Chinese Business Visa Application Difficulties (Australian applicants)
 

Seems that China's ire with Australia's recent rebukes is spreading beyond declining visas to government officials.

I am aware of at least 6 Chinese Visa applications (I think all Business Visas but I’m not certain) by Australians through the Chinese Melbourne Consulate in the last week…mine included…where the consulate has not “declined” the application, but has indicated that they need A MONTH to “consider” the application…during which, of course, they are holding your passport and you can't go anywhere else!

I’ve never had a problem with my (about) 8 previous Chinese Visa applications (I’ve never had a problem with any visa application) but I had to cancel this application as “in a month” was useless to me and I needed my passport for other travel within the next month. To me it was simply a way to effectively decline a visa application without giving any official reason. They even said, “there is nothing wrong with your application and we have all of the information from you that we require…we just need a month to review it". They had however, before notifying me of the delay, asked for a complete list of countries I’d travelled to in the last 3 years with Entry and Exit dates for each trip. This was a pretty big list and took me hours to compile from passport stamps!

So my advice to all intending Australian Business Travellers to China is apply early and don't ticket your flights until you have the passport in your hands with the Visa stuck in it.

"To me it was simply a way to effectively decline a visa application without giving any official reason."

Or to be precise, to say "No" without actually saying "No."

The usual Chinese way of doing this is simply to pile on document requirements, in the expectation you'll go away. You, however, didn't get the message when they asked for three years of travel records, including entry and exit dates. So they had to pull another rabbit out the hat when you showed up with your list.

There can be two (or more) reasons:
* There is a deep-freeze in the Australia-China relationship. China has been denying visas to high officials in Australia. If they believe a government official is to prepare for Australian business showcase in China, they will probably deny him/her visa too.
* Some postgraduate research students and research scholars experienced delays in visas, causing a lot of stress. China may see the Australian Department of Home Affairs is being unfair and reciprocate the delays.

Apparently, business visas for US citizens are getting "complicated" too.

Mine was granted in early March with only a week turnaround (10 year M business). Just got word that my family's were approved and shipped today. Guess we're lucky.

A colleague had a similar experience with a tourist visa recently. Visas for her husband and son were granted, hers was delayed for about a month for "review". Finally granted just days before they were due to leave (all were Australian passport holders).

Yeah the "we need a month to review" is B.S. They are not doing any further review. They are just sitting on passports to cause maximum inconvenience.