amithereyet Posted November 22, 2005 at 12:49 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 at 12:49 PM Hi all, This forum has been great so far, though i still have many questions floating around in my head. I'm an Australian, and i'd like to live in Beijing for a year from about April 2006 onwards. Ideally i'd like to study in small colleges and with tutors for six months, and then perhaps do six months at a university when the september semester starts. The problem with that, from what i can tell, is visas. I'm trying to work out if its possible to exist on tourist visas for six months, and then convert that to a study visa when september comes. What is the likelihood of getting and/or renewing tourist visas to last for six months? By what method.. trips to Hong Kong? Would it be impossible, and/or send me broke? If necessary, though i'd prefer not to, perhaps i will have to come at it from another angle: arrive on a tourist visa, quickly find an english school to teach at that will give me a Z visa and not too many teaching hours, and then learn in my free time. Then convert the Z to an X visa inseptember, or go for a trip to HK and get one. Regardless of the scenario, i'd like to rent a place instead of living in some kind of campus accomodation. Is this possible under any visa (incl tourist visas) as long as i tell the local police when i move in? How would people in the know about visas rate these scenarios? Thanks a million in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kare Posted November 22, 2005 at 01:51 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 at 01:51 PM Why dont you just pay for a one year multiple entry visa. In Sweden the cost is just three times the normal visa fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiahai Posted November 22, 2005 at 08:00 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 at 08:00 PM Hi, I think the most convenient visa is F (business). You can get a multiple entries F visa for 6 or 12 months in many embassies, including HK (I'm sure about 6 months in HK, don't know about 12). You get the visa with no questions asked, especially if you do it through a travel agency. One thing to note, though, is that some universities will require an X visa to accept you, and I don't know about F->X conversion procedures. Turist visa are much harder to extend and as far as I know you get 1 or 2 months at a time for a limited number of times, but as usual in China - you just need to find the right person and you can get any visa extended to any period of time. I once got my own 6 months visa visa extended by exactly 2 months and 10 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snarfer Posted November 22, 2005 at 08:02 PM Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 at 08:02 PM You can get a 90 day tourist visa and extend twice for a total of 5 months, and almost any educational institution can keep your visa current as long as you are enrolled. I would not worry too much about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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