Originally Posted by jiejie

<br /><br />From what I've heard from those who have faced this relatively new wrinkle, if they don't already have evidence of a previous Chinese visa in their US/Canada passport, there is essentially a "lockout" period of two years where they have to travel to China on this "Travel Permit" after which time, they can apply for a regular visa on their US/Canadian passport. But they don't get US/Canada Consular protections while inside China on the Travel Permit. This has happened to those originally from HK and Taiwan as well as the mainland.