F renewal - some options
- Joined: Sep 13th, 2009
- Posts: 11
Here's my situation.
I used "That's China" visa agency to convert an L visa to a multiple-entry F visa with no length restrictions in May 2010. Paid about 4000 RMB. I'm freelance, so I don't have a company that can provide me a letter to apply on my own, hence using the agency. At the time I got this visa, the cost to renew (as opposed to converting, which I did) an F visa at "That's China" was 1,600 RMB.
My visa expires next month, so I called "That's China" to ask about renewal. They said it's impossible right now due to government rule changes. They said call back on Nov 15, when the rules may have changed. This is cutting it very close to my visa expiry date. I also have to allow for the possibility that the rules won't change on Nov 15 and I'll be f***ed.
So, anyone else in this situation? What are the options?
A) Wait until Nov 15, hope for the best.
B) Is it possible to go to Hong Kong and get an F visa renewed (with an agency that can supply an invitation letter? Again, I don't work for anyone that can provide me one).
Any other ideas?
crystal927
Re: F renewal - some options
if you need,maybe i can offer some help,please check your message
if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927
rox-nic
Re: F renewal - some options
In case anyone is following this thread, I decided to go to Sinovisa (crystal927 from the 2nd post). They said they can get me a 3 month extension of the F visa. I should have it in 7-10 days, we will see what happens. They didn't ask for any money up front, which I find encouraging.
mysyki
Re: F renewal - some options
I just got a F visa renewal from Traderslink, 6 months multi, in 2 weeks. It all depends on your nationality.
mysyki
Re: F renewal - some options
I got my visa from the Jingguang京广中心 bldg 33rd floor traderslink..it seems there are many of them..........in this city. And cannot guarantee the others are legitimate although they use similar names in order to confuse people....This one has a real office and a real company behind it. Not just doing business in a KFC or McDonald around the corner. I am not their advertising agent but just have used their business services for quite some years by now without any problems.
rox-nic
Re: F renewal - some options
Follow-up on my initial post:
So, I'm in the process of getting my visa done by Sinovisa. Things have gone smoothly so far, but I don't have the visa yet.
If anyone wants details, send me a private message.
xiaomaomao
Re: F renewal - some options
Don't trust crystal927. I can't believe she's still on here.
Low prices. They screwed me royally last year. They gave me doc so I could go to HK and extend f visa. Whole deal - about 1300. Get to HK, it's the wrong form. I had to get an L visa to get back in and that wasn't easy. I was grilled by the people in HK.
Go back to company and tell them. They then say they can change it to an f visa, but it will cost 5000. They refused to acknowledge their 'mistake.' The laoban even then went to far as to call my passport and clean criminal record into question. I went to That's China, who confirmed that the form was definitely fake/not the correct one and that that particular agency shafts people on a regular basis.
Their little stunt cost me the rest of my savings, meaning I couldn't fly home for a family emergency. Ta crystal927.
"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci
crystal927
Re: F renewal - some options
haha good advertising,thank you very much
if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927
Niu Bi
Re: F renewal - some options
No. It's negative publicity. There's a difference.
xiaomaomao
Re: F renewal - some options
Ha ha.
Yeah, and don't even try to defend yourself Crystal927 or anything, just try to make a witty comment that falls flat on its face...
I guess it's because you think all laowai are rich and can afford to be shafted out of the cost of a flight home on a regular basis?
"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci
chaofan
Re: F renewal - some options
Hey, did you have a good experience with "That's China"? I need my F visa extended and I am having a hard time finding someone to do it this time for some reason.
A friend just told me about That's China, anyone use them for a visa before? I heard they have good price and are legit.
anyone who can help thanks.
wave
Re: F renewal - some options
What a response. But the cash still keeps coming in doesn't it crystal, so there's nothing for you to worry about, right?!
Sometimes the same is different, but mostly, it's the same.
rox-nic
Re: F renewal - some options
@chaofan: I've used That's China before and they were very professional. The problem, last time I checked, is that there's been a re-staffing at the Public Security Bureau recently. This has left all the different agencies scrambling to establish new "relationships" with people at the bureau.
