Job Discussion Forums

maudgm · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 30 Location: depends

Hi everone,
I need your help :
My fianc� and I finally found a job in China. Right now we're in France where he can't apply for a tourist visa. He needs to go to HK.
Does anybody know where exactly to go, how long it takes and how much it costs ?
Thanks a lot for your time...

maudgm · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 30 Location: depends

by the way I forgot to mention Joel's Canadian. Any advice would be very appreciated..it's kind of urgent..

mr pink · Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 53 Location: China

Finding the visa office of the PRC can be really easy. I'm sure that there are many ways, but let me tell you what I did...and it was far easier than expected. You don't even need to know the address.

Before anything, get a map of HK (even off the Internet) so that you can see the different districts, like Kowloon and HK island. With that said, first begin in Kowloon (gau lung). Walk south along Nathan Rd (a famous touristy road) until it ends at Salisbury. Go west (take a right) and walk to the star ferry. Take a ferry to Wan Chai on HK Island. As you are leaving the boat, keep an eye out for signs for the visa office. They're in English and point you in the right direction. It's that simple...follow arrows on the big signs.

The visa office is in the China Resources Building, 26 Harbour Rd, fifth floor if I remember correctly, and the entrance is on Glaucester Rd.

Others have argued about the exact address in the past, but it really doesn't matter if you follow the visa office signs.

Then again, you can always have your hotel or hostel get the visa for you for around 150-240 HK dollars. But same day service might cost a little extra.

good luck,
mr pink

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Surprise, surprise, a Canadian gets no Chinese tourist visa from a Consulat General de Chine, for example from the one in Lyons or the embassy in Paris?

If not, well, fly to HK or Macau (I prefer the latter, it's a one-hour catamaran trip from HK).
In HK, you get a tourist visa from:
- The China Visa Section of the CHinese Government HK Office
in the Resources Building, 18 Harbour Rd., Wanchai
(take the ferry from Tsimshatsui to the Wanchai Exhibition and
Convention Centre, then walk 300 meters).
- PHOENIX TRAVEL agent: Used to be in 96 Nathan Rd., 7th floor,
Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, next to Kowloon Park; seems it has relocated;
call telephone assistance 1081 (free) and ask for their new address!
- Japan Ltd. Travel agency: One branch is in Kowloon - easy to find.
- CTS, corner of Peking Rd./Nathan Rd., Kowloon, 2nd or third floor.

There are many agencies that help you obtain these visas at some mark-up, but relatively hassle-free; the cheapest go for around HK$ 400 for 3 to 6 months, multiple entry.
PHOENIX is not the cheapest, but the most reliable and most friendly of all of them!
It usually takes a working day, and you need to furnish them one picture.
At PHOENIX, you hand in your visa application in the morning (before 11 a.m.,), pay (around HK$ 750 for six months, multiple), and get your passport with the visa by 6 p.m. the same day.
The China Visa section takes longer, I think two days. Express delivery costs extra.
I heard it is more expensive now in HK - but reports have not been corroborated; apprently, the visa fee has been doubled.
Go to MACAU, and get it cheaper.
From Macau to Guangzhou it's virtually the same distance as from HK to Guangzhou.

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

If you go the HK route, consider using China Travel Service. Been pretty good to me. They can also help you book connecting tickets, inexpensive hotels, etc. while you do your visa application.

They have several branches around HK, including one right at the airport (and also one at the Hung Hom train station) that can process tourist visa applications.

MT

Peter · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 161

APT at 8-10 Hankow Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, will do 1 year multiple entry for 1000 HK. Have a full size passport photo handy

Where?

Turn your back on the HMV music store on the corner. look for a Spaghetti House sign. It is next to a shop called Charcoal?
Take the lift on the right, first floor.

CTS charges 1700 for the same 1 year visa

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Peter,
thanks. A great piece of info!

Peter · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 161

Sorry!

Lift on the left, stairs on the right

maudgm · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 30 Location: depends

Thanks for your help everyone. The indications are clear. I wrote to Phoenix to check their address (it hasn't changed) and they told me 350HK$ for a double entry 3 month visa.
I'm surprised coz it's cheaper than you all said. I'll see once there which "agent" we'll go for..
Cheers

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

I paid HK$ 750 for a six-month, MULTIPLE-ENTRY visa - little more than double your fee, and I have the right to go to Hong Kong or Macau (or abroad) as often as I need!
I would not pay 350 for a double-entry 3 month visa! Either single-entry, or multiple.

MyTurnNow · Joined: 19 Mar 2003 Posts: 860 Location: Outer Shanghai

Depends on where in China they live. If they're up north double-entry might be fine. Most of us don't have the easy access to HK/Macau that you Guang Dongs have. Wink

$350HK for a 3-month is not a spectacular price, though...

MT