How long to get a visa?
 

I hold a UK passport, and have just arrived in Singapore from Delhi.

A reason has cropped up since leaving the UK which menasit would be very beneficial if I could pop into our office in Shanghai for a day on Thursday before getting the Friday morning flight back to London.

I don't have a valid Chinese visa at the moment, and the UK doesn't qualify for the 48 hour transit rule :(

Unfortunately today is a public Holiday in Singapore so the Chinese Visa Application Centre here is shut. On their website, they claim "For rush service, visa will be ready for collection on the second working day."

This seems the same in other countries.

So my question
Has anyone experience what "second working day" means -- if I apply on Tuesday does that mean Wednesday afternoon or Thursday afternoon?

Thanks

Option 1: Keep your Shanghai visit to <24 hours.
Option 2: Just do the rush service; it is very fast in Singapore.

RUSH at most Chinese missions usually means next-day service. If you get your application in morning of Day 1, you should have it back by afternoon of Day 2.

Given the way the nonstop flights SIN-PVG are scheduled, it looks like you'll either be 29 hours (therefore a no-go for you on TWOV) or to stay within the 24 hour limit, you'd only get a couple of useable business day hours on Thursday afternoon, once you figure in transfers to the city from PVG.

Getting a visa is your best option, especially if company is paying for it. :)

Granted my one and only data point is from 3 years ago (and consulate staff tend to get rotated), but I've never experienced such fast/efficient service at any consulate (1.5 hour processing time, and no waiting in line at any point during the process).

As a policy issue, Chinese Consulates/Embassies will normally not do same-day service anymore, at least for direct walk-ins (not going through an agency), but it's of course always worth asking about in the unlikely event you get lucky and same-day can be done.

I must admit that my case was somewhat unique. My guest had a single entry visa, transited in Beijing, and got an arrival stamp. He needed to go back to Beijing, and I honestly think he could have gone there without a new visa. But, we decided to go to the consulate as a matter of precaution, explained the story, and they were glad to lift a fee from him in exchange for a new visa.

WRT same day processing in the broader sense, this was par for the course when I was in DC last fall; pretty much all of the couriers availed of this service.

Paul,

Being an EU citizen (like me) means that you don't qualify for rush service. For us it's 4 working days, unless you use an agency who can handle the 'special rush service' part for you.

Ran into this matter a month ago in HongKong, while applying for Z visa.
This new ruling is operational since dec 2011.

Z is a completely different animal then L/F/X; you need to do the health check, get a company to sponsor you, and the visa people might actually study your background a bit.

I have no reason to doubt that this new regulation exists... just suggesting that 4 days to process a Z is actually fairly quick.

To be fair, getting all the things I needed for my Z visa took a very, very long time (had to delay coming to BJ by a month). However, once all the paperwork was done, we went to the chicago consulate and got the visa on the same day service (in September 2011). So it appears the obstacles/ hurdles are in getting the appropriate paperwork, but the consulate turnaround time is (was) the same as an L or F visa.

tb

Hi Moondog,

I just wanted to point out that for EU citizens "rush service" is no longer available (without assistance of visa agent)
The type of visa is irrelevant, i just mentioned my Z-visa application because it was at that moment tat I found out. New ruling valid for any type of visa.

I had booked one hotel night, next evening plane ticket, no laptop or clothes with me. In the end I stayed 5 days in HKG, which I enjoyed a lot (boss payed the bill :cool:)

All paper work to prepare for the Z visa application took me 4 weeks and is handled quite smoothly by Shanghai City Government. Only (very) week point is that all forms must be filled out in Chinese......not very convenient for a non Mandarin speaker. Luckily the secretary was very patient with me :)

Is this for HKG only? My sister (a British citizen) got her L visa a couple of months ago in 2-3 days, but she did use a visa agency. This was in the UK, however, and that was the standard turnaround time (i.e. no different to a year ago).

tb

It's pretty much now in effect for most of the Asian locations of Chinese missions (HKG, BKK, maybe SIN), if you are an EU traveler without residence status in the country in which you're applying. It may be possible in some places to use an agent who can get the RUSH process done rather than be relegated to standard service if you try to DIY.

Thanks for the advice guys. The office couldn't arrange the invitation letter in time so I'll have to come back in a month or so (more tier points for me!)