Brad Gets a Chinese Visa (well not quite yet)

Moving to China, living in Shanghai, I need to gain entry to China - does Australia have a visa treaty with China yet? NO.

So, Brad has to get a visa. That is pretty unusual for me to come to terms with, as I have dual citizenship - Australia and United Kingdom. With these 2 passports I can basically get into any country on the planet, China being one of the few exceptions.

I looked up the details of the Chinese consulate on the web  Embassy of the People's Republic of China - Australia and got a phone number for the Sydney consulate. After dialling the number on the keypad on the phone, I was finally given the address in English. I listened and was mildly amused that the Chinese consulate was in Dumpling Street Camperdown. Very fitting I thought. Then I tried to look it up in the street directory and had no luck at all. Eventually Sabrina pointed out Dunblane Street in Camperdown! AH, there was the problem, an Australian listening to a recording of a native Chinese giving directions in English to a very English address - most confusing. If you don't believe me how much it sounds like Dumpling Street - ring Sydney (02) 8595 8000, then press 2 to get the English.

Anyway, I have the forms to apply for the visa, however, at this stage I am not sure which visa to apply for. As I am awaiting feedback from my current boss about whether they would like to open an office in Shanghai, until then I am in limbo.

There are several options open to me at the moment.

1. Apply for a type "F" visa which is a business visa. This means that I would be travelling to China on a business trip. It is possible to get multiple entry visas, but it is only valid for 6 months. To get this type of visa I would need to have a letter from a Chinese company or business counter part or a letter from my Australian employer saying that my trip to China is business related. This would be a fairly straight forward process, but still has the time limitations.
2. I can apply  for a type "L" visa which is a standard tourist visa. This will give me anywhere up to 12 months with a multiple entry, but means that I cannot legally work. Now I don't want to flout the law, so this is not the best option, but it could be a start.
3. I really want the type "Z" visa which is a work permitted visa, but that is not available through Australia.

The best solution would obviously be for me to become employed by my existing company in a Shanghai representative office. I would travel to China on my F visa, then when registering the business office there, I would transmute my F visa for a Z visa.

However, if I cannot set up the office for my existing employer, I would need to get a job once I arrive in Shanghai. Most people in a responsible organisation won't hire me without a Z visa, but I can't get a Z visa without a job. Catch22! Luckily there is a way. If I travel to China on a L visa, I can go to Hong Kong for a couple of days for some tourism. Whilst there I can go to one of the many visa offices and apply for, and generally receive the same day, a Z visa. They even take it to the border and get it stamped for you.

My obvious preference would be to get my Z visa through the correct channel of setting up the representative office for my company in Shanghai. The outcome of this, I will keep you posted of.

Download china_visa.jpg Click here to download a current Chinese Visa application if you are interested. I also found a page with a good description of Chinese visa types.

As a last point to make, I had to say I really liked the pricing structure of the visas. For an Australian citizen to apply for a Chinese single entry visa cost $30, for a non-Australian it was $50 and for an American it was $85 - almost 3 times the price for the yanks! Nothing like a good bit of price gouging.

Story is continued HERE.

Comments

[Micah, a 倒霉 Yank]

People do the "L" to "Z" visa switch all the time; in fact it's what I did this time around when I was coming to Shanghai, and I didn't even have a job lined up for sure: I did a phone interview from Hong Kong, then got my visa, and finalized the contract with a face-to-face interview in Shanghai. I applied for, then picked up my "Z" visa at the office on Wusong Rd a couple weeks later.

You company should be able to help you convert your L-visa to a Z-visa by providing the necessary documents. It will be much easier to do this *within* China.

[Brad]

Hi Micah,

Thats what I had heard and was counting on. Thanks for the confirmation.

[Coble]

Excellent site, added to favorites!

[Helen]

Wonderful and informative web site. I used information from that site it's great. Best Regards

[Kyler]

Honestly, you're always better off with an F visa. It's quite common for a company holding your Z visa to treat you like a slave. They have to go through so many hoops to process the Z visa they want to own you. Best bet is to enter China through Hong Kong. A travel company there can get you a six month multi-entry F visa for 700 HK dollars on a British passport. All the paperwork will be done for you. Just visit HK every six months for a new one. And you'll be free to come and go, with no companies holding anything over you. This is the old China hand way of doing things.