Searching has been fruitless for me:

I will have a shiny new 84-month M visa on Monday. Can I use this visa if I wish to return as a tourist later, or will I need to reapply for an L visa later?

The visa gives you the ability to enter China, for tourism or business it won't matter.

I saw Exleftseat's post and decided to try out China Visa Solutions. Process was smooth and easy and I just got my passport back today with the 10 year visa. Thanks.

My cuss, issue st the consulate in Spain, now has one of the numbers partially scratched off. It always causes some concern at Chinese immigration, but they eventually let me through. Anyway to get another visa sticker issued to solve the problem?

Are you talking about the Chinese visa? One single digit on the visa sticker is scratched a bit? The visa number at the top?

Since the visa number is repeated in the OCR text at the bottom of the visa, I would have thought that a single digit scratched on the upper number would not be a problem. Not to mention everything is in their database.

Maybe more of a concern with possible signs of tampering or alteration that not being able to read the number? That a valid visa may have been transferred to another passport or duplicated or such?

But the passport number is also on the visa in the OCR text, not to mention in the computer. Plus, as I understand this particular case, it's just one digit of the number that's an issue.

Need some insight...

I am signed up for a Chinese language program at a school (Keats) in Kunming from late August to mid December. Hence, I applied for a short term X2 student visa via my area's designated consulate, Houston. I used an agency in Orlando to process the documents rather than going to Houston in person. The required documents and so on seemed straightforward.

Unfortunately, the consulate requested an additional document - "authorization from China" according to my agent [useless and non-specific]. It took me 2 weeks of back and forth with the agency/school to figure out that they wanted a JW202, a document normally requested only for long term X1 visas.

While my school can generate this document, they advised me that it will require 3 weeks to acquire and a week to ship. In exactly 1 month, my lease is expiring and I will be perma-travelling for a bit. I need my passport back no later than May 25. The timing is impossible.

Any ideas?

I could see if the application could be converted to a tourist visa by Houston (unlikely). I could send a letter politely begging/groveling for the Houston consulate to reconsider (more unlikely).

If I request a withdrawal of my application:
I will be in Hong Kong June 22-24 (a weekend). I could extend there for a couple of days and get a visa in HK. Another option: I will be in Bangkok from August 21-26, so I could try the BKK consulate. Or I could change the trip from BKK to HKG and get a visa in HK.

Any thoughts? I really want to do this program, and I already have some money on the line for it.

Bangkok is now full of hassles, don't even consider applying there. Hong Kong may be possible but you'd need to be there for a few days (expensive place to hang out) AND your school may have to amend documents to specifically allow HK as an application location option. The application process has changed a bit in HK (you can't go directly yourself to the Commissioner's Office any more but have to use an agent and pay fees), so my recommendation is before settling on this as your best option, email this reputable agent, tell them the particulars, and ask if there is any issue with getting an X2 study visa in HK and if the school has to specify HK as the application point, plus how long it would take, fees, etc. http://www.fbt-chinavisa.com.hk/
This information might make your Go/No-Go decision on Hong Kong right there.

If that doesn't pan out as a good option, then stick with the USA plan. You may have to find a Plan B way to hang around your current city (or at least Orlando, where your agent is who will presumably be sending documents back and forth). There should be no shortage of short-term places to stay if you don't have a friend to bunk with, and it will be cheaper per day than hanging out in Hong Kong. Next, recontact the school (unfortunately, this is a holiday weekend in China so you may not be able to make contact with the school until May 2). Tell them they've got to find a way to get the document in two weeks instead of three, and then send to you by DHL or FedEx international express (no more than two day transit). Tell them you will pay for the document shipping cost and figure out a way to Western Union or Paypal them or something. Hopefully this will get the J202 into your hands before your lease expires. Then take it to the agent to express to Houston. You're going to have to eat the cost of FedEx or ExpressMail overnight or 2-day both ways. As an aside, I personally would not have used an Orlando-based agent, but would have expressed the application to a reputable Houston-based agent (I use www.mychinavisa.com) that has personal relationships with Consulate staff--this might or might not have made the difference.

In fact, if you have the ability to switch horses at this stage of the game, you might consider doing so. At least contact mychinavisa and query them on whether the Consulate is truly being hard-nosed now and requiring the J202 for short-term study/X2. Their website, which is kept pretty well updated, says not required.

China Visa Department - This was the firm I used. Their Orlando office was one of the closer.

I will definitely give mychinavisa a call today.

Staying in the US beyond May 29 is really a bad option. I have international flights/accommodation to Japan booked for then. I am willing to drop everything and go to Houston (yay remote work) over the next 4.5 weeks to sort things out, but... Staying in Hong Kong (friends there) is cheaper than causing cascade losses in terms of flights/accommodation. The next-day option with the agent you linked works for me.

I might also see if a tourist/L visa is an option.

Ok, in that case, see what mychinavisa says about whether you actually need this letter. If you have willing host/friends in HK, then that actually might be the best option, but wait to decide until you hear from Forever Bright which may be after the holiday weekend. FBT has always been very good about responding to emails pretty promptly. Certainly it's no issue for US citizens to get tourist or business visas in HK, but X2's I haven't heard many anecdotes on recently.

While I don't see any problem taking a 4-6 week "fun course" of study on a tourist L visa, I would not do something as long as August-December on anything other than an X visa study visa. Not in the current Immigration atmosphere in China right now, which is pretty hard-nosed and no longer foreigner-friendly.

All noted, and before saying anything else, your perspective and recommendations are EXTREMELY APPRECIATED. I was afraid that China's immigration atmosphere may not be as amenable to a 60 days in, weekend in HK, and then coming back for another 60 days. Edit: a prior email mentioned that the school can convert an L visa to an X visa when you're in country (presumably via some magic at the local PSB).

My final option if all else fails is eat the cancellation fees on my flights in/out of China and use the monies paid to the school for online tutoring.

JIejie, again thanks for everything.

I called up my agent yesterday to get a follow up (a bit like herding cats). What he told me shocked me.

My visa was approved in Houston, and my passport should be back in my hands within the next few hours. I have no idea what happened, but I'm ecstatic. I guess much like Monopoly has "Bank error in your favor," Chinese bureaucracy has "Official caprice in your favor, collect your documents early." The agency is as confused as I am. They thought I had pulled some mega-strings to get the JW202 to Houston directly. Au contraire

Glad it worked out for you. Maybe somebody came to their senses and realized that you only needed the X2 not the X1. Maybe your agent is more persuasive than you gave them credit for. At any rate, good for you on this lucky break. Now go out and buy some lottery tickets.

Hahaha.

The agent handling my case was...flabbergasted as well. Lol @ lottery tickets. Might not be a bad idea.