Job Discussion Forums

[fpshangzhou]

Hello,

This post is directed to American teachers here in China. I'm here in Hangzhou and preparing to undergo the visa renewal process for z visa and have to make a run to Shanghai for the health check, and Hong Kong to renew the z visa. I have a little over 6 months before my passport expires and need to renew it. Thinking I had enough time to renew it after the visa run, I was informed by my FAO that the Shanghai PSB told them I have to renew the passport before going ahead with the visa renewal. After scouring the travel state website in the passport section, some of the information regarding emergency passports was a bit fuzzy. I realize the emergency service (lost or stolen passport) where you can get the passport expedited within 2 days, but does this emergency service apply to renewals that need it before their visa expires? My visa expires June 26 and is going to be very tight schedule since regular renewal service is anywhere from 10-15 days. I appreciate any and all feedback ASAP!! Gotta love the visa experience.


Cheers,
Aaron

[NoBillyNO]

I lost my passport in a mud slide while on a ride-about.....got an emergency one .. toot sweet .....the Chinese embassy in Hanoi gave me a L visa to get back into the PRC....(couldn't give me a z visa due to regulations) so with a rduece validity on my Temp US passport I applied for a new one in Beijing ... so as to convert my L visa to Z then to a RP. The US embassy did not have an ability to expiate the passport .... my visa was in dire need of being renewed and I was told .. nope .. no faster service available..... good luck

[Javelin of Radiance]

Renew a Z visa? If you came here with a Z visa you should have an RP in your passport now. Don't you? You shouldn't need to do a visa run.

[NoBillyNO]

[roadwalker]

I applied for and received a new passport at the Shanghai US consulate in 2011. It was slightly faster than advertised, but perhaps I was just lucky. Don't delay, make an appointment online. If you can't get an appointment right away, call them and explain the reason for urgency. I think they should be able to have a new passport for you within your time frame. Alternatively, ask them if they can send the passport to the Hong Kong US consulate. I don't know if that is possible, but if they could, that should solve your problem, assuming otherwise your Residence Permit (or is it a non-z visa?) would expire while you were still waiting for your new passport.

[Javelin of Radiance]

[NoBillyNO]

[thebroformerlyknownaschou]

[fpshangzhou]

'Hey OP.. why are you having to leave the mainland if you already have been issued a Z visa which is temp. good until you get a Resident Permit?'

Your guess is as good as mine. I was at the same company and never had to leave the country, let alone Hangzhou for a visa run. My guess is that even though my passport shows my RP is valid through June 26, 2014, the old company might have canceled the RP on their end.

'why the heck
would you go to shanghai for a medical? and why the heck then would you
go to Hong Kong to get a new z-visa? something fishy. if you're teaching
legal-like, you should just need an RP renewal.....in Hangzhou'

I asked the same question to my FAO, and she told me all full-time FTs must go through Shanghai for visa since the company hq are located there, hence the medical testing in Shanghai. I personally don't think the Hangzhou branch has the authority or permission to get visas issued here, but who knows?


'why the heck would you want your new (visa?) and
your new residence permit in your soon-to-be expired passport? you'd
likely then have to get a new rp in your new passport. good grief!
not to mention that many countries require a minimum of six months
validity remaining (how close are you?) to get a visa, and i believe some
won't let you enter with less than six months validity.

The last time I was back home, I inquired about renewing my passport and they told me no earlier than 6 months. So I figured I had to wait it out. Therefore, with limited time the new visa and RP stamped into my old passport would be a temporary fix for the time being and at the 6 month mark,(7 months before passport expires) I would go and get it all changed over to the new passport. I know it doesn't make sense to repeat things, but with all these goofy rules and my bad luck timing of passport expiration & visa renewal happening at the same time seems a bit odd.

I have my medical in Shanghai on Saturday and then embassy meeting next Wednesday. Hopefully they will deem my situation an emergency and grant me a new passport faster than the typical 10-15 day time frame.
I can't wait to see how all this unfolds in the coming days. Hopefully, the passport will arrive in time and then off to Hong Kong.
ahhhh.... the challenges of living abroad....good times....


Cheers,

Aaron