China visa - how to get one

The talk for most travelers in Asia is usually about places to stay, where to go, which restaurants serve decent chocolate cake and whether the toilets are staffed by pigs.

don't copy this

But for the last month or so, just about every traveler in north-east Asia and most business people, teachers, volunteers and hangers-on in China have been talking earnestly about one thing: their China visa.

With trouble in the Tibetan areas, the Beijing Olympics less than 100 days away and some anti-foreign sentiment in the air, China has tightened restrictions for the estimate 300,000 foreigners living and working in China. And it's not getting easier for travelers either.

For many in the past, Hong Kong was the place to get your visa overnight for China, but now foreigners are being told to return to their home countries to get China visas if they aren't HK permanent residents, or those that are getting visas, they are facing longer queues and wait times.

sample visa

Foreigners are now required to produce paper tickets for flights out of China, as well as hotel bookings - rather difficult if you are staying a long time in China and live in a house, not a hotel.

This situation is due to get worse in the lead up to the Games. Here is a summary of what appears to be happening:

· It is now impossible to get a 6 or 12 month multiple entry business visa.

· It is now impossible to get entries longer than 30 days. (Exception being US passport holders applying in the US occasionally get 60 days.)

· In many embassies and consulates, it would appear impossible to get a double entry tourist visa.

· It has been reported that beginning July, it may be difficult to impossible to get extensions.

· Non-Hong Kong identity card holders can no longer get a tourist visa in Hong Kong as easily as previously. It would appear that you need to have proof of transportation in and out of China as well as a couple of nights of accommodations to get a Chinese tourist visa in HK and that you must go through a visa company.

· Visa Costs have increased for many nationalities (e.g. British, European, and Australian) while visa costs for US passport holders remain at their high levels.

· It would appear impossible to obtain a Chinese tourist visa anywhere in SEAsia or Central Asia unless you hold a passport or residency permit for that country.

more at http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/eyeonasia/archives/2008/04/olympic_jitters.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120917750942747113.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5goljeS1wNOAfXbFaJpT9TO59hC4AD908CNN82

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JD25Ad01.html