Tourist Visa

[steadfast7]

Hi,

I'd appreciate some help getting an answer to a question I can't find anywhere on the web:

How many times can you consecutively enter China on a tourist-L within a one year period?

In other words, is it possible to stay long term in China doing visa runs every three months, or will you disallowed from re-entering after a certain number of L-visits ?

thanks.

[dumdumdum]

you get a one time entry visa you go in and out one time, you get a multiple entry visa you go in and out multiple times. of cos price for application would be different too. and for china, you might have to state your reasons when applying for multiple entry. works the same way for most countries fyi. as for L visa, its usually one time.

[roddy]

That's not what he's asking.

There's no 'you can only have X L visas in a row' rule, and I haven't heard of anyone having problems. It's not impossible that some official may look at your history and decide something doesn't add up, but as I say - haven't heard of it happening. Yet.

[steadfast7]

Thanks Roddy.

So theoretically speaking, then, a person could live in China long term on tourist visas alone if they're willing to go through the hassle and expense of doing visa runs every 1-2 months.

[dumdumdum]

oh... ok no limits as long as you leave in time, never break any local laws etc. meaning (in extreme cases) if your visa expires today, you can go HK/SK/JP this morning, get a new visa (if they are efficient enough to issue) and you can go back into china this evening. if you break the law, from minor offenses like traffic rules, or anything undesirable in govt standards like 'pro xxx independence', then they can play with you if they want to.

X to L shouldnt be a problem. L to X you will need school documents, anything to F you will need invitation letter or employment letter or any releveant documents.

[roddy]

Theoretically yes. Three month tourist visas are apparently available in HK if you go through an agency (don't think they're available directly). Thailand I think you can get two 90 day entries, so you could do three months, then take a trip somewhere of your choice and come back for the second ninety days, etc. You can also usually extend a tourist visa twice in country, for a month each time, so that could give you five months on a single trip abroad.

X to L shouldnt be a problem. L to X you will need school documents, anything to F you will need invitation letter or employment letter or any releveant documents.

Nobody's asking about that.

[dumdumdum]

i usually do it on my own in HK. the only place i knew that is not available to individuals was japan, have to go through an angency and cost about 300bucks at least. but i'm not sure if they changed it after the china-japan tourism agreement couple yrs back.