An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong wife...Visa question

Posted Feb 3, 2010 4:19pm by Laowai9822

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2010
Posts: 4

Greetings and salutations everyone!

I have read quite of few post about visa's and I haven't seen anyone address my situation.
I am an American here in China, staying with my wife who is a Hong Kong citizen. I have my HK ID card also, but that means nothing here in China. Right now I have a L multiple entry visa. Every 30 days I need to leave the country and come right back in. I recieved my visa from the China embassy in HK. Some other friends I know have visa's that allow them to stay for 90 days before leaving. I know now I should I have gotten my visa while back home in the states, but I guess thats hindsight. My question is...what options do I have about getting another type of visa? Is it possible to get a spousal visa with my wife being from Hong Kong? If not a spousal visa, what are my other alternatives? I am not working here and really I am just here because of my wife needing to be here. Any suggestions or answers would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks and have a wonderful day

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crystal927

Joined: Apr 13th, 2009
Posts: 245

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: crystal927 on Feb 3, 2010 5:52pm

oh,you have several options:
1.extend your L visa for three months without leaving China
2.get a F invitation letter ,then extend your F for 6 months
3.find a job here, then you will get a Z visa(work permit),in that way, you can stay in china for 1 year
4.convert L visa to F visa without leaving China

hope useful

if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927

Laowai9822

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2010
Posts: 4

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: Laowai9822 on Feb 3, 2010 11:34pm

I don't have any college degree, so I don't believe I could get an F visa (not exactly sure about needing the degree)We both are staying here at her factory, and I don't think I qualify for any type of a position here. The only think I can think of job wise is tutoring students on oral english skills. There seems to be a high demand for native english speakers here. But to get a job with a school or institution of higher learning, a degree and at least 2 years of working experience is required. So maybe it looks like I will have to continue doing what I have been doing so far. That is every 30 days, going back to Hong Kong or over to Jinmen island(Taiwan)and back over to China. Is there any reason I wouldn't quailfy for a spouse visa?

crystal927

Joined: Apr 13th, 2009
Posts: 245

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: crystal927 on Feb 4, 2010 9:35am

F visa does not desire college degree .
only your passport,photo,and resident permit
you can extend L for three months,so you do not need to leave china every months.
you may get spousal visa in hk,but you need to contact agents in hk to get detail information.

if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927

phyllisli

Joined: Jun 26th, 2008
Posts: 202

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: phyllisli on Feb 4, 2010 10:48am

Hi there,

I can tell ur worried if you are qualified to get either F or Z visa, actually for F visa, its earsier for you and you dont need a degree. Here is the way for you to get it:

Since you are going back home soon, you should apply for a F invitation letter here in Bj b4 you leave; and when you are back home, you can apply for a F visa with this invitation letter easily, later when you are back Bj, extend it to 6/12months directly, and the best part of this way is you dont need to go outside of mainland each 30days any more.

Need my help or more info, feel free to contact me.

Cheers,

Phyllis

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J.Sylvia

Joined: Jun 19th, 2009
Posts: 104

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: J.Sylvia on Feb 4, 2010 1:33pm

Solutions on your situation:
Solution 1: extend your L without leaving.
The L visa can be extended for 2 times, which can be choosed for 30 days or 3 months.

Solution 2: convert your L to F without leaving
You can convert your visa to 3 or 6 months F visa. Then renew it again and again. The only point that you should pay attention is the entry date. i mean, you have to renew the entry date annually so that you can be authorized to renew your F visa for another 12 months.

solution 3: apply a business invitation letter
Steps: 1. apply a business invitation letter before you come back your hometown or plan to go to other countries.
2. apply a F visa with the letter in Chinese Embassy.
3. extend your F visa once you come back China for 6 or 12 months as you want.
The points you should concern about have been reminded above. You just need renew the entry date annually.

You can not apply a spousal visa cause your wife is in the HK ID. It's the special situation of Chinese policy.
But i consider that the F visa is good enough for you to stay here with your wife.

Good Luck!
Grace jin
E-mail: grace.jin@163.com / MP: +86-13811299056

China Visa Services-The Beginning of Easier and Better Life.

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Laowai9822

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2010
Posts: 4

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: Laowai9822 on Feb 4, 2010 1:39pm

crystal927 wrote:

F visa does not desire college degree .
only your passport,photo,and resident permit
you can extend L for three months,so you do not need to leave china every months.
you may get spousal visa in hk,but you need to contact agents in hk to get detail information.

How do I obtain a resident permit?

crystal927

Joined: Apr 13th, 2009
Posts: 245

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: crystal927 on Feb 4, 2010 2:23pm

you can get the resident permit from local police station,just bring your housing rental contracts and passport.

if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927

J.Sylvia

Joined: Jun 19th, 2009
Posts: 104

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: J.Sylvia on Feb 4, 2010 5:01pm

It's not the residence permit but the registration of temporary residence, maybe more specific to be use this expression.

China Visa Services-The Beginning of Easier and Better Life.

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ashley_fei

Joined: Jun 19th, 2009
Posts: 74

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: ashley_fei on Feb 4, 2010 10:23pm

The registration of temporary residence permit is a small paper which you get from the local police station or hotel.when you rent a house, you should go to the police station to register the housing, and the landlord must be with you for the first time.

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Laowai9822

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2010
Posts: 4

Re: An American staying here in China with my Hong Kong ...

Posted by: Laowai9822 on Feb 5, 2010 8:21pm

Thx Ashley....I appreciate the information. I guess I will just have my wife come with me to the police station. We are staying here at her factory, so I guess she is my landlord