Job Discussion Forums

[adventuringJeff]

How easy is it to walk into Hong Kong and get a new tourist visa? I will have already extended my original L visa twice when I go there. Thanks.

[amandabarrick]

Good question. I would also like to know. Anyone have any experiences?
AB

[mandu]

i went and did my visa yesterday

very easy walk in with ya passport and a passport photo

thats it

address
Forever bright tardeing limited
Room 707,new manderine plaza
tower B,14 science museum road
T.S.T Kowloon

office hours 8.30-7.30 mon-fri
8.30 -1.30 sat

it pays to get there before 9.30 in the morning and you should have your passport by 1.30 -2.30 the same day.

when you get your visa you pay your money each visa is a different price depending on your passport

i hope this helps

[mandu]

its easy just go in to the visa office hand over your passport pick it up the same day

Room 707,New Manderin Plaza
Tower B,14 Science Museum Road
T.S.T East Kowloon

office hours mon to fri 8.30-730
sat 8.30-1.30

get there before 9.30 should be able to pick at 1.30

[dajiang]

Easy peasy mate,

I arrived in the morning, went to an office on Hong kong island can't remember exactly the name, but it was real easy to find anyway. (I think I got it from the LP.) But there are plenty places that do the same thing, like above posters mentioned.

Anyway, same day service, visa done at 4 or something. Bit more expensive but not bad anyway, and cheaper than staying a night. (didn't feel like the Mirador again...)

And during the daytime go out to Lamma island or something, check out the beach and the food man, brilliant.

[Plan B]

I would like to add that provided you are not a U.S. passport holder, you can buy a new visa at the Macau border (just before the China customs check). It takes less than an hour, and is open until 10pm.

I heard (maybe incorrectly) that American passport holders are excluded from this.

[Roger]

You get a Chinese visa at the following places:

a) The Chinese government visa section,
18 Harbour Rd., Wanchai, HK Island;
I don't know how long it now takes, but it used to take 2 days (there
goes your saving a night at the hotel). It was or is reliable though
the officials there are regular government people that take no
joke seriously. I guess if you are a frequent applicant they will
probably stop you in your tracks. Just a guess. The visa fee
certainly is the lowest there.
b) Various travel agents, including
Japan Travel Ltd., Carnarvon Rd. etc.;
Phoenix Travel Ltd., 86 Nathan Rd., 7th floor,
Apt, 8-10 Hankow Rd.,

All in Tsimshatsui, the very tip of the Kowloon peninsual, near the Chungking Mansions (more travel agents, more visas...).
They charge at least double the official rate and are but intermediaries who get their visas from the PSB in Shenzhen, not from Hong Kong. Most return your passport within the day; bring it before 11 a.m. to PHOENIX, and get it back by 6 p.m. - and you can hop across the border the same evening.
A 6 month, multiple entry visa used to cost me HK$ 750; Apt was reported about 3 years ago to offer one-year, multiple-entry visas for $ 1000 or 1200.
Bring along two pictures; they are very expensive from local photographers around $ 30 for 4 pics.

c) Shenzhen: There is a Visa-issuing office inside the customshouse, past the HK checkpoint and bridge; be warned, however, if you don't qualify (lBrits, for instance, did not back in the late 1990s!) you could be fined up to 500 yuan for "illegal entry in China". What's more, the Shenzhen visa is a local form that doesn't have validity beyond the norhern boundary of the SEZ. Buses still get stopped on the motorway, and police board to check on your id - sometimes, not every time.
Consequently, you cannot apply for a visa extension in other parts of China.

d) Over in Macau, there is indeed a visa office at the Gongbei checkpoint 9but not on the Fengqin checkpoint!). It is run by the China International Travel Service, which is a SOE. I checked outtheir visa rates and found that not only were they hugely inflated - but probably no more than those of any other travel agent in HK - but differed from nationality to nationality.

I think the government maintains a visa office in the Ferry pier, but am not sure.