Thanks for the hat tip. This is a pretty good summary of the confusion going on. I hope my post clears things up.

J.

Jeremy,

I have been covering this for about 3 months and have about 8 posts with 40+ comments on personal experiences.

r

Allroads:

Thanks, just added a link to your Red Tape section.

to what extent will this tightening of visa reduce visitors to China during the olympics? If there will be a significant drop, doesn't that mean the coming-out party will not be a party after all?

Here is a link to a great up to date summary on the visa issues - apparently the folks at chinatravel.net did a bunch of researhc and summarized everything neatly in the the form of 13 bullet points that cover just about every angle, including phone numbers and name of a good agency in HK:

"New Chinese Visa Rules from Chinatravel.net"

Excellent link to the Chinatravel.net comprehensive summary.

The best I've found, and mirrors my experiences over the last two months on visa-refresh trips to Hong Kong exactly.

Not sure if anyone else has tried obtaining a legitimate Z visa recently, but someone I know who got a job working for one of the big state-run media companies (Xinhua, CCTV, China Daily, etc.) couldn't even get a Z visa in Hong Kong. She was given an F visa and told that she would need to go back to Australia to get her Z visa. Yikes!

China has already started to send students back and they are giving some very stupid reasons and forcing students to change the student visa to travel visa and deporting them, if the students wont agree they have been threatened that they will put stamp in the visa stating that they have been doing illegal stuffs in China and wont let them come back for 5 years, its a real bureaucracy....China wants the world to see a clean and beautiful China in Olympic when they have cleaned up sucking the blood out from the innocent students.... they not only made the life of foreigners complicated but also ruin their live in from of their family because of stupid reasons they have implemented…
The foreign governments should ask questions with China and send Chinese students back with same reasons who are studying abroad....they should be expelled with out a reason as how China government is been doing….
China may look a developed country but it’s from the surface… how empty and still a bureaucratic and corrupted country it is please world come and see…china is jumping up and down because of these developed country who is using it as a mean to earn money… Chinese will be worst than Nazis and Japan if they will earn money and be powerful…. Be careful about China……
Live and let live…..

I am “CEO” of one of top printing company in Pakistan, would like to draw your attention towards the bad behaviour of Chinese immigration department at Shenzhen Huanggang Customs at 20:45 on 20th of May, 2008.
I applied my Chinese Visa along with all necessary required documents and got Visa as per procedure of Chinese Embassy in Islamabad-Pakistan on 31th of March, 2008.
I also got Hong Kong Visa (Double entry) and Thai Visa (double entry) to cover-up my whole journey. The purpose to got Hong Kong Visa was to open my company Bank account with HSBC as I had already formed a Limited company in Hong Kong in July 2007. After completion of Bank formalities, I planned to go to China for the negotiation of different Raw Materials and for Printing and Lamination Machines. All appointments with the suppliers were scheduled.
But when I showed my passport to the immigration officer, she asks me to go with another officer for further checking and interrogation. I followed and they ask me to sit down at a stool that was lying outside of immigration office. I sit there about more than two hours without any reply from them. They appointed two Police officers to watch me.
After that they take me to interrogation room and check my body with a scanner and after that they instruct me to put down all things from my pockets and minutely checked step by step. Latterly they checked my entire luggage including my Laptop computer and asked me to run this computer. I did all what they required. I was very much surprised for what is going to be happened with me. After that one Police officer came with camera and took my photographs with different angles. He also takes many photos of all my documents and luggage. Finally after more than one hour they asked me to sign a document in Chinese. I refused because I can’t understand any Chinese so he forced me to sign. I told them that I would not sign unless I knew what document I would be signed. After that one person came and point to the each sentence and speaks in English and he assures me that what he said is same as mentioned in that Document in Chinese. He asked me to sign document again with a note written by me that “I already got back all things in my luggage after checking”. I wrote same and signed.
This all procedure took more than three hours, in the meantime I requested them to go to wash room, but they refused me. I’m patient of high blood pressure and was feeling much uncomfortable at that moment. I thought I would be falling down in soon, I felt my eyes were in pain and my heart beat was abnormal. At 23:45, a person told me that “On the behalf of Chinese law, you are not welcome to China”. I asked them that did they find some problem with my visa or passport. They said “No”, so I asked them that why they cancelled my visa? They replied “on the behalf of Chinese Law, I have right not to answering your question”. They didn’t give me any refusal document, just asked a bus driver to send me back to Hong Kong Customs. I arrived at my hotel in Hong Kong about 3:00 am.
I always trip to all over the world for my business and still have valid visas of UK and USA. I frequently visit China for my business and last year 2007, I visited 3-times.
This is my first time to get so bad experience with Chinese immigration. I want to ask Chinese Immigration department to give me clear answer in written form for this insulting behaviour with me on dated 20th May, 2008.

I don't see what all the fuss is. If you have a proper job you should have a Z visa? Who camp out in China with an F visa anyway? By definition that means that you are not employed here?

F visa's are for short term travel in and out. If you live here, you must be on a Z visa. I can't imagine any real job not offering a Z visa. So that raises the real question in my mind. If one does not have a job that can provide a Z visa, then what is one doing here in the first place?

In my Almost 10 years in China, having first and L, then an X and then Z has never been a problem. But Olympics aside I always hear of people going on about trips to HK and vis agents and a whole heap of crap. Also if you don't have a Z visa - you are restricted in your foreign currency transfers and tax credits for back home too.

The main reason why people have been living with F visas for so long in China is that they don't have to pay tax here, this is a pretty nice advantage.

The other reason is that the procedures for getting a Z (work) visa are linked to you working for a company or work unit that has the credentials to apply for a Z visa on your behalf.

If you are doing your own (unregistered) biz,,or work for a small company teaching English etc,, you can't get a Z visa.

In most countries we would on the whole welcome the deportation of all people on incorrect visas as they can access subsidized health and education systems. However one difference in China is that foreigners do not get any social benefits from the government, so a foreigner no matter on what visa is only adding (very modestly) to the economy of China,,even if only by paying rent and eating.

I was told last week that I had to go back home to get a new Z visa. It has been approved, I just need to leave and get it in my home country. I was told that my wife and son can stay here and after I return with my visa they can get their visas in China. This rule changed this week and they are forcing my wife, 6 months pregnant, to fly 12 hours to apply for a new visa. Insane.

Mr. Ford,

According to your comment, a job in any business or company the investment of which has not exceeded 5 million RMB is not a real job. Then, may I ask how you actually define a real job? A job for a multinaltional corporation, I guess, would fit your definition.

I applied for a L visa from Canada and had no trouble getting it. Probably helps having a wife in China.

I've been teaching at University in Henan for three years. My Foreign Affairs Department have been unable to renew my Foreign Expert Certificate. The local authorities claimed a new rule change meant that any teacher working at the same institute for three years must leave China and cannot return for 6 months! I've had to return to my home country. Does anyone have a similar experience?