Requirements for a D Visa

Requirements for a D Visa
Feb 12, 2008 20:23
TOMSPENCER Points: Join Date: Feb 8, 2005 Status: offline	I'm from the UK, have been living and working in China for the last 3 years, and just recently got married. My wife is Chinese and has no particular interest in living in the UK, so it seems probable that I'm going to be settling down here in China. I understand that I need to have been resident in China for 5 years before I can apply for a permanent (D) visa, but beyond that I don't know much about how to get permanent residency. I suppose it would help my application if I submit my marriage certificate, but we were planning on sending this back to the GRO in the UK. The GRO will issue only a photocopy of the marriage certificate, and will not return the original. So before I go and send off my marriage certificate I have a question - will the Chinese authorities require my ORIGINAL marriage certificate, or will a photocopy suffice?

Feb 12, 2008 20:23

TOMSPENCER
Points:
Join Date: Feb 8, 2005
Status: offline

I'm from the UK, have been living and working in China for the last 3 years, and just recently got married. My wife is Chinese and has no particular interest in living in the UK, so it seems probable that I'm going to be settling down here in China.

I understand that I need to have been resident in China for 5 years before I can apply for a permanent (D) visa, but beyond that I don't know much about how to get permanent residency. I suppose it would help my application if I submit my marriage certificate, but we were planning on sending this back to the GRO in the UK. The GRO will issue only a photocopy of the marriage certificate, and will not return the original.

So before I go and send off my marriage certificate I have a question - will the Chinese authorities require my ORIGINAL marriage certificate, or will a photocopy suffice?

Feb 15, 2008 12:26

APAULT
Points:
Join Date: Mar 11, 2006
Status: Offline

First check out the threads started by JimmyB in the Visa forum. He copied the rquirements from a government website. However if you check other threads, the general opinion is that it is VERY difficult to get permanent residency. As I recall it, there is some catch-all clause that puts it at the discretion of the government and they only use that discretion positively if you have put LOTSA money into the country.

Feb 17, 2008 19:49

TOMSPENCER
Points:
Join Date: Feb 8, 2005
Status: Offline

Thanks, I'd seen JimmyB's post and searched this forum (and quite a lot of the rest of the web) for more specifics on D visas.

There's always plenty of info on Z and L visas, but desparately little about D visas. I'm starting to reach the same conclusion as you - that they are incredibly difficult to get. Actually they seem to be mostly aimed at Overseas Chinese who are looking to be re-patriated.

I remember seeing something on CCTV last year (or maybe the year before) that featured foreigners actually getting Chinese citizenship! There were only a handful of such people and they had either lived in China for decades or had invested millions into the economy. They also, of course, had to renounce their former nationalities. These people, though, got Chinese ID cards, rather than D visas.

I don't really want to give up my British passport just yet, and the idea of getting a permanent visa seems very sensible. I had hoped there would be a source of definitive information on this, somewhere. However, it could well be (as you suggest) that the matter is determined more by the judgement and discretion of the authorities than merely by the filling in of forms.

Feb 18, 2008 08:34	#3
APAULT Points: Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Status: Offline	Yes I saw that TV program too. Try the expat sites as there should be more people in this situation.

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