It appears that he doesn't want to connect or take a pointless side trip to a third country.

I already have my ticket in and out of PVG, allowing just 27 hours turnaround. I'd rather spend that 27 hours stationary in Shanghai unless forced to go elsewhere by inability to get a visa in my situation. Yes it's a mileage run, but there are limits. ;)

I would just get a visa in your situation.

This might sound silly but I've never done a visa application before and hence don't want to screw it up so here goes. I'm an independent contractor for a start-up right now and hence technically I'm self-employed. If I click self-employed and put the start-up's address which is on the other coast is that going to cause problems? I wasn't sure how to handle this.
Cheers
Howie

Questons on Chinese Visa for ethnic Chinese with US passports
 

I am reading the thread from Jul 2013 onward but I think I would post a few Questions and hope to get some quick pointers as time is of essence.

Background

Ethnic Chinese from Hong Kong, holding US passports currently live in Florida.
Never have any Chinese residency or passport.
Passports have several more years though only 4 or 5 blank pages left towards the end of the book.

We had traveled to China many many years ago when it was still possible to apply Visa by mail. We had to apply from Houston Consulate because Florida fell into Houston's jurisdiction. Since then the US passports have been renewed TWICE already. I believe the old passports were already been disposed. So no way to provide a photocopy of such.

1) We have an UA award trip at the beginning of Sept.

FLL-IAH-PEK // HKG-BKK-CDG, CDG-YUL-FLL

Open jaw between PEK and HKG, has a total of 14 days.

2) I can line up hotels with fully cancelable point bookings. In fact already have 5 nights book at Double Tree Beijing for the first 5 days in China.

3) Currently do not have a firm plan on where to go after Beijing.

Ideally we would like to take high speed train inside China to explore some places, and then visit the Southwest cities before flying to HKG, such as from either Guilin or Kunming on KA, using BA Avios.

4) Unsure whether Chinese government would allow any flexibility in travel plan when applying Visa. Do they require a full itinerary for Visa application purpose? How do we accomplish the possible train tickets or domestic flights dummy bookings?

We could book the flight to HKG before submitting application. Worst would be to cancel the flight and rebook different flight, forfeiting the cash portion (KA's YQ, hope it is not too much.)

5) What is the earliest time we can apply for the Chinese Visa? And which type, how long is the validity, of the L tourist visa we would apply and be granted most likely?

I want to know this as I may need to plan additional international travels PRECEDING this Sept China trip and need to make sure we would not be out of our passports for the additional international trips booked.

6) Is it possible we apply our visa IN PERSON in DC or in Toronto? I know it can be done in Houston but we really have no desire to go to Houston just for this purpose. However DC can be a visit for fun, and Toronto has relatives who just walked in and got their Visas a few days later.

If we can apply in Toronto, that would be great.

Else, I guess an authorized Visa Agency is what we need.

Very much appreciated the forum experts opinions on the above.

How many visas a us citizen needs to get into Tibet(China)? I read that it's easier to enter from Nepal by road with a group tour. How about by air from Nepal? Anyone who has actually done this? Thanks

In the USA, if you're self employed and your sole proprietorship doesn't have separate office space, then your business address would be the same as your home address, normally your tax home if you have multiple residences. The address of your customer is not the address of your business.

As the Chinese are prone to adjusting their regulations or how closely or loosely they follow them, it doesn't pay to set your visa strategy too early, so somewhere around June-July, put some of your questions to a good agent like the Houston office of www.mychinavisa.com. They're usually good about answering quickly based on what they're seeing from the Consulate, and there's no obligation to actually use them to get your visas. In particular, ask about any extra documentation you might need since you were originally born in Hong Kong. Also let them know that you had long-ago visas in expired passports that are not available, and see how they advise to answer question about previous Chinese visa.

To your other issues:
1) Based on what currently seems to be happening, Houston Consulate will accept an outgoing flight from HKG as equivalent to leaving from mainland, if you provide an itinerary description that has you ending up in Guangzhou or Shenzhen then "overland" to Hong Kong. This itinerary description may be bogus and just for the form's sake, as once you get the visa, nobody cares or checks. Again, agent can advise you in summer if HKG exit is still acceptable. If it remains so, your current ticketing should be sufficient to satisfy this requirement.

2) You will need hotel bookings, though sometimes Houston Consulate is OK with just the first city's bookings and doesn't need the entire lineup. Again, query agent in summer to see what the trend is. Worst case, you make a few cancellable bookings and have to put in a little extra effort.

3) For visa purposes, you may make up something that fits in the time frame you are requesting and with entry/exit points. If you get to the point where you must apply for a visa and still don't know what you really want to do, the phony itinerary is your plan. For reality purposes, no need to discuss in context of this visa thread so feel free to start a new post if you wish, to get more customized comments. If you have a true plan before you have to apply for the visa, use the real thing. Again, once you get your visa, nobody will ever check what you really end up doing with what was on your application.

4) Absolutely no requirement to provide any description nor any evidence of your domestic China intercity plans. Your domestic China flights, train tickets, bus, driver, etc. are of no interest to Chinese Consular officials. So those arrangements happen independently of your visa application and what to do in advance vs real-time is a matter of your itinerary and personal preference.

5) For early September travel, I'd apply for the visas in July as long as you have a window where you won't be needing your passports. Houston Consulate (and reputable agents using this Consulate) pretty much give out L tourist visas in 12-month, multiple-entry configurations. So you theoretically could apply at any time. If you will be traveling internationally much of the summer, then apply in the spring. The default for duration-per-stay will be 30 days, but this Consulate is usually very easy-going about giving out 60 day durations per stay or even 90 upon request. Sometimes they want some extra justification but usually not too much hassle. If you think you may need more than 30 days for any China visit during the subsequent year, ask for 60 days.