When I spoke with That's China in late October, they weren't able to do any F visas at all.
@everyone else in the thread. I understand you may have had a negative experience with Crystal927/Sinovisa in the past. For my part, they've promised me the visa will be completed on Wednesday Nov 17. I will post back on the forum to let everyone know what happened.
crystal927
Re: F renewal - some options
today a friend of mine reminded me of this post,actually i dont know what to say cos if i defend myself,some of you think i just make excuses.
i have a lot of foreign friends from this forum and keep a good relationship with them since i have been working in this field almost 2 years.so the best way for me is to tell you the whole story about xiaomaomao.
last year,xiaomaomao came to me and asked for F invitation letter(she wanted to go to hk to apply for it).there were two kinds of it,the cheap one(from chaoyang district) and a little expensive one(from beijing commercial bureau),she choose the cheaper one(she didint want to spent much money,but the cheaper one didnt work as the expensive one and i told her in advance)when she was in hk,she called me that she failed to get F visa and she needed more papers.i told her i could offer all the papers she asked ,but xiaomaomao didnt know what should provided to hk officers.
then she came to my office with three men(maybe her friends) and threaten me to post some bad notes if i could not give the money back.my boss promised to give her a discount cos it caused her inconvenience.but she refused.
in the next few days,i tried to contact her through email and message,but still no word.
it is the whole story.everyone has his own point of view.
i try my best to offer my help.maybe it is less than satisfactory to everybody.
so this is all i have to say(the first time i post a lot of word)Although a year's time has passed,again i express my apology to xiaomaomao.
hope you could understand.
thanks for all of you.
if you have any visa problem,just contact me ,i will try my best to help you
e-mail:crystal86927@126.com
phone:13466794927
chaofan
Re: F renewal - some options
Can anyone do a F visa extension at the end of this month? I need to get my F visa extended and I am looking for those who can do it this month.
xiaomaomao
Re: F renewal - some options
Lie. You never told me. You know that. You said you didn't have time to get it and I was looking elsewhere. When you thought you might lose business, you decided to pull this stunt. Don't try to make out I was to blame here ok. You never said at any point that it would not work. Never. Don't try to make out that I was willing to put myself at risk for a few hundred kuai. You only ever quoted me one price. You ignored me in Hong Kong. Don't try and make out I didn't know what to do in the consulate and got myself into that mess.
I came to your office with a friend who was visiting from the UK, who I wasn't going to leave in my apartment, and my boyfriend. I came with 2 friends (of course they were my friends, I didn't rent some intimidating laowais). You know it wasn't for intimidation. Neither are beef cakes. Your boss would only see me on my own. Your boss refused to speak to me even though I speak Chinese and inanely used you as a translator. You never, the pair of you, never ever ever said the form was not a proper form. You blamed it on my passport.
Obviously out of anger, and rightly so, I said I would let people on the beijinger forum know what had happened.
Your boss offered to do it for 5000. I had originally expected to pay 1300. And seeing as your BOSS wouldn't admit your mistake, or even apologise, there was no way I was going to pay the extra money to you. I was suspicious. Who was to say that you hadn't done this to other people? If it was offered for 1300, then fine I would have done it, but you were asking me to pay 4 times the price. I don't remember you contacting me afterwards either, neither does my account on here or my hotmail inbox.
Basically you guys made a mistake and it screwed me out of a shed load of money. Never once did you say, before or after, that the form didn't work because you got it from the Chaoyang bureau. If you had told me, there is no way in hell I would have risked going to HK and doing that. No way, I'm not a moron.
But anyway, finally after a year you have admitted that you got a form from the Chaoyang bureau on the off chance that it might work. You know very well you never told me and you never admitted to it afterwards. Never. You kept insisting it was the correct form. Pfft!
Anyway, expats: Use this service if you want, but just beware. Sure I don't think they do this all the time and maybe I'm the only one. But basically because someone didn't want to lose face, I lost a lot of money.
