Because of the notice put up by the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong on April 13 about restricting visa applications to those residing or working in the city only, some of you may be hesitant to come to Hong Kong for a China visa.
But I am glad to report that I have made a phone call to the visa hotline of the China Travel Service (CTS) agent in HK (tel: 852-2315 7188). The staff who answered the phone confirms that you do not need to be working or residing in Hong Kong to apply for a China visa. But in applying for a tourist visa, you need to show your onward flight ticket.
It is obvious that to get a China visa prior to or during the Olympics in Beijing, is getting complicated. There was absolutely no need to show an onward flight ticket to get a tourist China visa before.
Also, please take note that you can get a China visa on the same day in Hong Kong ONLY IF you go to the CTS branch in Tsim Sha Tsui (1/F Alpha House, 27-33 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsu, Kowloon, open 9am-7pm weekdays, 9am-5pm Saturday). The CTS staff told me that you have to hand in your visa application before 9:15am and you can get your visa by 6:45pm on the same day.
Visa fee depends on what passport you are holding. Say, if you are from the UK, the rush service (on the same day) through CTS would mean a fee of HKD1000, and normal service (about 3 days) about HK500.
CTS branches process tourist and business visas only. If you want to apply for a work visa, you must go to the Commissioner’s Office of the China Foreign Ministry in HK.
Although I posted it here that it is easy to get a China visa in Macau, but I do think that Hong Kong may be a better option. The reason is that, there are about 40 branches of CTS across Hong Kong. Those in or near the tourist areas, such as SheungWan, Central, Wanchai, Mongkok, TsimShaTsui, will accept China visa applications. On the other hand, there is only one CTS in Macau that accepts China visa applications. A long queue may be expected.
Related:
Get a China visa in Macau
17 comments ↓
You mean all nationality as long as you have the ticket?
Do you know how much it charges for a rush or express
I really like to know this visa agent in Beijing who can process a different kinds of visa now. His telephone number is 13391736578 with e-mail address chinavisa2009@yahoo.com. If you have any experience please tell me.
lyn, not all nationality. pls see my another update posting.
fay, expects the rush visa service fee at about HK$1000.
hi, but I don’t get one thing, what flight ticket do u have to show? your return flight to China? Because in my case I am a temporary resident in Shanghai, not a tourist. I have a pink residence paper that I can show, my flight ticket is SH-HK, HK-SH. And I can show my hotelvoucher where I will stay in HK, but not in SH, since I rent an apartment… Because when I spoke with this agency they said you have to show your return ticket to HK… and hotel voucher of a place in the mainland…
Please somebody help, I’m leaving to HK tomorrow
I just cant help but notice the 33 countries that are banned fr applying for a china visa in Hongkong. My home country the Philippines is included, although this ruling does not affect me because i am an “american citizen” & i do not intend to travel in china in the near future…From as far as i can remember the chinese people has been going back & forth in the Philippines & to this day a lot of them are still living there…i do not believe that all of them are there bringing business in the Phils…in the recent years tourist from china doubled if not tripled in number…this is really sad & i do hope that the Phil govt will see this & start imposing “RESTRICTIONS” to them as well…I think it is very rude & inhumane to change policy & implement it with out Warning….
Ok now the question is, how long will the tourist Visa’s be valid for in China? Due to the olympics will they only be 30 day stay’s?? or as per usual if you want to you can stay for 3 months on a tourist visa?
I agree with you Marie. I am a Filipina working here as an English Teacher and in fact, I have been using the working visa for 5 years but this year the rejected my extension as they said only English native speaker can teach and get working visa. This is discrimination, right?
There are lots of Filipinos around me were very disappointed as we can’t apply a new visa in Hong Kong or Macau and we must go back to the Philippines. I guess, I can’t blame them because some of the Filipinos here are doing some illegal things such as drug trafficking and there is 1 Filipina in Shenzhen was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced her to a firing squad.
Thank you for your input Lani… i wish there will be a lot of concerned Filipinos that are willing to voice out their opinions then maybe our government will take action & we will not be treated like “2nd class” citizens
especially by countries like China whose people are also in our country doing all sorts of things…who knows?…although it is true that there are a lot of Filipinos who go abroad to do illegal things but there are a lot more Fil who work hard to support their families back home, like yourself…I feel for you, so you are going home? i also have few friends who work in China who suffered the same faith, one of them went home this evening & the rest of them before the end of May…They inquired w the china embassy in the Phils, they will only give 2 mos visa, then you have to be back again & apply for another 2 mos until the ban will be lifted in October ( if ever)….i guess this is not an option for a lot of people….but hang in there & keep on praying, God will supply all our needs!!!!!
Marie, thanks for your comforting wisdom, my visa wil be expired on June 11 so I will try to apply in Guangzhou first but there is only 10% guarantee since I had a friend this morning went there and her application was rejected and she asked for the reason, but the officer just said ” no reason”.
Well, 2 months is okay for me since my company will spend for my transportation but it is hassle. Furthermore, it is illegal to hold this kind of visa while you are working. Unlike when I was holding a working visa, I feel like it is my own country since I have been working here for long time.
Another thing, there are some schools and companies now that if you do not have a working visa they will not emply you as it is dangerous for their company and they will be fine if caught. One of my cousin lost her job because of this reason.
So please let me know which embassy your friend applied ( since there are 3 embassies in the Phil.) and what are the requirements.
Have a nice day!
Anybody knows if this affects the process time for Home Return Permit. I applied for the rush service at the HK CTS office on April 9. Up to now, the CTS told me I have to wait for their call for me to pick up my Home Return Permit. They said mine is slow because I was born in the Philippines. I don’t understand why it is taking them so long to approve mine. Anyone have the same experience? Thanks!
since 2 weeks no tourist can get china visa from Hong Kong till further changes, they changed all the rules.
Deepak,
Were you denied a tourist visa? Yesterday, I went to CTS HK they want me to provide return flight ticket and hotel booking. They said the tourist visa will only be good for 30 days stay (no more). Also true, for business visa.
Was at CTS this morning (Friday 15th), needed flight tickets to get a tourist Visa. Definitely no same day service anywhere in Hong Kong.
I am a Filipino and currently in Hangzhou. I entered China with an L visa and extended 2 times. The last extension I have converted my L visa to F visa. Will it be possible to extend again? I am in the process of registering our company here and I need more time since I have finished the registration documents already and about to file to the goverment registry office.
There is no firm regulation about China visa nowadays. You will just have to try. But do bear in mind that company registration in China can take ages, so even if you get another extension, it may not be long enough.
I agreed to all the comments regarding about how can the Filipino’s can get their visas again. I work in china for 1 and 1/2 years and i used working visa sponsored by my previous company.I renewed my working visa last end of may and they didn’t allow me to renewed again. They tell it to me that i must go back in Philippines to get my another visa. So i decided to come back in Philippines,i can get two months visa here in Philippines,but after two months i don’t know where can i get again. It really really pain in the ass. My company also suggest that i need to find an agency that they can give a chinese visa although we can pay it.
I hope you can help me about this concern.
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