Has anyone been to Hong Kong in the last week or so to get a Z visa? I need to go next week and I was just wondering if anything had changed.

I went to get my Z visa last month and they refused me because I renewed my passport in Hong Kong this year and they wanted to see my old passport, which I didn't have. So I got scans of the old visas in my old passport and then they refused me because I didn't have my health check certificate on me. I only have one more stab at this, so any advice would be great.

BONNIE wrote:You invitation letter needs to state that your Z visa should be picked up in Hong Kong

Does anyone have the wording from an invitation letter that they've used that I could read please (Via a PM and obviously without your details on it)? It's just I am not 100% confident in our HR department when it comes to visas. Actually I'm not 40% confident in them.

I have my passport, my old passport, my health check certificate, my invitation letter and my employment license. Is that all I need?

Sorry to be all Chinabra over this, but I just don't want to screw this up as I have a flight to India next Thursday and I need this visa bad.

Thank you for your help.

Mattaus wrote:Has anyone been to Hong Kong in the last week or so to get a Z visa? I need to go next week and I was just wondering if anything had changed.

I went to get my Z visa last month and they refused me because I renewed my passport in Hong Kong this year and they wanted to see my old passport, which I didn't have. So I got scans of the old visas in my old passport and then they refused me because I didn't have my health check certificate on me. I only have one more stab at this, so any advice would be great.

BONNIE wrote:You invitation letter needs to state that your Z visa should be picked up in Hong Kong

Does anyone have the wording from an invitation letter that they've used that I could read please (Via a PM and obviously without your details on it)? It's just I am not 100% confident in our HR department when it comes to visas. Actually I'm not 40% confident in them.

I have my passport, my old passport, my health check certificate, my invitation letter and my employment license. Is that all I need?

Sorry to be all Chinabra over this, but I just don't want to screw this up as I have a flight to India next Thursday and I need this visa bad.

Thank you for your help.

The invitation letter looks like that ==>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/83 ... edium.jpg/

My school has been told by the Hangzhou government office that they're refusing to offer invitation letters allowing you to go to Hong Kong to process your z-visa. So I assume this applies to anyone working in Zhejiang province? On the other hand, I know of at least one person who's just started a job in Hangzhou and is going to Hong Kong to process his z-visa next week.
So basically I'm confused.
Also, someone at the Hangzhou government department told a Chinese colleague that I need a TEFL!? This despite the fact I have a 2:1 Bachelors degree and four years teaching experience.
I need to get an invite letter which states I can go to HK to process my visa.
My colleague called 'Path To China' and was told they don't deal with teaching visas.
So now what? Does anyone know how I can get this sorted?

greenstick wrote:Hey,

Im about to become a legal representative of trading & trading services company in Shanghai, Pudong to be more specific. We have handed in our application and the officials aproved our documents. Ive heard various things about the work visa application for employee and legal representative - some says age and experience requirement applies for all - some says it doesnt apply for legal representative but for foreign employee only.

I just turned 23, have not accumulated 24 months of work experience - but I will contribute 50% of the investment capital (I got all the connections in my home country and without me there wont be any business, foreign clients only) and If it makes any difference the business entity is a Foreign Invested Partnership Enterprise (FIPE). Its hard to find any reliable source on the matter.

Ok, got the answer if its usefull for anybody. If your name is on the business license - which it will if you are a partner in the partnership or shareholder (WFOE, I guess) they wont ask for anything proving experience, age is also not supposed to be an issue.

Probably a repeat, but here is a tip on renewing your RP while waiting at the PSB for only an hour:

-Go to www.police.sh.cn and select 'English' if needed.
-Select for 'Renewal of Residence Permit'.
-Select 'Lodge Application Online' (Note, the form is in Chinese).
-Wait 1 business day and check your status by selecting 'Outcome of Process' on the 'Renewal of Residence Permit' page...they will tell you when you can go to the PSB with your passport and other documents (usually 5 days).
-Show up on designated day with all documents plus one picture, go to the 3rd floor at the Minsheng place, tell the ayi you renewed it online and she will give you a ticket (window 17, I think) to handle your RP process. They check your paperwork, everything ok then you're given a receipt with your passport and work permit. Go downstairs to pay the fee, go the the 'Online Application and Information' window afterwards, hand them your passport, work permit and show them the receipt, they will tell you to come back in 1 hour.