"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci
xiaomaomao
Re: F renewal - some options
So yes, just to clarify, they never offered me a cheap, dodgy option or a 'little more expensive' solid option. I was just told, 'This form is 400 kuai.'
I was never told that due to the short amount of time that the form they were getting might not work. Never. They just said tehy couldn't get the form because there was not time, and then suddenly, it was ok, they were able to get one! Hoorah! There is no way I would have risked getting stranded in HK for a few hundred kuai.
"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci
wave
Re: F renewal - some options
So crystal, why would you offer the cheaper option if you knew it wasn't going to work, and you had told her this in advance.
Why would anyone choose it knowing it might not work(and being told it wouldn't by you), spend the money to get to HK, lose money from not being at work and all the other expenses of the trip.
It would be a bit like betting on a three legged rocking horse in the Melbourne Cup wouldn't it?!
Either xiaomaomao's an complete idjut, or there's shenanigans being played out.
I'm calling shenanigans on this one.
Sometimes the same is different, but mostly, it's the same.
Winnie Yu
Re: F renewal - some options
I just got a news about the F visa extension, our company can provide the 3 months F visa extension for the developed countries.
where are you from?
if you have any questions, just call me
best regards
Winnie Yu
Office No.:58156222-122
Mobile: 15811386720
Email: wdxyj2005@163.com
Msn: wdxyj2005@live.cn
QQ:524848614
wonderful life in Beijing~~~~~
Smallville
Re: F renewal - some options
@ ALL
Well, I haven't posted in the forum for sometime, but I guess it wouldn't hurt if I do
We're here to kinda help each other somehow with info and experience anyway.
First half, I'm not here to defend crystal927 with regards to her problem with xiamaomao. However, my story with her and their service was different as some of you must have read before. Mine went well 5 months ago and I found her rather professional and friendly.
Bottom line, I'd consider her as one of those reliable agents here, and I'm sure there are some or a few more. At the moment, my recommendation still goes for her and her company.
I'd probably be doing an extension next month, so I'd keep you all posted again when I do.
@chaofan
I used sinovisa through crystal9267 before as you remember and I might avail of their service again next month when I decide to extend my visa. Let us know how things go for you.
Cheers!
chaofan
Re: F renewal - some options
I did ask her but she said she could only do three months and I am looking for 6 months. She also gave me a price for three months that was higher than I paid for 6 months extension. Not a very good deal for me.
ilikeyoumd
Re: F renewal - some options
oh crystal you becomes a hot fingures. =D> sh*t
you should gave me a big hug in return for my registration for you.
i renewed my F visa for 3 months through crystal last month.everything is fine.i think i will contact her and use her severice again next year.
chaofan
,chinese governmet has no more need of foreigners）
it seems that only 3 months can be issued by PSB recently(f***
what's the bloody hell are they playing at？
xiaomaomao
Re: F renewal - some options
Thanks Crystal927/chinese friend of Crystal927 for registering a new account earlier today to write that comment (your Microsoft Pinyin IME question mark '？' gives you away).
Obviously the gov is just cleaning up and making sure people are here working on valid z visas and paying taxes. They don't want people here working illegally and not paying taxes, just like any other government.
"Who knows what will be remembered of this century in 5,000 years time. It may be Stalin or Islamic fundamentalism or it may just be the stock cube" - Armando Iannucci
wave
Re: F renewal - some options
If your level of written English is anything to go by I'd suggest you shouldn't even have been issued your F visa.
We all make the odd typo and mistake but what the bloody hell are you playing at?
A pathetic multi-ID registration to bolster support.
Sometimes the same is different, but mostly, it's the same.
baiyunma
Re: F renewal - some options
This thread is an interesting one that reveals much about Chinese culture, in particular how it pertains to government relations. It is one you can study in case you need to deal with the Chinese government.
