you are out of the country, but they are all single entry (heard some stories of people getting multiples). If you are in the country hard to renew. If you have Olympic tickets it's much easier.

Business visa: single entries, hard to renew.

Work visa: not hard if paper work is in order.

Student visa: good luck.

Journalist visa: You'll get in (unless your initials are JC) but there's a good chance your contact info will get released to angry young people.

Hi Dan,

This is old news by now, but it goes without saying that many people will be hurt by this, despite differing views to the contrary floating through the blogosphere which seem to imply that the crackdowns are good because it moves China toward a more law abiding society (translation: taking away freedoms that, semi-legal or not, did good for expats and Chinese people who did business with them).

Really it only helps those who have a good amount of money to sink into opening a WOFE or representative office - tough nuts for the countless small scale semi-legal exporters.

Fun times, it seems =) It's either back to the States or to one of the destinations you listed above.

Sure, Jeremy, but you have to admit that a lot of the people here on tourist, business and student visas are working illegally and not paying taxes and so on. So sure, a visa crackdown is going to hurt a lot of people, and there will be unfortunate collateral damage, but it is also a genuine rule of law issue.

I agree that many are getting hurt by this new murkiness in the visa process. A friend of mine was unable to get a visa so he could work in Shanghai over the summer. He was planning to find a summer gig at a local law firm once he was out there, and now he is forced to look for a summer job in the states. (His friends' business in Shanghai was also going to bring my friend on board as a consultant as well, but now that's not happening)

I agree that many are working illegally. But I can't imagine how this is going to help China's PR when its ramping up for the Olympics. This bad press is not a good thing for people who have genuine reasons to go in. Perhaps China really doesn't care too much, which I am beginning to suspect isn't too far from reality.

Hi Chris,

Sorry for the late response. I think people who will be affected by the new regulations fall into two groups of people:

1) Those making a small living, enough to get by - but who can in no way afford to setup officially in China because of the high start-up costs and capital requirements.

2) Those making a decent amount or a lot of money who can afford the start-up costs and capital requirements.

Even if #1 wants to go the legal route and pay taxes, they can't afford the initial costs. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that the number of people in group one is enormous in comparison to group two.

That's just the way it is, but it's still a tough pill to swallow.

My student visa expires in July. I just got confirmation here in Shanghai that they can give me an X visa for another couple months after it expires. All that is needed is a health check-up.

There's been a lot of rumours going around about the government not wanting students in China anymore, student visas being unavailable, etc. HanBan, the section of the government that does everything about Chinese education just posted on their site that this is pure rumour and nothing will change with regard to students.

It's sure become a lot harder than it was before though!

Hi, Does anyone know if people with Z working visas will be refused renewal? I don't think there is any other agenda attached to this apart from the fact that China thinks there won't be enough space for all during the olympic games. I was in Beijing recently and i remember commenting to one of my friends how difficult it'd be getting by Beijing during the olympic games if nothing was to be done because of the population density. I mean, we all saw this coming.