A side note: My work permit is valid for 2 years and I had not read it thoroughly, but apparently I have to get it inspected each year counting from the day it was issued. When I went to get my RP they told me I needed the new stamp in the Work Permit booklet, and it may take a day or two.

I downloaded the application form, filled it out, and went to the 77 Meiyuan Road facility, 4th floor. Thought I had to come back, but to get the inspection stamp it only takes 30 minutes. Good thing because I was able to go back to 1500 Minsheng Rd to get my RP in an hour (after I had processed it online).

Guess we can process the Work Permit extension online as well...going to have to give that a try next year.

duffari wrote:Hello,

Just came back from HK where I applied for the Z visa. No changes to the procedure/needed documents, only thing to confirm is that they did ask for a copy of the health check report. I had done this in Shanghai (the official place close to Hami Rd) so can't comment on how they treat health checks from somewhere else.

Over all it was a painless experience for me, my secretary had prepared all the documents for me. Went there after the lunch break and needed to que for about 30 mins to get through the security check and another 15 mins upstairs. Chose to pay extra money for the one day service and returned the next day and around the same wait to get up. No que for the passport pick up when I went there.

One thing, remember to fill the application before hand as the guy handing out the que number checks for this and if it's not filled he will ask you to go fill it first before giving you a number!

Has anyone been to HK to do this recently? I am heading down to HK next week to get this sorted. I have all the docs that I need, but have not done the health check yet. Can anyone tell me if you need the health check before going to HK? When I did it previously I remember that I did not get a health check till after I returned with my Z visa.

Is there a need to go back to our home country to get the Z visa done? My co's HR said that they allowed me (I'm Malaysian) to go to HK to get it done and it is guaranteed. Anyone out there recently went to HK and got their Z visa approved? Let me know. Thanks in advance! =)

jet5354 wrote:Has anyone been to HK to do this recently? I am heading down to HK next week to get this sorted. I have all the docs that I need, but have not done the health check yet. Can anyone tell me if you need the health check before going to HK? When I did it previously I remember that I did not get a health check till after I returned with my Z visa.

I went down to Hong Kong this week to get my Z visa. They wanted photocopies of both sides of my employment license, photocopy of the health check certificate and the original government visa notice. They also had to see the originals of the health check and the employment license.

I know someone who was refused a visa because he didn't have the health check with him.

Hello all,

I am an American citizen who has been given the exciting opportunity to work in Shanghai as a media analyst for a financial services company.

I read over Ed's step-by-step guide to getting a Z visa, the work one in case I have messed up the alphabet lettering, and I was confused about something, and though I'd clarify it here.

Specifically, regarding the "work license" (step 1), and the "invitation" (step 2) - do I need to physically be in China to apply for these? In other words, do I need to go over there with a tourist visa, submit those, and then return to the United States, apply for a work visa, and then go back to China? Or, alternatively, can I email those documents to my company and someone who is already in China submit the documents to the appropriate authorities on my behalf?

Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions. If this is a redundant question, I apologize and I'd appreciate it if I can be referred to wherever the answer is (after you all rib me for my foolish newbness, of course )

Also, I'm confused about what it would mean for a company to be capitalized over USD 3 million.

Much appreciated!

isailedawaytochina wrote:
Specifically, regarding the "work license" (step 1), and the "invitation" (step 2) - do I need to physically be in China to apply for these? In other words, do I need to go over there with a tourist visa, submit those, and then return to the United States, apply for a work visa, and then go back to China? Or, alternatively, can I email those documents to my company and someone who is already in China submit the documents to the appropriate authorities on my behalf?

Check with your new company's HR department, which should be responsible for all of that. The (state-owned) company that hired me prepared/obtained all of the relevant documents and sent them to me in the US. I submitted them to the Chinese consulate with my application for a Z visa, which was granted. Once you arrive in Shanghai, you have 30 days to take more documents and the report of your physical exam to the Exit-Entry Bureau (Immigration), which will issue a one-year residence permit if everything is in order.

