'China Visa' ↓

Since the strict visa policy imposed by China to limit number of visitors for the security of Beijing Olympics, the question of when the normal visa policy will be resumed is raised by people interested in visiting the country or who have business connection with the country. Here’s the news from Hong Kong Chinese newspaper Mingpao,which said on 23 August that, reportedly, the normal visa application process will be resumed, at the earliest, in September.

So if you are expecting a speedy recovery of the normal China visa policy after the Olympics closes on 24 August, you may need to lower your expectation.

In the same report, Mingpao said that Hong Kong’s visitor number has been dropping since last June, with August’s drop expected to reach 10%. This is because under China’s strict visa policy, fewer foreigners are visiting China, who would have visited Hong Kong in the same trip.

According to the South China Morning Post report today (24 July), five Olympic cities in China - Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao, Shengyang and Qinhuangdao - have stopped issuing invitation letters, which are necessary for a foreigner to get a China business visa.

This is confirmed by the local authorities of all five cities. The Shanghai authority was quoted as saying that the only exemptions would be given to work-visa applicants and those who need to go to Shanghai in “emergencies”.

The only other Olympic city that denies that such a restriction is in place is Tianjin, where preliminary soccer matches will be played.

The lack of transparency in Chinese policy is once again demonstrated in this case. A Beijing official admitted that Beijing has had such a restriction in place for two weeks, but thus far without any public announcement.

Thus, do expect that China visa applications will not get back to it normal course until Sept 20, when the Olympics is over.

From reading reports, comments and experiences on this blog and others, it is obvious that Hong Kong and Macau are no longer havens to get a China visa – at least not until the Beijing Olympics is finished in October this year.

You must take note that if you are only given a 7-day China visa in Macau, as reported by many, once you are inside China and you want to renew the visa, it is most likely that you will have an extension of 7days only, based on the first issuance, and not more. So be prepared for it and think again when you want to get a China visa in Macau or Hong Kong.

It is ironic that while the Beijing Olympics is intended for an opportunity to welcome the world to China, visa regulations are being tightened up for security reasons and the outside world experiences only the unfriendliness and inconveniences.

According to China’s Foreigners Entry and Exit Regulations, a foreigner, if not staying in a hotel, say staying in a friend’s place, needs to go to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) office within 24 hours upon arrival in China to get a Temporary Residence Certificate. You need to bring your passport, and your host’s identity document to the PSB for registration.

The certificate (just a small piece of paper really) shows where you stay and your passport number, and you are supposed to carry this certificate with you all the time. Failing to do so, according to the Regulations, can subject you to a verbal warning or a fine of more than 50RMB but less than 500RMB.

The purpose of the Certificate is for the Chinese government to keep track of where foreigners stay. If they stay in a hotel, there is no need for them to get such a Certificate, as they must register with the hotel when check-in. That registration itself is a certificate already.

This is a true story that has happened to a friend of mine who once stayed in a university accommodation in Hangzhou. He was holding a 3-month tourist visa then and wanted to extend the visa with the PSB. To his surprise, he was told that to renew the visa he must produce the Temporary Residence Certificate, which he was supposed to apply for soon after his arrival at China. He didn’t know the rule and didn’t have one. So he was fined RMB100.

The lesson? If you do not stay in a hotel and you expect that you will need to extend your visa (both L visa and F visa), make sure that you go to the local PSB office to apply for a Temporary Residence Certificate within 24 hours upon arrival in China.

In a city like Hangzhou, there are a number of administrative zones, and in each of these zones, there is a designated PSB office. Take note that you must to the PSB office of the zone where you stay for the registration. If you go to the wrong one, your case will not be handled.

Following the tightening up of China visa issues, the organizers of the Beijing Olympics issued a reminder called Legal Guide to foreigners on 2 June, saying that some groups of people are not welcome to China.

The Legal Guide targets at foreigners, but it is posted on the Chinese website of the Olympic organizers only, not on its English website. So how can the foreigners know?  Isn’t it strange??

According to the Legal Guide, entry will be denied to those:

1) having been expelled from China by the Chinese government;
2) regarded as likely to carry out terrorist and violent attacks and engage in subversive activities;
3) regarded as likely to engage in drug trafficking and prostitution;
4) with mental illness and contagious diseases such as sexually transmitted disease, leprosy and tuberculosis;
5)  who cannot afford their expenses during their stay in China;
6) regarded as likely to engage in other activities that threaten the national security and interests of China.

