Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or something else?

Posted Jan 25, 2011 4:32am by Bramlow

Joined: Jan 25th, 2011
Posts: 4

So I'm planning to be in China from March until July. I'll be studying Chinese at a private school and generally chilling out in Beijing, until I start work back in Europe in August.

What I don't yet know is how I should approach visas. What do I do in this situation?

It seems I have the following options:

1. Get an L-Visa. Aim for 3 months. Extend once this is over.

2. Get an X-Visa, and just leave before the 6 months if expired.

3. Get an F-visa, enabling a 5-month stay without renewal.

Which of these is the best approach, and are there any other issues I should be aware of?

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Frankvinus

Joined: Sep 8th, 2010
Posts: 117

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: Frankvinus on Jan 25, 2011 9:14am

hi,
F visa will be better.
If you can get X visa,will be best

Frank
Visa solutions in China
E-mail:Frank.0601@yahoo.com

ashley_fei

Joined: Jun 19th, 2009
Posts: 92

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: ashley_fei on Jan 25, 2011 11:08am

Hi There
According to your situation ,there are two solutions for you
- getting L visa,and when you come to China ,you can roll in a school,the school can help you to get X visa(student visa).
- Getting Business invitation letter. you can find a visa company in China to help you get this letter.and it wont cost you a lot. you can get one month F in the country you are living now,when you arrivce here,you can extend F visa for 3 or better for 6months.
For the time beijing, F visa is better than X visa, it is quite easy to renew F and it only takes 5 working days to extend F.

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Winnie Yu

Joined: May 31st, 2010
Posts: 47

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: Winnie Yu on Jan 25, 2011 12:00pm

hi,there

Just as ashley said, the L OR F visa is easy to convert or extend.

1, the L visa can be extended for twice and you'll get 30 days each time. and also it can be converted to F or X visa.

2, if you get a F visa with an invitation letter, it can be extended for 3 or 6 months without leaving China, and the time is suitable for you.

good luck!

Winnie Yu
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zingermeal

Joined: Mar 3rd, 2009
Posts: 18

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: zingermeal on Jan 25, 2011 1:26pm

ashley_fei wrote:

you can get one month F in the country you are living now,when you arrivce here,you can extend F visa for 3 or better for 6months.
For the time beijing, F visa is better than X visa, it is quite easy to renew F and it only takes 5 working days to extend F.

Winnie Yu wrote:

2, if you get a F visa with an invitation letter, it can be extended for 3 or 6 months without leaving China

After getting the F visa, can you just go to the Entry-Exit Office to extend it for 3 or 6 months?

Winnie Yu

Joined: May 31st, 2010
Posts: 47

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: Winnie Yu on Jan 25, 2011 1:31pm

After getting the F visa, can you just go to the Entry-Exit Office to extend it for 3 or 6 months?

hello, may I know your nationality?

we can extend the F visa for 3 months for most of the countries now.

and after the spring festival, the policies will be better.

Winnie Yu
Office No.:58156222-122
Mobile: 15811386720
Email: wdxyj2005@163.com
Msn: wdxyj2005@live.cn
QQ:524848614
wonderful life in Beijing~~~~~

mreiting

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2006
Posts: 31

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: mreiting on Jan 25, 2011 2:35pm

If I were you, I would ask the school if they can give you an x visa. This should be valid until your course is up. If you want to stay in Beijing longer after your x visa is up, I recommend going to Hong Kong for 5 days to check out the sites and while you are there apply for a tourist ( visa to come back to China. Why not see as much of China as you can???

Come on an L visa and convert it to a F visa. But it seems like it's a lot more work

Good luck

Bramlow

Joined: Jan 25th, 2011
Posts: 4

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: Bramlow on Jan 29, 2011 10:37pm

Thanks for the responses. It sounds like using the schools for help is worth doing - an F or X visa would be a lot less hassle.

tufsoft

Joined: Feb 3rd, 2006
Posts: 363

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: tufsoft on Jan 31, 2011 3:38am

The school might very well do a 6 month X for you so you can stay a while at the end of the course, I remember BLCU did that for me (but that was years ago).

Not all schools can do them, but if they can it will likely be a lot cheaper than the F, also if you decide to stay in China a year's X visas should qualify you to buy an apartment, which F visas wouldn't do.

bjleeo

Joined: May 10th, 2006
Posts: 8

Re: Where to start for 5 months in China? L visa or ...

Posted by: bjleeo on Feb 9, 2011 11:54pm

it is totally 4 months from March until July, so the best option is to get a L visa in the chinese embassy or consulate in your country, then come to China with the L visa(usually the duration is 30 days, depends on the nationality and the decision of the chinese consulate or embassy). Just right before the duration of the L visa ends, change this L visa to a 3-month F is in Beijing.The total stay duration is 4 months ( one month on the original L visa, and three months on the converted F visa).As Far as I know, if you stay chinese at a private language school, it is hard to get a X visa.

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