Getting a visa to go to China

Hi there,

There is a chance I might need to go to China in the new year because of work & need to find out if I would need to get the visa here in Germany as thats where I live, or in the UK as thats where I'm from & thats where the company I work for are based.

If it is from here in Germany any idea where i would have to go & what i would need to take!
also guessing I might have to get one of those Freizügigkeitsgenehmigung things as all I have to show I live here is the form I got when I registered where I live!

Any advice would be appreciated.

If you are going for work then your company should take care of it. If you are a freelancer you need to get a written invitation from the company you are going to be working for in China.

Then off to the Chinese Consulate you should go.

I'ld knock you up one on the back of a fag packet but my Chinese caligraphy looks like, well, unreadable.

Related topic: Chinese visa applications at the Munich consulate

thanks for that Hams

I just found:

So i guess its off to the consulate here, just need to figure out if i can go to the one in Hamburg or if i have to go to Berlin.

But then again as i don't have a freizügigkeitsgenehmigung it might be easier in blighty!

If it helps, I believe my husband (a german citizen) got his in Munich (where we live) when he went on business to China. So you probably don't have to go to Berlin.

I went to China in June, and it was super easy to get the visa, and I did it here in Munich, and I am not even German.

Just get the info from your nearest Consulate/Embassy, and Bob's your uncle.

I know nothing about Chinese visa's, but normally in these types of countries there are different types of visa's, most likely one for tourists and one for people going there for work. Normally the work ones are a lot harder to get.

For a work visa to China, the sponsoring company needs to provide a letter. For a tourist visa (which I received in 1999 by the Embassy in London) the requirements can be found on the link in the thread provided.

The Chinese consulate in Germany in theory only issues visa to German citizens, a British citizen would have to apply in the UK. However, they will issue visas to UK citizens living in Germany who can prove they are domiciled here. This is one of the ocassions you need the replacements for the old Aufenhaltsgenehmigung, put a photocopy in with the application.

Get your firm to do it by post with a visa agency.
Note: You MUST have at least one TOTALLY blank page in your passport for the visa.

Me and another poster have been to China for business so ask away if you have any questions.

I made a visit to China (Bejing) a few years ago (2002 I think). I got a letter from our
company office in Bejing purporting to invite me there (heaven knows what they
actually wrote) and along I went to the Chinese consulate in Hamburg and
about a week later had my visa (I'n British & I dont recall them asking for proof
that I was resident in Germany...)

thanks for that.

Yeah the company I work for will sort out the invitation letters etc so i guess then i can just trundle off to the consulate in Hamburg which is good news!

the Consulate in Munich charges more for non-German citizens to get visas for china than it does for Germans. Also, if the company is paying for the visa, you might want to think about getting a multiple entry visa, just in case you need to go there a few times a year.

@Monkstown

When I applied for a multiple entry visa this year they didn't ask to look at my Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Maybe I was looking particularly germanic on the day.

Ahhh it was just on the paperwork, maybe you don't need it in reality?
But time was tight and i couldn't have had it get rejected.

If you get any time off, recommend the Lonely Planet.

I don't know if there are any of you who are not permanent residents here in Germany and have managed to obtain a Chinese visa through a Chinese Embassy here in Germany? I come from Australia and am trying desperatley to obtain a visa to China, but the embassies here all stated that I needed to be a resident here, or go though an australian embassy! So I phoned australia, two different embassies, and sent an email to the main one, and they all said that I SHOULD be able to obtain a visa here in germany, just have to pay a bit more, that's all. Somewhat fustrated and confused. Is there anyone out there with some good advice?

Cheers
Kamp

Topics merged by admin

Kamp,

I had to prove I was resident to get the Chinese visa here in München. They insisted on some bit of green paper from some government registration thingy, so I suspect that is pretty much the rule as I was turned away the first time when I didnt have such a thing.

Jono

Why don't you just go to the Australian Embassy? You're already in Berlin, it's probably just around the corner from you.

not currently in berlin, now in Nürnberg, otherwise I would. Perhaps I can see if there is a Aussie Embassy in Nürnberg, but I doubt it. However one can always try.

My travel agent says she won't book me any flights to China because 50% of Visas are getting rejected at the moment, and to even apply you need to show the booked flights, invitations, hotel bookings etc.

Admittedly I am fairly "short notice" 'cos wanna go on the 7th June for 10 days on business but that is still 2 weeks from now.

I am shocked. Can't help feeling the travel agent is talking bollox, but obviously stopping me booking any flights.

Why don't you book your flight on-line JE?? Then you can sort out the visa etc the other way... but don't have to worry about the flights...

Hey - I was looking to book the flights online actually - just her indoors wanted to also check with the travel agents and now got all this fuss back. I don't wanna book a flight anywhere if they ain't gonna let me in :-)

But made a quick call and the story is basically:

Business Visas have been tightened up recently. You now need an official governemnt "Visa Notification Letter" issued from Chinese Government with a stamp and serial (probably to cut down on knock off versions!!!) - not just a mickey mouse invite letter which was enough in the past. Then just the regular proof of flights and hotels. So sounds OK.

Talk to the Chinese Consulate and ignore the travel agent. I fly into Hong Kong and springboard into China on business... no Visa. Must be something to do with my passport, but my guess is you have the same one as me (although you are from Esher, so that could count as different... you foreigner). The travel agent also told me I needed a Visa until I talked to the Chinese Consulate and they said, "Oh! You're not German? You're a United Kingdom Passport holder?... and would you like to put your head between my rather small but perfectly formed titties and go 'blubble-blubble-blubble?" Time for Tiffin, methought.

Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests & requires...

Yeah, I think you can sneak in thru Hong Kong pretty easily as well. Will probably be my first stop on this little jaunt.

Sounds a bit of a drama at the moment. Getting an invite letter DIRECT from the Chinese government is the problem. Normally you just need a crappy invite letter from any supplier but this is no longer enough and they reckon it will stay like this until after the Olympics. I am suitably unimpressed at the moment, and unable to book anything.

Here is the link for the form I had to fill out when I went to China (sorry in German)
http://www.business-visum.de/pdf/china.pdf

When pepper? It's all changed just in the last few weeks - that is the issue. Old system was easy.

Ahggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dammit. Just got the official kosher invite from the Chinese Government 5 mins ago.

But how the hell can I book flights, and hotels, and get to the Embassy in the next 5 hours? And I cannot fly Tuesday 'cos then I miss the trade show.

Bugger, bollox, bum.

i was in the same situation last month. they tightened the requirements for business visas and yes you need a personal signed letter from a chinese ministry to apply. unfortunately, my "old" invitation letter was not sufficent and i spent two weeks waiting for the official new letter. of course it came to late, so i simply applied for the tourist visa and took a chance flying into Beijing. not the best option, but they didn't even look twice even though it was only for three days and i came with laptop and a small suitcase in tow. it is an option, but do this at your own risk! i have the feeling that they may crackdown a bit more as the olympics near.

Problem now, is even a crappy tourist Visa needs an application direct at the Embassy. I have the proper documents, but just out of time. Monday is too late for me on this gig.

I didn't wanna risk going in on a tourist Visa 'cos on the 1% chance they catch me, and get chopsy, I really don't wanna risk getting banned for 5 or 10 years or whatever. That could bite me in the
arse later. Still maybe all for the best etc. Fate dictated I was not gonna go this time.