Visa For China For More Then 30 Days, Where To Get ?

[rubberduck]

Hello, I am wondering are there still options to get a tourist visa for China that's valid for more then 30 days, e.g. 90 months ? Perhaps somebody here who has experience with this ? (district Kunming) Any useful tips are welcome.

Many thanks!!!!

[krisb]

Ring Chinese embassy perhaps?

[nonthaburial]

Youre stuck between a rock and a hard place. All tourist visas in China are valid for 30 days and single entry. Your best option if you know a company in Kunming, is to get them to write you an official letter requesting you to travel for official business, you then apply for a business visa. These can be for 3 month multi entry, but you still have to leave every 30 days and re-enter. Being in Kunming also doesnt help you as its pretty isolated there. When i lived there I used to fly to Hk or BKK everytime.

Another problem is that the rules change constantly and this could mean that getting any visas are made harder. I think only a marriage/family visa or work permit gives you the right of residence, which leaving every 30 days is not required.

[Tomtomtom69]

Youre stuck between a rock and a hard place. All tourist visas in China are valid for 30 days and single entry. Your best option if you know a company in Kunming, is to get them to write you an official letter requesting you to travel for official business, you then apply for a business visa. These can be for 3 month multi entry, but you still have to leave every 30 days and re-enter. Being in Kunming also doesnt help you as its pretty isolated there. When i lived there I used to fly to Hk or BKK everytime.

Another problem is that the rules change constantly and this could mean that getting any visas are made harder. I think only a marriage/family visa or work permit gives you the right of residence, which leaving every 30 days is not required.

Absolute garbage. Chinese tourist visas obtained in Thailand or other places in the region are 30 days, but those obtained in Australia, America etc. can be valid for 12 months, allowing multiple entries and 60-90 days stay each time (similar to the Thai non-B multiple entry visa).

Business visas can also be multiple entry and valid for up to 12 months - I believe business visas obtained in Thailand may only be valid for 3 months and single entry.

If you are working or a student, you get a 30 day single entry visa that is converted to a multiple entry residence permit within 30 days of entry.

Kunming is not isolated at all. My company is based there and I have lived there for a while - there are cross border bus services that operate daily between Kunming and Luang Prabang and Kunming/Vientiane. Buses also get you to Hekou on the Vietnamese border daily. There are tons of flights from Kunming to Thailand, including non-stop flights to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Surat Thani and Phuket. As you say there also flights to Hong Kong and the good news is that all these places are accessible within a 1-2 hour flight from Kunming.

BTW if you have a 30 day Chinese tourist visa you can extend it in Kunming once for another 30 days, but only apply close to the expiration period as the extension becomes valid on the day you apply, not when your existing visa expires. You may be able to extend a tourist visa a second time, but I have only ever extended once, after which I converted my tourist visa to a residence permit (with the right paperwork of course). I hear that second tourist visa extensions MAY be possible, but not guaranteed - you can always try.

[rubberduck]

Thanks.

[Tomtomtom69]

Just confirmed that second tourist visa applications in Kunming are allowed - in some cases further extensions may be granted but I wouldn't count on it. 2 extensions seems to be straightforward though. This would allow for an almost 90 day stay if timed correctly (depends on when you make the application).