State of Trance

My current Chinese visa is about to expire in a year, and I found out that China has recently announced a new 5-year visa for foreigners of Chinese origin. The benefits over a 10-year L or M visa for U.S. citizens seem to be that there are no restrictions on the reason for a visit and opens the door to a 5-year residency permit as well. However, I can't find any information about how to actually apply for it. Has anyone had any experience with this?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soci...ou-qualify-new

s0ssos

Still don't get it. There are restrictions on the 10 year visa for reasons for visiting? Never had any issues?

tauphi

This isn't a "visa". It's just a longer residence permit that you have to apply for at the local PSB. Typical poor reporting from the media.

moondog

This weekend, I hung out with two people who have 5 year residence permits. Both of them scored these via "A" work permits.

​​​​​​I'm a high "B" myself. My visa agent offered to get me across the chasm (to "A") for y1000, but I declined because he didn't explain the benefits of A v B.

My current renewal plan is to take the HSK in order to clear 90 points without need for any fudge.

OskiBear

Interesting, based on the description: "According to China’s official definition, a foreigner of Chinese origin refers to a former Chinese citizen who has obtained foreign citizenship, or the offspring of present or former Chinese citizens. "

I'm absolutely ethnic Chinese, but it would seem that I don't qualify. My parents left mainland China in 1949 and have never been PRC citizens. My US birth certificate doesn't indicate I'm of Chinese descent (it says, "Oriental").

I wonder how China would verify?

tauphi

My agent also offered to upgrade me to A this year. Since the company is paying for it I will see if it works and what if any benefit comes out of it.

tauphi

I suppose if you really wanted to push it you would need your full birth certificate plus whatever documentation to prove that your parents had ROC citizenship. All ROC citizens are recognised as PRC citizens, which is why you can't use an ROC passport to enter the PRC.

garykung

It is indeed a visa. IIRC - it should be S1.

Can they obtain a Taiwanese Passport?

OskiBear

Interesting - I had no idea that was the case. They can easily document prior ROC citizenship prior to coming to the US, so perhaps that'll do the trick.

s0ssos

Funny how you never wrote Taiwanese but everybody guessed it anyway.
China accepts everybody as Chinese, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Unlike Taiwanese ...

OskiBear

LOL - indeed. I was surprised people didn't point out the fact the word "oriental" was used to describe race on my birth certificate

tauphi

No it's not. An S1 visa (or any long-stay visa for that matter) allows a stay of only 30 days. You must convert it into a residence permit at the local PSB (entry/exit branch) within that period.

garykung

You are mixing 2 things up.

A S1 visa allows stay over 180 days. However, similar to many EU countries, and the U.K., one must register with their local PSB, as a requirement from the hukou (household registration) system.

jiejie

I am in agreement with @tauphi on this. An S1 visa is granted for those visiting (or accompanying as a dependent) and expected to be in China greater than 180 days. But in the first 30 days after arrival on S1 status, the visa is converted to a Residence Permit (length of the RP granted varies depending on the situation and passport country). At that point, the S1 is voided in the system and the RP becomes the legal vehicle by which the foreigner exists in China as well as exits and re-enters. Many people persist in saying they are on S1 status but in the strictest technical sense, that is only the initial entry vehicle to get into China. What does carry over from visa to RP are the terms: in other words, an S1 is for family visits, and you cannot come to China on this and expect to take on employment that you might find while in China. It is safe to assume that the Chinese Immigration/police database does keep track of the initial visa granted (Z1 for employment, X1 for study, S1 for family, Q1 for Chinese family) even if all of these types of longer visas get converted to RP's. And that while on RP, you better be doing the activity that your original visa was granted for.

Registering your place of residence with the local police is a completely different and separate requirement that exists for everybody, regardless of visa (or RP status).

metoo

Ethnicity Chinese. Applied at the Consulate in Los Angeles. Showed my old expired visa and passport. No problem with being granted the 10 year multiple visa.