Job Discussion Forums

[bearcanada]

There has been a lot of conflicting (and incorrect) information on some other threads about visa and entry requirements to Hong Kong and Mainland China. I have pulled the information together here in the hope it might be of use.

The regulations and processes for Z visas and residence permits for the Mainland are complicated and confusing due to overlapping jurisdictions, personal relationhips and other things. I am not addressing these here because they've been covered well in many other threads, and in any case appear to be in a state of flux.

I am just addressing basic visitor entry requirements - tourist, business, etc.

A visa is permission granted to enter (or transit) a country, and generally consists of a sticker pasted into your passport (or some such), for which you must complete an application, provide photos and pay money. For normal visas, the permission must be obtained prior to departure from the home country. In fact, in Canada, the airlines won't let you board the plane (for Mainland China) until you show them your valid visa.

For citizens of many countries travelling to many other countries, a visa is not required. Citizens of those countries have an automatic right to enter the other countries by formal agreement, and airport customs officials have no authority to refuse entry to these passport holders (except in certain unacceptable conditions - weapons, drugs, arrest warrants.......). Barring these exceptions, the traveller is simply given an entry stamp in the passport on arrival.

For example, when I (with a Canadian passport) travel to HK, the US, Europe and other areas, I make no application and, based on the strength of my passport alone, my entry to that country cannot be refused. Normally.

The entry and exit stamps that are placed in passports are not visas, and the respective consulates do not refer to them as such. They are simply called entry and exit stamps.

When a visa is required, normally the visitor must complete an application, provide photos and pay a fee. The important difference to the visitor is that a visa application can be refused - for any or no reason - and travelling to that country is not possible.

There is a particular animal known as a 'landing visa', and is essentially the same as any other regular visa except that it is obtained at the time and point of entry rather than prior to departure. Taiwan, for e.g., offers such a visa. Obtaining it requires an application, photos, and a fee of NT2,000, and the application could be refused.

For some reason there seemed to be a lot of confusion relating to Hong Kong entry requirements. Here is the current situation:

Visitors holding Canadian, US and UK passports (probably Aussie & Kiwi too, but I haven't checked), DO NOT need a visa to enter HK for short stays. Canadian and US visitors are permitted 90 days "visa-free" (HK government words), and UK passport holders have 180 days. For longer stays, a visa is necessary, as it is for work or study or for residence.

As everyone knows, a travel visa IS required for Mainland China. The requirements that apply to Canadian and US citizens are modest and a visa is pretty much automatic. The Chinese consulates will grant visas of varying terms from 90 to 365 days for both tourism and business (these two categories are treated identically, according to the consular staff). There are single and multiple-entry visas and the choice is up to the visitor. Visas have different fees according to the term length. The short-term ones used to cost $50 but I believe that has increased to $75. A one-year visa now costs $150, up from $100 and $125. I believe the costs are the same or similar for citizens from Canada, the US and the UK.

So many people have reported an inability to obtain a long-term visa (for Mainland China) in HK, and I cannot understand why that would be. It is the Chinese government, not the HK officials, who determine the available visa terms, and I am guessing that the problems relate to the 'visa consultants' in HK who deliver your applications to the Chinese consular officials. Since they are doing these in bulk, it may be that restrictions are placed upon them or that they don't care to intercede for any one application.

If this is the case, the best solution is to bypass the consultants and go directly to the Chinese consulate and get a one-year multiple entry. The major advantage of these 'consultants' is that they can get your application processed in one day. But you can do the same thing yourself by paying a small extra fee to the Chinese consulate visa office for a 'rush visa'.

NOTE that the term of a visa and the maximum stay permitted per entry ARE NOT the same thing. In prior threads, there seemed to be a lot of confusion surrounding these two items, though I can't imagine why.

The TERM of the visa is the period during which you are permitted to ENTER the country - not related to how long you can STAY in it once you enter - and you must EXIT again prior to the visa's expiration date. If you have a 90-day visa, you are permitted entry at any time during that 90 days and must leave prior to the expiry date.

Overstaying a visa term in any country is an unpleasant experience. In China the authorities can fine you 500 or 1,000 RMB per day, but the fine may be the least of the problems. I have watched this happen to friends (who were not fined) but the length and inconvenience of the remedial process is not a happy thing. Multiple and incessant trips to the police, the PSB, and the process can easily take several weeks - during which time you cannot leave the country because the officials have your passport.

One friend of mine applied for a 365-day visa in London, and some clerk made a mistake in typing and showed the expiry date as Nov. 30 instead of Dec. 30. My friend didn't check the date, and when he went to the airport on Dec. 15 to return home for Christmas, he had some real troubles. Good-bye Christmas holiday; he was still in Shanghai on Jan. 10, waiting for things to be sorted out.

The maximum length of stay is not related to the term of a visa, and can vary from 30 to 120 days for citizens from most Western countries. For holders of a Canadian passport, the maximum stay per entry is 120 days. I believe it is the same for US and UK citizens as well, but I haven't checked. I have had 5 tourist or business visas to Mainland China, and all have been of the following form:
'365 days, unlimited multiple-entry, maximum stay per entry 120 days.' Several of my friends in Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, have the same. I have a suspicion that the visa clerks could make the maximum stay as high as 180 days if they really wanted to do that.

It is generally better to obey the rules regarding the max length of stay but, having said that, overstaying is not a big deal. I once overstayed by 3 months. The customs clerk at the Shanghai airport did a double-take at the dates, but he stamped my passport and told me to have a nice day. On the other hand, passing through Zhu Hai into Macao I once received a mild admonition ("You really shouldn't do this.") for being only 5 days late. So, realising that enforcement is optional and variable, I am now on time.

For overstaying anything, I haven't done a survey but I have a strong sucpicion that age, gender and appearance may markedly affect the resulting circumstances that you encounter. If you're a young pretty girl you can probably get away with murder, as young pretty girls everywhere seem able to do. At the other end, being a young male confers no particular advantage. And if you have spiked hair, tattoos, body piercing etc., you can probably expect a rougher ride.

It should be noted that a "90-day visa" is one that expires in 90 days. It does NOT refer to the maximum length of stay on each entry.

.

[AussieGuyInChina]

Undoubtedly a sincere attempt at being helpful but lack of succinctness and use of incorrect terminology e.g. term of a visa compared to the actual words used on Chinese embassy websites, namely, validity of visa, leave the 'visa waters' decidedly muddy.

First-hand information can be obtained from the following websites, among others:-

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/eng/lsyw/qzxx/chivisa/default.htm (UK)

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84246.htm (US)

http://toronto.china-consulate.org/eng/vp/VISA/t40586.htm (Canada)

http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/ls/default.htm Australia)

[arioch36]

[bearcanada]

I agree with the above post. I'm sure the directives are different in New York as opposed to Kabul. But I don't know if those in NYC are different from those in LA. My understanding has always been that the same policy or directive would apply to all holders of a particular national passport.

Does anyone know if the Chinese consulate in HK (not the visa agencies) treat applicants of all nationalities in the same way?

I too would like to know if the Chinese consulate in HK has refused a long-term visa to Canadian, US or UK citizens.

.

[bradwelljackson]

I would like to thank the people on this thread, especially canadabear, who donated their time to try to help others understand this issue.