How To Get A China Visa. It Ain't Easy....
Post over at I Only Like China, entitled, "Visa troubles: trials, tribulations and tomfoolery," does a nice job comparing the various China visas and setting out the machinations one often has to go through to get one. In defense of China on this securing a United States visa is no easier/better.
Comments (9)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endAimee - January 25, 2009 6:44 PM
Great subject, and very timely. It seems like it's been getting a lot more difficult over the past 7 years. When I went for a simple tourist visa in October, I was initially denied because the residences I'd listed didn't appear to be "valid."
Aimee - January 25, 2009 6:44 PM
Great subject, and very timely. It seems like it's been getting a lot more difficult over the past 7 years. When I went for a simple tourist visa in October, I was initially denied because the residences I'd listed didn't appear to be "valid."
Paul Traynor - January 26, 2009 4:02 AM
Thanks for the link: In defense of me, I didn't plan on comparing Western visa issues to Chinese ones, but I've had a few friends sent back from the UK to China because they can't get themselves a work visa. Look out for a description of British visas for Chinese kids later!
gswafford - January 26, 2009 5:07 AM
Interesting situation. Unfortunately, I've encountered similar experiences, but as one commenter advised - I wouldn't blog about it.
Doug - January 27, 2009 6:40 PM
The best way to get a visa is to contact someone you know in a smaller city and get them to hook you up but of course nothing is getting done over chinese new year. It important when you work or go to school somewhere to keep a good relationship with the person who gets visa because some of these places can get visa with no problems and few question even after you leave. so if you buy the person a "present" or if they like you can get what you need for cheap. When i was getting F visa in a smaller city i was paying the non-america visa prices even though i am an america. I don't know how but i am not going to ask.
Jerome Cole - January 29, 2009 8:42 AM
These people are fools. Get a residence permit as a student, get a residence permit as a teacher (very easy), get a work permit through a company and then apply for a residence permit, put up with the hassles of the F visa, or get out. It is not as if the requirements are unreasonable.
Ted Cruise - January 29, 2009 1:08 PM
I can appreciate the guy's situation, but trying to get clever with your visa is a very, very bad plan.
Perhaps it is the reputation that China has for flexible rules that makes people lose their heads in China. Follow the rules. Comply with regulation. When in doubt, ask. Getting creative is not good.
James - February 3, 2009 11:09 PM
I dare say it's still much easier for a westerner to get a Chinese work visa than it is for the Chinese to get a visa to the west. Westerners need to stop whining and play by the rules. We're not going to get everything handed to us on a silver platter anymore. Deal with it.
Paul Traynor - February 24, 2009 11:15 PM
"It is not as if the requirements are unreasonable."
No, they're not, you're 100% correct. The requirements that are laid out are probably some of the most reasonable there are. As people have said, it's a lot easier for foreigners in China than it is for Chinese abroad.
Where my beef lies in is not with the requirements, it's with the ebbing and flowing of what you can get for those requirements.
If you check out my latest post: http://ionlylikechina.blogspot.com/2009/02/visa-update-for-year-of-ox-shorter.html
It looks like tourist visas are even subject to massive change at the flip of a switch. I don't even mind if they do keep on chopping and changing lengths of stays/prices/whatever else. All I ask is they have a place you can go to check the official line at that time, and not have to rely on second hand information from travel agencies or consular officers who are not the clearest of cats.
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"Getting creative is never good."
I know hardly anyone in China who has never got "creative" with their visa.