Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Interesting is comment 3

............posted on the webpage of a HK travel agency:
QUOTE
For the applicants who already had China Visa before, and would like to apply for L or F Visa again, their previous visa should be totally expired OR has been cancelled before application
UNQUOTE
See also the comments:
VISA EXPIRES AUTOMATICALLY ONCE THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES IS USED UP !
Please also see more than 300 posts on http://www.geoexpat.com/

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats cool - then from end of July on the only foreigners in China will be the tourists for the games ......

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

Calm down! It's not that bad! Your visa expires automatically when you enter and exit mainland second time for your double entry one. See the explanation here from the Comissioner's office:

http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/zgqz/qzyxq/default.htm

1. Number of entries refers to the number of times that visa holder is allowed to enter the Mainland China within visa validity. Visa may automatically expire when the given entry times are used out, in such cases, it is necessary for visa holder to reapply visa before going to the mainland China for the next time. In case there is still valid entry left while the visa validity is over, reapplication of visa is necessary. Traveling on a visa with no valid entry time results in refusal of entry at the border checkpoint. It is therefore suggested, before departing for the mainland China, to double check the number of entries and the validity of visa.

2. Validity shown as "enter before" in visa refers to the time limit of visa. When there is still number of entry left before expiration, visa holder may still be eligible to go to the mainland China with the visa, and to be allowed to enter through the border checkpoint before 24:00 on the exact day of expiration. Visa expires after validity limit and cannot be extended no matter whether there is number of entry left, reapplication of visa is required. All visas come into force from the dates of issuance. Applicants shall bear consequences of the uselessness of visas caused by the changes of journey due to personal or third party causes. Traveling on expired visas will result in refusal of entry at the border checkpoint. It is therefore suggested to double check the validity to confirm the visa to be good to use.

Anonymous said...

Here with a letter that says not exactly the same

18 Apr 2008 11:03:18 +0800
Subject: Latest news on recent Chinese visa ban

Dear all,

Thanks to the reply of our 50 members following our previous email on the
recent Chinese visa ban for multiple entry, the French Chamber was able to
lobby hard on this subject.
We have joined our lobbying forces with the European Chamber of Commerce,
who sent letters to Commissioner Lü in two versions, English and Mandarin,
and to our Chief Executive, Donald Tsang. These letters are attached. Is
also attached the answer received by the the Commissioner's office of
China's Foreign Ministry in HK, where they are basically in complete denial
of this ban (while we have, just at the French chamber, 50 members that
could not apply for multiple entry visa. Same with all the other chambers).

Finally, our Consul General, Mr Thebault, has just met with he PRC
Commissioner as representative of European countries (France is at the elm
of the EU for the 6-months rotational presidency) and since this meeting 2
days ago, it seems that China Travel is again from today accepting
applications for Multiple Entry Visa.
Please let us know if this information is not applied

Best regards

Maryse Kraatz
General Manager
The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong
Unit 1401, 14/F Euro Trade Centre
21-23 Des Voeux Road
Central, Hong Kong Tel:(852) 22 94 7716
Website: http://www.fccihk.com/

The Visa Man said...

Hi Anon 3,

you mean "China Travel Service" right ? If it is like this - then it would be fine - I am sure some applicants will find out soon if this is workable like "before".

Anonymous said...

Can you confirm these please !!!!!

Even better, china visa cannot be issued to foreigners(in hk)without hk id... from LAST WEEK!!

Thanks

The Visa Man said...

Hi Anon with this comment:
"Even better, china visa cannot be issued to foreigners(in hk)without hk id... from LAST WEEK!!"

1)
Where did you found this ? There was a "similar" wrong message in SCMP some days ago. See one previous posts.

2)
Even "foreigners" without HK ID card should have no problem to get a L visa as long they are able to supply the "hotel booking" or a realistic confirmation of accomodation + an existing return (means out of China) flight ticket. But they will probably only get 1x entry for 60 days validity. The max I guess is 2x entry for 90 days - but to document this with hotel booking + return flight is already difficult.

3)
Nationals from a list of 33 countries MUST apply their Visa in their home country - means these "foreigners" like Indonesia,
Philippines, Pakistan.....etc def cannot apply in HK anymore
The list of the 33 countries is in one of the previous posts.

The Visa Man said...

For the Anon with comment 3 and this probably not very correct or even fake letter/email from the GM of the French Chamber:
It is simply wrong that CHINA TRAVEL is accepting applications for multiple visa ! I was going there myself today and even in regards of a 2x entry L (tourist) visa they said "We can try........"
But surely hotel booking + "return ticket" is needed.
I want to urge all readers who post a comment to stay with facts + real sources. Otherwise comments too "strange or suspicious" will be not published anymore. Cheers.