Job Discussion Forums

[bearcanada]

kjkrause said, "The maximum for a L visa from canada is 90 days."

That is absolutely untrue. A tourist (L) or business (F) visa is available on request for 90 or 180 days or 365 days. I've had 5 of them, all obtained in Canada.

People, don't you understand the trouble you can cause others by posting such wildly incorrect information? For goodness' sake, all you have to do is go to the Chinese consulate website and look at the information pages or the visa application form. Here is the link:

http://calgary.china-consulate.org/eng/lsfw/qzsx/P020071123187871727806.pdf

The application asks if you want:
(1) Single-entry for 3 months
(2) Double-entry for 6 months
(3) Multi-entry for 6 months, or
(4) Multi-entry for 12 months.

All you have to do is tick the box. They give you what you ask for.

.

[kjkrause]

90 days visa's are the maximum on tourist visa now if the op has relatives, dependants investments ect there can be exceptions. But as a new vistor this is written in stone he can get double entry 90 days visa but that is the maximum. bearcanada is wildly wrong in his claim the more then 90 day l visas are possible from canada I really dont understand why your trying to confuse the op on this issue when you should understand the facts if you have obtained visas in the past.

[kjkrause]

and just to clarify we are talking about length of stay in china per entry not how long the visa is good for before you entry to china (expiry date) and that is 90 days.

[kjkrause]

please call the consulate directly at 604-734-0704 (if you are in Vancouver). and they will confirm for all who need to know the 90 day per entry maximum rule on the L visa.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

The next personal attack on this thread will result in a lengthy sanction. I've just deleted the last one of said variety absent a sanction.

[bradwelljackson]

This message deleted, please see the one below.

[bradwelljackson]

[arcueil_1]

bearcanada is correct regarding the L visa, actually. There are circumstances in which one can get an L for a period longer than three months, even while already in China.

For example, if you are married to a PRC resident/citizen, you can easily get a virtually "automatic" multiple entry one-year L class visa that incorporates a residence permit (in the old days the residence permit was a separate document in the form of a little green booklet). All you have to do is go to the main visa office/police station that deals with the hukou of your spouse (usually the station in the capital of the relevant province) with the marriage certificates, your passport, a picture or two and the Chinese spouse's resident card and hukou, and voila -- you'll have the one-year resident L in two or three days. Sometimes, they don't even need all of these documents. The catch is that you can't legally work with this visa (although I've done it); you still need the Z to do that.

Anyway, I've acquired the one-year L several times before. It's a piece of cake...

[arioch36]

And how does one get such a L visa before coming to China? I think this is the issue of the post?

[arioch36]

[arcueil_1]

"And how does one get such a L visa before coming to China? I think this is the issue of the post?"

I'm not sure, as I've never had to do that. I just do it here whenever I feel like taking a break from work, but if what bearcanada said is reliable (and I suspect that it is), then it is possible to get one prior to being in China *under some circumstances*. Make a bunch of calls to various consulates in order to confirm or be advised and I'm sure that you'll get the right answer.

"I think most of us would consider getting married just to sight see on a long term L visa to be a little extreme."

Haha! Obviously! I didn't get married "just to sight see on a long term L visa"... That's messed up, man. Geez... I got married because I love my girl and her family. Two years ago, we went to the US but we decided not to stay. In many ways things are better in China.

"As I am married, I may look into it."

Are you married to a Chinese citizen/resident? If not, then the particular L class I'm talking about will not happen for you. However, if you buy property here, you may be able to obtain it (or some other form of long-term visa).

[HunanForeignGuy]

Firstly, I would encourage any person in China currently on an L or an F visa which comes due during the Olympic games to investigate which I am going to write with the proper authorities or visa agents in the cities in China in which he or she may be located.

A email circular was recently received by British nationals in the school where I work from the British Embassy in Beijing advising that extensions of L and F visas by visa agents or otherwise in China will be problematic after July 1, 2008. At that point, only those persons holding Olympic tickets will find that their requests will be honored. This is not my take but I am quoting verbatim from the email.

I spoke with many visa agents in both Beijing and Shanghai regarding this matter and it seems to be true. At present, the policy is only being rigidly implemented in Bejing / Shanghai / Qingdao and related areas.

The school where I am working has numerous teachers whose visas expire before the contract ends, owing to changes in the academic year schedule. For the remaining period of time, indeed, until July 1, 2008, those visas will be replaced by L visas but with no extension later than July 1, 2008.

Mr. or Mrs. Krause, I forget, is correct in that at present only 90-day L and F visas are being issued in Hong Kong for citizens of the scheduled countries. As I was pointedly told by one visa agent in Beijing, a reputable and long-established one, citizens from third-world countries are finding it much harder to renew their visas during the pre-Olympic season. I have no confirmation of this one way or the other except that those teachers in the university where I am who come from third-world countries and whose visas expired at the end of their six-month terms, and who were expecting to be renewed, have been departing out of here in droves and very quickly.

Thus, I can only ask the members of this board who are still in China :

1. What is the visa situation in your part of the country?

2. Is the July 1, 2008 deadline for renewing L and F visas being observed or will it observed?

3. Are you aware of any citizens of third-world countries who have recently failed to secure a renewal on an L or an F visa?

The situation is tenuous enough that the FAO Director of the University where I am called a meeting of all of the FT's to discuss this situation at great length. As usual, the questions were to-the-point and the answers were exceedingly vague.

I would kindly ask again all members of the Forum in China to post what they know or what they have heard regarding this issue.

[7969]

[arioch36]

7969

And you can take that to the stickies. There is your perfect answer for Hong Kong and Visa consultants and visas