The company obtains your work permit (red passport-like book for most private firms) or a foreign expert certificate (blue passport-like book for state-owned enterprises/universities) as part of the application process for the Z visa.

It is possible that your HR people will tell you just to get a tourist visa, and that they will sort out all the paperwork once you are in Shanghai. I rejected that option, which is of questionable legality and may require you to leave mainland China in order to re-enter with a Z visa.

This may have changed, but as of a few years ago, you did not have to have the physical exam done (for the residence permit - tourists don't need one) before arriving in China. There is a form available on the Chinese consulates' websites that you can print out and take to your doctor, who will probably tell you that a lot of what China demands may not be covered by your insurance (an AIDS test and chest X-ray, for example). If you choose to have it done in the US, bring all the paperwork and the original X-ray film with you. In China, the "health check" is done at a government-approved medical facility (I did mine in Beijing) which may not accept the US report and require you to do some/all of it again. It probably makes more sense to do the whole thing here, at a cost of about RMB700.

Hi all,

I have just joined the forum and this is my first post.

There is so much information on here regarding visas which is very useful.

I need your help. I am in the UK and I have been offered a teaching position in an international school.
They have said that I will enter the country on a tourist L-Visa and then eventually I will be given a work z-visa. They said it will take about 2 months to get the z-visa.

So I would be working for at least a month or more on a tourist visa! This is illegal no? Also read that you cannot just convert from tourist to work visa without returning to UK and re-entering China.

From the information I have found on the Internet, one should not enter on a tourist visa if working. I should only enter the country once I have received the work visa, here in the UK. Correct?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

You shouldn't need to enter on a tourist visa, they can send you the relevant documentation you need to apply for a Z visa in the UK. (You'll have to supply them with a load of documents in order for them to get some of the required documents for your Z visa from the government).

If you do enter on a tourist visa, you can subsequently apply a Z visa in Hong Kong, no need to go back to the UK. You will be working illegally if you work on a tourist visa (like many English teachers).

In either case, note that you will need an official (stamped) health check report to apply for your Z visa. You can do this in the UK if you're there, or in Shanghai BEFORE you go to HK. Note that it takes time to both get an appointment for a health check and takes time to get the report back. Give yourself about 2 weeks.

Thanks for the help in your reply to my earlier post.

I wanted to clarify: So we can change from a tourist visa to a work visa in Hong Kong? I was under the impression that authorities were cracking down on changing over in Hong Kong, and that it was now necessary to return back to your home country.

Answering your earlier question, you don't need to be in China for step 1 and 2, you and your company can email (copies) / courier (originals) stuff between each other.

I've never came across a person (friend or non-Chinese colleague) who has not been able to change from a tourist visa to a work visa in HK, but it does seemed to have happened to a very small minority who have had to go back to their home country. Which is a tad irrelevent anyway as you can apply in the USA before you leave, as confirmed in my first sentence.

Note that if for some reason you do the USA->HK->Shanghai route, you won't need an L visa to get into HK, you'll get a HK visa waiver (assuming the USA has a visa waiver exchange with HK, which seems almost 100% likely) when you arrive in HK. The L, Z, etc. visas are just for getting into the mainland.

Let me just chime in here that I believe it is now impossible to get anything longer than a 3-month working visa in HK. That's what I received when I went (and others down there were talking about the same thing), and then when I returned to Shanghai my company changed it to a 12 month visa.

Technically correct that the Z visa doesn't last long, but it's what gets you into China so your company can apply for a 1-year Residence Permit and Work Permit for you (which replaces the Z visa in your passport). I doubt it was ever possible to get anything longer than a 3-month Z visa in HK as a Z visa isn't what lets you work legally, the Residence/Work Permits are.

China? Bureaucracy? Never!

Hi everyone,

I am an American citizen and I wish to apply for a multi-entry tourist visa valid for one year.

In late 2009, I applied for a visa at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. Though I only wanted a single entry visa, the woman at the window suggested I get the multi entry, so I requested that instead and they ended up giving me a multi-entry visa valid for a year. Despite that, I only had the opportunity to go to China once.

