China visa confusion

Informally employed Yankee, go home

This review of the Olympic-induced Chinese visa confusion is by Xiao Mo. You can find a good summary of the new visa rules on One Eyed Panda.

The Olympic period is apparently between July 1 to October 17 this year.

At least this seems to be the case in regards to the visa restrictions placed on foreigners residing in China (not permanent residents). Unless on a stable ‘Z’ work visa, the word on the grapevine is that from July 1 visas issued will only last 30 days. A renewal means leaving the country to obtain another.

Tensions were bubbling around April 17, when the somewhat alarming news appeared from a German news agency, announcing that all foreign students in China will be kicked out of the country during the two months of the Olympics. The Taipei Times then regurgitated this report, quoting the same spokeswoman from Beijing University’s international cooperation department:

China plans to order most foreign students to leave Beijing before the Olympic Games in August, strictly regulate the issuing of business and tourist visas, and deport refugees, sources said yesterday.

Even if you have to continue your studies in September, you need to leave Beijing in July and August,” a spokeswoman for Beijing University said.

The spokeswoman from Beijing University’s international cooperation department said the two-month gap applies to all universities in Beijing and was ordered by “higher authorities” because of the Olympics.

She said all short-term summer courses for foreigners had been canceled this year.

One Western education official estimated that at least 10,000 students could be affected by the order if it applied to the whole country, though some universities outside Beijing said they were unaware of the rule.’

When the Beijing University’s international cooperation department was called up, they denied having made such comments. Spokespeople from other universities with a high number of foreign students, such as the Beijing Foreign Language University and the Central University for Nationalities, refuted this supposed new regulation and expressed incredulity, saying that it was infeasible and impractical for the government to throw out all non-Chinese students. For Beiwai (the Beijing Foreign Language University), there are at least 1,000 long-term and short-term international students.

Then came an announcement from the Ministry of Education at around the end of the working day on April 18, which was briefly translated and quoted on Shanghaiist.com:

Recently, some foreign media say China requires foreign students to leave during the Games. “It completely goes against the facts,” ministry spokesman Wang Xuming said.

After this strange situation with the students, the issue now seems to be an absolute restriction on foreigners in China getting renewals on their visas post July 1. As quoted in recent issues of City Weekend and Time Out, it’s supposedly been confirmed that the ‘F’ (business) visas have not been available since April 15.

Unless through visa agents and “back-street” methods, obtaining an ‘L’ (tourist) visa for foreigners from July 1 will also be difficult.

Students have been told by their teachers not to apply again for an ‘X’ visa after July 1 because they simply will not get one (one student at Education First confirmed this).

Singaporeans also have to apply for a visa upon entry into China, and landing visas in China have been stopped.

A full-time work ‘Z’ visa can be obtained, say some foreigners, but for the price of RMB 5,000 to RMB 8,000 through the black market. However many of the ‘visa service’ companies that used to provide such visas are not currently offering ‘Z’ visas.

The Beijing News (新京报) said this on Friday April 25:

Spokesperson [from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] Jiang Yu said in a press conference when answering questions about why China has tightened its visa policy … “The Chinese will follow Olympic customs, and will provide the peoples coming to China for the Olympics with convenience regarding visas.”

Jiang Yu’s statement is not much use to the alien who has set up home in China.

Nonetheless, perhaps all that’s needed is a long break from China. A ‘visa service’ agent who asked not to be identified said “Don’t worry, after September everything will be back to normal”.

UPDATE: From AP, Tuesday May 6:

China acknowledges tightening of visas

“We have made some arrangements according to usual international practice. That is, in the approval process we are more strict and more serious with the procedure,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

He did not directly link the changes to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics, but said the policies would “be maintained for a period of time.”