6) Suggest your best bet is to apply using Houston and a third-party agent. You don't need to travel in person to Houston. Of course agents charge fees and also FedEx costs to/from, but nowhere near the cost of getting from Florida to any consular mission in person. In 2013, Chinese Embassy and Consulates are now strictly enforcing geographic boundaries, so unless you can produce an address in some place covered under the DC Embassy jurisdiction, your application likely won't be accepted. Toronto is even more problematic as with a US passport and no residence in Canada (working, retired, study, etc.), you'll be told to apply in the USA. And at any rate, the 12-month, multiple entry visa configuration is not available to US passport holders applying outside the USA.

I also use the Houston Consulate due to geographic assignment and I've used mychinavisa.com for years with excellent service every time. I can package up my application materials and send out USPS Express Mail, and literally 5-7 calendar days later, my passport and new visa will be back in my hands with FedEx return. This is using standard service, not rush. The Houston Consulate has one of the lesser visa applicant workloads in the USA, and looking at the dates on my visa issuances, the Consulate is processing either the day of or day after my agent receives stuff from me.

I have the impression the Chinese aren't as fond of "self employed" as they are "businessman" so I'd tick the box for the latter. Go ahead and put the start-up's address as the business address (even though you're a contractor for them) and your home address as your home address. If you're feeling exceptionally punchy, put the start up's business name then parenthetically (HQ or Headquarters). :D

I am convinced that at least for US citizens not of Tibetan, Uighur, or Arabic, etc extraction, most Chinese Consular officials don't look at this section of these visa forms all that closely unless you put down a business or profession that has to do with 1) media/journalism 2) religion 3) military.

Tibet does not issue its own visas as it's part of the sovereign territory of the Peoples' Republic of China. If you are entering into Tibet from Nepal by any means (air, road, bicycle, foot), you must obtain a special group Chinese visa in Kathmandu. This special group visa will replace any other active nonresident Chinese visa you have in your passport. With few exceptions, this is true for all foreigners, all passports. I believe the rules have relaxed so that you may now be a "group" of one person. Requirements for having the Tibet Travel Permit (not a visa, but a separate permission slip), driver and guide and prearrangements for Tibet remain in force though most people entering from Nepal make those arrangements in Kathmandu (which can take a number of days). Or contact a Kathmandu agent for Tibet tours in advance to prearrange.

Note that this special group visa has limitations that a regular Chinese tourist visa does not:
--All group members traveling into Tibet with this visa in their passports must normally stay together until they exit Chinese territory. Of course with a group of one this isn't an issue.
--The special visa is time-limited and is usually for 21 or 28 days though sometimes for as little as 14 days depending on how the Chinese are feeling about you at the time. You are allowed to travel from Tibet into the rest of China on this visa and can exit anywhere, but the special visa cannot be extended in-country like a regular Chinese tourist visa can. Therefore, it is not a suitable document for those who want a longer continuous period of travel in China.

It is easier and more flexible to route China - Tibet - Nepal than the other way around, if all 3 of these places are in one's plans.

Thank you very much
 

jiejie,

Thanks a lot for taking time to write a very informative reply. I will follow the suggestions outlined in your post and contact the agency when June rolls around.

I actually am able to find the old passport with the old Chinese Visa on it. I guess this would help to get the 12 months multiple entries visa. Our visit to China in the Sept trip is roughly 12 to 14 days and only need single entry.
It certainly would be nice to get a one year visa with the same cost for the one or two entries visa.

Thank you so much for the info. Just wanna double check, you mentioned group visa can be issued to just one person(of course including driver & guide)? I know you can get to touristy areas like Lhasa without problems. Does this visa have any travel restrictions to certain places inside tibet?

To my knowledge, at any given time, all Tibet places that happen to be open to foreigners accessing from the China side are equally accessible to those approaching from Nepal. Or put another way, if some place is closed to foreign tourists for any reason, it's closed regardless of direction said tourists are coming from or size of group. This did happen for a stretch at Everest Base Camp, and from time to time certain monasteries will be closed if there is unrest. And at times of year when Tibet is completely closed to foreigners (typically late February and all/most of March), it is closed whether coming from China or Nepal.

If you have the cash to shoulder the full cost burden of traveling alone as your own "group," you can make arrangements for either a Nepal start point or a China one. At relatively busy times of year, soloists and couples are often able to meet up with other travelers to pool resources and build groups of 3-4 people to bring the per person cost down. Might require some flexibility and/or preplanning though.

It looks like my family (all American passport holders) will be in HKG later this year. If we could, we'd like to cross the border, perhaps visiting Guangzhou for a couple of days. I don't want to pay the visa fee for 4 people for such a short visit (curse you China for not having a 10 year visa or something :)). I understand there's some sort of visa waiver for "organized tours." How strict a definition of "organized" is there? We'd really just want to visit by ourselves.

Thanks for the help, and sorry if this question has been answered in the previous 97 pages!

I don't know a lot of details on minimum group size or whether you must have a guide accompanying you as escort, but I do know it has to be set up by an authorized HK agent. Maybe try over on the HK subforum and see if the experts there have ideas of agent(s) you can contact and ask if your family would form an acceptable group and if you can go unescorted. If meeting the requirement of "organized tour" just a matter of having some prearranged transport between HK and Guangzhou plus hotel bookings done by an agent who gets you the authorizations and travel docs, without need for escort, you might be in business there. Or perhaps if an escort is required, you could arrange something where escort gets you across the border, you do your own independent thing, then escort meets you to take you back through Chinese exit immigration.