My question is, am I still allowed to apply for a new one now, or are you only given one multi-entry/1 year visa in your lifetime?

Sorry if it seems like a ridiculous question. Appreciate the help!

Don't think there is any lifetime limit. Policies vary by visa office and over time, but if you have a reason I think it should be ok. But my personal experience is more with business than tourist visas, though I've heard about the tourist side

can anybody help me out here?

im going back home to apply for my z-visa and my company have got all the documents ready for me. HOWEVER, i noticed that on the employment license, my name is spelled incorrect by one letter. Would this be a big problem?

hi guys, need some urgent help.

Just got my work permit and I'll be applying for the residence permit tomorrow. Is there anyway I can expedite the residence permit process (normal process is 5 days I think)? I have a family emergency back home and I need to travel middle of next week.

As far as I know it is not possible, but you can ask for a temporary permit which allows you to travel. Whether it is also qualifies you to leave the country, I am not sure.

so that means even with my work permit, I can't leave the country without my residence permit?

baobaoling wrote:so that means even with my work permit, I can't leave the country without my residence permit?

correct. work permit allows you to work and is issued by labor bureau while residents permit is issued by Bureau of entry/exit etc...

but it may be possible for them to issue you a temp travel doc, though since they need your passport for this process, you may have to contact them to see what the alternative is.

Thanks zaqrack & yu888! I'll check with them later on the temp travel doc.

^Update: Just got back from the Bureau and managed to expedite the process (provided them with death certificate and fee is RMB400). They said to collect the residence permit on Monday afternoon. Let's hope I'll get it on time.

I guess if you have a valid reason for emergency, they will be able to expedite the process.

@Baobaoling
Did they manage it on time?

What does actually happen if I'm entering on my Z-Visa, getting my work permit, but then leaving the country without the residence permit due to an emergency overseas, coming back on an F-Visa, and applying for the residence permit. Would this work?

Yes I did. I got my residence permit last Monday as promised by the Bureau.

Have you received your work permit yet? When I applied for the residence permit with work permit collected, they said that I can leave (within my Z-visa stay period) before getting my residence permit but I need to make changes to some docs after I'm back. But I didn't want to risk it, you never know what kind of changes you may need after you come back.

If you have any valid certs or reasons, I think they will help you. Go down and ask them, I went straight to Counter 4 (if I remember correctly). They kept asking for my flight ticket but I told them I haven't bought ticket until I was sure to receive my residence permit, just to be on the safe side. Maybe you can show your booked ticket for overseas? Good luck!

Thanks for your insight information baobaoling!

I'm returning to my country this weekend to get the Z-Visa from the consulate.
Back on the 18th, getting my temporary residence permit on the 19th.
From the 19th, I'll have time till the 30th to get the work & residence permits, as I'm leaving China again on the 31st. So it's going to be a total of 10 working days in China - hope it will be sufficient.

So me leaving the country would still be within my Z-visa stay period. But from what I've read I wouldn't be able to enter China a second time on that Z Visa, without the residence permit on hand.
I do have a an e-ticket for my departure on 31st..however in my case it is not an emergency (officially at least). Flight is to to Kuala Lumpur first, which is not really Europe, where my passport is from.

Update:
Got back to China on the 17th, updated my temporary residence permit on the 19th (in Dongguan they're not that strict..as the Police wasn't working on Sunday either). Went to DG City to apply for the work permit, which I received today. Straight to the next building for the residence permit today & I was told that I could pick it up coming Thursday.
- 4 working days for the Alien Employment Permit
- 6 working days for the Residence Permit. I'll report whether it might be available earlier.

hi everyone,

Does anybody know for which job position a foreigner will be qualify in shanghai.

I have changed my company and join recently a new company but just now got a call from Alien working department that for this job position is not allowed for foreigner my new company is giving me overseas sales director and before that i was working as business development manager.

Does anyone know any agent or know this answer kindly let me know on my number please 15000703327

waiting for your response guys.

Thanks & Best Regards,
MN