I have one big problem with this notice. How can China be so flagrantly discriminatory against people with mental illness and STD when the country has a large number of people with mental illness and STD, especially AIDS, who desperately need the society not to discriminate against them and need care?

You cannot rid the country of discrimination if the leadership/high ranking officials of the country are using the language of discrimination.

This is a first-hand report from the China Travel Service (CTS) agent in Macau, from a friend of mine. No guess. Real experience.
 
The restrictions imposed on Hong Kong are now applied to Macau as well. Like Hong Kong, 33 countries’ citizens are banned from applying for a China visa in Macau, unless they are working or living in the city: Afghanistan, Tunisia, Algeria, Bangladesh ,Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iran, lraq,  Mali, Libya, South Africa, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan,  Malaysia, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Mauritania, Saudi Arab, Sierra Leone, Syria.

The ban is being vigorously implemented. A Nepalese trying to get a Visa in Macau had been going to the CTS for three days in a row, but each time, he told my friend, his application was turned down. There is no other alternative but he has to go back to his home country to apply for a China visa.

If your country is not on the list, do not assume that you can still get a 30-day or 60-day tourist visa. You will be given a 7-day visa only! And for this 7-day visa, you have to show the following:

1. financial statement
2. foreigners are required to show the hotel reservation during the period of travelling in China
3. a flight booking of leaving China is also necessary in order to prove their schedule of departure

You will get a small piece of paper with the above instructions (in the exact wording) when entering the Macau CTS office (the one in the city centre, not at the pier) for a China visa. So these requirements are “official”.

For item 1, you can choose to show cash equivalent to US$700, if you do not show your financial statement.

“I saw a European couple put down US$700, flight tickets and hotel coupon on the table, and the staff examined them. It is a serious business,” my friend reported.

For a 7-day visa, you pay 500MOP (Macau Pataca) if you want to get it the following day. Or you pay 210MOP for a normal service that requires 4 working days.

A Lebanese, in chatting with my friend, said he had business in Guangzhou, and could not extend his visa there. So he came to Macau to try his luck. He first went to the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Macau, only to be told that “it is illegal to issue him a visa”. So he came to the CTS office and was given a 7-day visa, a visa that is far shorter than he wanted, but then it is still a visa.

It seems that it may be easier to get a China (tourist) visa through the CTS rather than through the government channel, and Hong Kong and Macau may no longer be the haven for China visas, at least not until the Olympics is over.  

Related:

Get a China visa in Macau

Get a China visa in Macau (part 2)

I was asked by a visitor of this blog to provide some “real information” – and no guess - over getting a China visa in Hong Kong/Macau. Well, he may not know much about China and how things work there.

The recent visa restrictions imposed by the mainland authorities are a fact, but the mainland authorities have not been able to stipulate the restrictions, and how these restrictions will affect business people and tourists of different nationalities. All the news coming out so far have been bits and pieces, and information is not TRANSPARENT. There is no official announcement whatsoever!

Because of the lack of transparency, European business chambers in Hong Kong have been pressing mainland authorities to come up with clear information on China visas, but to no avail so far.

China is not a country that you can associate it with transparency. Not yet.

Report from South China Morning Post for your information:

Foreign Office asks Beijing to clarify changes to visa rules
 
Albert Wong
Apr 23, 2008          
 
Concerns about newly imposed restrictions on visas for travel to the mainland have been taken up at the diplomatic level, Britain’s top representative in Hong Kong said yesterday. But so far, China had provided no answers, said Andrew Seaton.

Exasperation has been growing among foreign businesspeople and chambers of commerce at the restrictions and at the dearth of official information about them.

The British consul general, who said fostering business ties was one of his priorities, revealed that the Foreign Office had taken up the matter with mainland authorities.

“The British chamber, I know, has been very concerned about the real impact it has on the ability of their membership to pursue business in China … We have also taken up the matter with Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, Beijing and indeed in London, to try to get as much clarification as we can on quite what the changes are,” he said.

Business chambers have received hundreds of complaints about what appears to be a tightening of visa regulations in the lead-up to the Olympics. Businessmen who need to make frequent trips to the mainland have been the worst affected.

Travel agents have said they were notified on March 27 that no new multiple-entry visas would be issued until October. On April 1, when the Commissioner’s Officer of the Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong took over issuing all visas, immigration officers at the border stopped issuing short-stay visas for Shenzhen.

Last week, the office confirmed that visa applicants must present return tickets and a hotel voucher to secure a tourist visa; business travellers need a “visa notification form”.

Beijing denies there has been any change in visa policy. Travel agents link the changes to the Olympics.