HowieG

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Just got 10-year/90-day M from NYC without even asking for it.

P.S. My invite letter was a copy without any issue.

889

According to Shoestring Travel, a Hong Kong visit agent, Americans can apparently now apply in Hong Kong for up to a ten-year visa without a HK ID card or air/hotel reservations. These are the requirements they state:

"For the USA passport holders:- 1 - 10 (ten) years multiple entry China Visa:-

-the original passport (valid for at least 12 months)
-the Hong Kong Immigration Department arrival slip or arrival stamp or Hong Kong Identity Card
-1 recent passport photo
-the duration of stay in China is not more than 60 days each entry."

Note that requirements if you apply at the Visa Office may or may not be different.

cjco

I was just denied the 10-year tourist visa at the NY consulate. They said it was because I will be entering from Hong Kong. They said it's only available if you have round-trip airfare and hotel to mainland China.

anacapamalibu

What's the cost to meet their demand? A single 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper.

Loren Pechtel

We just got 10s--with no airfare (tickets not purchased yet) and no hotel (we are staying with relatives.)

On the other hand we have a long string of visas, including 2s the previous time around. We fly to Shanghai, spend a few weeks there (often with short side trips), don't get in trouble and fly home.

mnredfox

Odd reason.

jiejie

Agree, odd (bogus) reason.

Seems like the NY Consulate is still up to its old, unpredictable tricks. On the same FT page we get somebody receiving 90 days without asking, which is beyond the "official" duration limit for a 10-year, and somebody else getting denied completely on dubious grounds. More than most Chinese missions, NY Consulate must have visa officers with widely varying personalities (many Hydes, mixed with a Jeckyll or two).

hessinger

I too received a 10-year, 90 day visa without request from the LA Consulate. I do have a string of various visas though and spend significant amount of time in China as of early last year. Not sure if that makes a difference.

889

It would be interesting to know whether those 90-stays sporadically popping up on 10-year visas are on L or M visas.

Loren Pechtel

My wife's 90 was on an L. She's China-born, though.

pushmyredbutton

Just received a nice 10 year/120day Q2 from the NY consulate with no fuss.

889

The State Department, or at least the HK Consulate, seems to be keeping an eye on Chinese observance of the new agreement, since their latest newsletter asks, "If you've recently applied for a Chinese visa and didn't receive a 10-year period of validity, please let us know at: [email protected]."

http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_...er_201412.html

jiejie

Just received a 10-year multiple entry visa. I went for an L rather than an M due to potential increased scrutiny of M holders once inside China. Asked for 60 days and received same--easily workable for me and my travel patterns, and per visa agent advice, didn't want to risk rocking the boat or processing delay asking for more duration. This was from Houston Consulate, using the invitation letter method (scan only, original not needed) rather than the airline ticket/hotel reservation method. Maybe other consulates are more generous giving out the 90 day durations to L/M applicants. BTW, my passport had just under 13 months of validity left.

It's a nice feeling not to have to deal with Chinese visas for awhile, though if I actually do decide to work again in China, I'll have to replace it with a Residence Permit.

889

Let's say your plans in China change, and you need an M visa. What then?

Not that I'd seen it officially anywhere, but I'd always assumed that there was something of a universal rule that you could have only one valid visa in your passport at a time.

Yet here's the head of the U.S. Consular Section in Shanghai in a Q&A:

"Q: Can I hold two different types of visa at the same time?

"A: Yes. An applicant cannot hold two valid visas of the same type in his or her passport. However, it is possible for an applicant to apply for and be issued another type of visa even if they hold a valid visa of different type in their passport."

Does China follow the same rule?

http://insight.amcham-shanghai.org/a...w-visa-policy/

jiejie

Well there's always the option of going back and reapplying for an M visa. Even if there is a lot of validity left on your existing Chinese visa, China has no problem having you reapply if you need/want to actually change visa types.

However, assuming you're addressing me specifically, I would have no problem doing sporadic M-type stuff on an L visa (a business meeting with a friend or known network contact, attending a conference, looking at a business enterprise/site, etc.). I know China enough to believe that's a manageable risk and in the extremely unlikely event of a "visa-check" while on an M activity, I could probably talk my way through it with a plausible story. This does not mean I'm recommending this to others--just an evaluation of my personal situation and risk tolerance level. Conversely, there has never been a problem for M visa holders wanting to do a bit of tourism (except going to Tibet, which now requires getting the M visa sponsor's permission). But for me, I just didn't see any real upside to the M and did see some possible downside. For actual working inside China, I would only go legit with an employer that sponsors a work permit.

As to second part of your post, yes it is true. China does not allow more than one visa at a time in a given passport. However, I have known people who have two passports to hold different Chinese visas in each: their Diplomatic passport with a Residence Permit (these are administered by the Foreign Ministry) and their Ordinary passport with a Chinese tourist visa (administered by the usual PSB route). But normally when they wanted to switch purposes that might be restricted or raise eyebrows, for instance a visit to Tibet, they'd exit on the Diplomatic passport to HK then return on the ordinary passport, tour, then exit China again and return on the Dip. That's to keep the entry and exit stamps in sync. Sounded like a pain to me.

I don't personally know of anybody who holds two different countries' passports and has two different types of visas, for instance a tourist visa in one and a business visa in another.....but it's theoretically possible. The issue again, would be the entry/exit stamps not lining up. It would raise some interesting conversations with the PSB if they asked to see your passport visa while presenting at a business conference, and you give them your M visa on your Icelandic passport which has no entry stamp, while your Brazilian passport with your L visa has the entry stamp.