hey bros..

i am heading towards China in late Aug..
Does anyone know of the visa requirements these days? Are they issuing visa's at the boarder or was it like pre olympics where they were turning people away?

thanks

Hey Bro. You should be able to get a China visa. However, I think it would be best if you obtain your visa before you travel just in case.

Last year at the Olympics, the China government were still issuing visa but only for double entries. Only after the sports event, did the government allow the application for one/three year multiple entry visas.

it also depends on your type of passport.  If memory serves me correctly - inorder to get a 1/3year multiple entry visa u must have had a 6month visa before, otherwise you'll need to get that first.  Prices will vary depending on which country passport u hold also.

Where are you from?  The answer depends entirely on your passport.  

BTW - ironically - during the Olympics the only way I could get a visa was AT the border!!  Couldn't get a multiple entry, but they were issuing single-entries OK.  Go figure ...

Best is to call a HK travel agent and get the latest info and rates.  Generally they know what to do and are very reliable,
A travel agent is a bit less risky than simply arriving and going to the border yourself, but you pay a small extra for the service.

if you are travelling to the Mainland through HK from Australia, then you can easily get a China visa in a single day in HK (no forms to fill out, just have a passport sized photo and some dollars). However if you have the time, i'd recommend you apply for one in Australia soon, and have it before you leave. it will take perhaps 10days from application to delivery of a China visa in Australia.

you can go to china travel and pick up a visa there, but it takes 5 working days.  i hear there are shenzhen single entry visas now that are cheaper than the general china ones.  i think you pick those up at the border and they're instant

I understand there are now more restrictions for foreigners to enter prior to the Oct 1st national day.
Suggest you go through your travel agent to verify.

My visa experiences are this:

Don't wait until you get there and hope to get a visa, you might find that for whatever reason they don't issue you one, or it could take a while longer than you want.

If you have never had a visa before, it is likely that you will only get a single visit visa.  The guy who does my visa stuff here in Canada has even said that if you don't have an existing visa in your passport now, you might end up starting over.  Plan accordingly.

If you have previous Visas, you should be able to get a multiple 6 month, and then a multiple 1 year after that if you are a really good boy and come from a country they like.  

Get the visa in your home country, it will assure you that you can get in (of course, they may revoke all Visas, or just turn you away anyway, you never know).  Waiting until you get there at this point is a pretty big risk.

what canuck says is right on the dot i cannot explain the pain i've gone through trying to get one of those last minutes visa's to Shenzen from HK...let me tell you it was not FUN...in hind sight i should have just applied for the visa at home and not risked it

i remember last year i got a visa to china in melb (where i am from)...
Due to the olympics this was a very painful experience.. they wanted to see my itinerary, accommodation booking and ticket. I had to apply twice as the first time i wasnt aware of the new changes.
The old consulate in melbourne was an outdoor shack, which we had to line up for over an hour to get out visa's processed. The consulate opens from 9am to 12 noon (in al 3 hours) and i had to lineup outside in the cold as its in winter (under 10 degrees).
I do not really want to go through the same experience again, so i was hoping they would revert the visa requirements back to what it was post olympics... which means i can get the visa at the border.
Anyway bros' thanks for your replies.. i think i am heading to the consulate again on monday..
The things we do for a little fun..

Good luck bro

Yes if I remember when I got my 3 year multiple entry visa last year in November, they wanted to see flight tickets and hotel accommodation proof. However, I got my company travel agent to sort that stuff in order for my application to be successful.

Dude..

I'm also from Melbourne. This is how I do it.

1. The Chinese consulate is on Irvine Street, Toorak. They open every weekday 9-12, but go there early as there can be long queues. When I arrive I go to the office grab an application form and jump in the queue. Fill out the form while lining up. When applying, there's the express option for i think from memory extra $30(depending how many entries, single or multiple - whatever suits your purpose of visiting china) which will be ready overnight, or the normal option which takes approx 3-5 working days.

2. At LoWu, after hong kong immigration and before Chinese immigration. Go up stairs to the visa area and fill out an application and pay 160RMB for single 5-day entry into Shenzhen. This process usually takes me 10 mins (depending how busy they are). First time may take a little longer as they take your photo etc. 2nd time is alot quicker. I usually use this option, as i CBF lining up for 2 hours at the consulate in Melbourne.

Now that the Olympics are over they are more lenient on travellers/mongerers... No need to show proof of accommodation, airticket etc.

Thanks for the info dude..
I do prefer the second option as that is my normal course of action. however i am unsure as to whether there has been any changes due to theOct celebrations.
Also i think the chinese consulate moved around the corner from Irving st.
apparently u can sit down and no loner have to line up.

[ Last edited by  cnf at 1-8-2009 01:46 ]

i'm not too sure but i think you can get business one on the spot at like the hung hom train station. or do they not accept it anymore?
I also know that some hotels will help you do it if you're staying with them.
Or another option is going to wanchai ( Visa office of ministry of foreign affirs of china)
their add is ( 7th Flr, low block, china resources building in wan chai, hk island)
it's usually quicker here as i was told from a friend but he also mentioned abt getting there early

last week I went to china with my cousin who didn't have a visa. just go to the visa office at china/macau border.
it takes 15 minutes to get the visa,from macau it's a single entry for 3 days in zhuhai region only

the price is 160rmb for most of the country. however there is a list of countries with different price. hope you are not american cos for us passport the visa price is 970rmb, uk passport is around 450rmb. i don't know why.

they keep changing the rates depending on who they're angry with.  

when Branson did his lunatic stunt getting Tony Blair to phone the Chinese Premier to allow him to fly his balloon over Chinese Airspace, they immediately placed all sorts of restrictionsand fees for British passports (e.g. not allowed to get visa at the border only in HK centre, higher price, fewer entries, etc.).  We all paid for his ego trip for over a year afterwards.

one of my buddies who does a lot of biz in china told me they don't do the 3-yr multiples anymore.  you can only get 1-year multi-entry visas now.  FYI bros

the 1 year multi-entry visa is only provide if requested by a company (subject to china autorization).

you cannot got this visa if you want to go to china for holidays.

check this site out hope it can answer some of the questions
u can even get the form from here as well
http://www.visaforchina.org.uk/visaen/visaView.html?method=index
hopefully this is useful to you guys