Reading in between the lines, perhaps Crystal's company made a decision to try something out using little cat as the guinea pig. (Interesting in itself, as it is usually the cat that eats rodents and not the other way around).
Lets say for the sake of this case study that there was a profit motive involved. Perhaps they are paying 1,200 for the 1,300 letter, since it comes from a city government level source. They are willing to make only 100 per letter assuming they will make it up on the visa and other fees. Let us now say this newbie working at the district level wants to give himself a raise and will sell a letter at 100. The visa agency is thinking, I can re-sell it at 400 and make 300 per letter instead of 100, and that multiplied over hundreds a year can buy me a trip for two to Paris. OK, it’s a plan, so lets find some silly foreigner to try it out on first (should be a girl, as Chinese think they can’t punch you in the nose if things go wrong).
OK, so off goes the test case to HK. Upon examining the docs, the visa approving people immediately feel insulted. Why? First, they know since the letter was issued from a district level official that you paid too little for it. While it is one thing for a foreigner to pull a fast one over the Chinese government, it is quite another to not pay through the nose while doing so. You are after all, still a foreigner. (Do not feel bad. If you were a Chinese returnee with a foreign passport trying to do the same thing, they would be even madder since these Chinese were the lucky ones to go out and have returned to lord it overt the rest of their people; and demanding lots of money for doing so.)
The second thing is that Chinese pay lots of attention to hierarchy. The best way to get something done in the Chinese government is to have a sponsor at a rank higher than the one you will be requesting something from. Second best is at the same rank. It is not wise to use someone of a lesser rank or from an agency that is lower in ranking. If you were requesting your visa from a district level branch of the PSB (no such thing), the letter from Chaoyang district might have been fine. If your letter comes from a city level government agency, then your request to Beijing city’s PSB for a visa should be sufficient, and so on. It would be very unlikely for a city, especially a SAR level city government, to look favorably on your letter from a Beijing district government agency. They are unhappy you are so stupid about Chinese ways but still want to live there.
OK, life is about learning. Next time you will know better. However, your visa company, being Chinese, should have known these things.
ashley_fei
Re: F renewal - some options
To be honest, Low price does catches eyes. Passport and visa means a lot to foreigners. Renewing F visa and finding a reputable company to extend your visa is very important.
For the time being , my company can extend F visa for three months, but only focuses on foreign friends who had done visa extension in my company before and whose visa is issued abroad.
If you have any questions regarding for visa extension, please feel free to let me know
Regards
katy
The satisfaction we get from a lifetime depend on how high we choose our difficulties.
Tel: 86-10-58156222,ext 111
mobile phone: 13911639570
E-mail:katyfei61@gmail.com
MSN:fei_bfsu@sina.com
katy
rox-nic
Re: F renewal - some options
So, to bring a conclusion to this thread:
I picked up my visa from sinovisa today and registered at the police station without any problems
A single entry, 3 month, F visa cost me 1660 RMB and took 10 working days to process. It also involved a quick trip to the PSB bureau to have my photo taken.
According to Sinovisa, the rules have been relaxed slightly as of Nov 15 and it is now possible to get a multiple entry 6 month F visa for ~4000 RMB.
I'm glad this thread stimulated such a strong response. It seems that some people have had problems with sinovisa before, but as for me, my experience was problem-free.
chaofan
Re: F renewal - some options
So is Sinovisa one of the ones always advertising on here? I am looking for a six month F visa extension but they have all been quoting me outragous prices, almost 5000! 4000 is at least a thousand cheaper.
nanananayeah
Re: F renewal - some options
what nationality passport do u have rox-nic?
Trust me, it's so danger.
rox-nic
Re: F renewal - some options
Canadian. I think the prices for for europeans should be similar, but americans can expect to pay about 1000 RMB more I would think.
By the way, this price differential is in retaliation to the ~$100 "SERVIS" fee that american consulates charge foreigners (including canadians) for visa processing. I think the visa companies explain this as the "government fee" that is separate from their services. For me the government fee was RMB160 (sinovisa fee 1500 + government fee 160 = 1660).