| Visa registration issues (help more then welcome!) | |
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| Feb 27, 2008 02:12 |   |
| guest69914 | Question: Hello everybody, I am currently doing an internship in Beijing and hold a 6-month single entry F-Visa. However I was planning to Hongkong when I discovered I should have registered at my local police station, which I did not do. Now I started to search for information and discovered that there is a hefty fine for late registration. The registration certificate is also required to get a re-entry visa here in Beijing (which will allow me to go to HK). Now I have the following questions: If I leave China, and I have never been registered, will there be problems at the border? Will they still charge me a fine or will they allow me to leave the country? If I would leave China for Hongkong and then in HK would apply for a new visa to China would they grant me such on the same conditions as I have received my first visa in the Netherlands (I am dutch/EU citizen), namely with an invitation letter from my hosting company? Could I with this new visa then register myself at the local police station without facing the fine? I will probably fly to Ghuanzhou and then take a train or bus to HK. My Dutch passport should be enough to enter HK, right? Hope somebody can help me out! |
| Feb 27, 2008 02:59 | #1 |
 | Whether or not you registered at your local police station is not something that is checked when you leave the country, so I can't imagine you'll face a fine (or, indeed, any problems at all) when you leave mainland China for Hong Kong. The registration is checked when you apply for a residence permit. Is this what you mean by a 're-entry visa'? Otherwise I don't know what that is. It is possible to get visas for the mainland in Hong Kong, but I honestly don't know about getting an F-visa there. Perhaps get a Chinese friend to take the registration documents down to the local police station (very few foreigners turn up in person) and say something like they're a housing agent and they were asked to help you register but they lost your paperwork and only just found it... Something like that to excuse the lateness of the registration. If your friend is a good salesman, or has guanxi, or if the police are in a good mood, then they might not care very much about it being late. |
| Feb 27, 2008 06:36 | #2 |
| I have had this experience. My school, inexperienced, in these matters did not register me with the local police station or the PSB despite my having asked them if there was more that they should be doing. this was my third year and I seem to remember more paperwork etc. When they did finally go to get my permanent residency permit I was asked to explain why the application was so late and told them that I advised my school that there were more things they were required to do and they should ask someone ( not me) who knew more about these procedures. We all got a rap over the knuckles and my school paid the fine. The fine should be less than Y1000 I know other foreigners who are here on F visas and have never registered with the local police and have never had a problem. A trip to HK for another visa is quite easy. However, wherever possible it is a good idea to do things by the book unless there is better offer. |
| Feb 27, 2008 09:55 | #3 |
| I don't think the fact it is an F visa makes any difference. All foreigners are required to be registered with the local police within 24 hours in a city, 72 hours in a rural area. On my reading of the regulations, it is not the foreigner's responsibility, but that of the person or organisation you spend the night(s) with. Foreigner approved hotels do it and so should your employer when it arranges accommodation. If you stay in private accommodation the householder should register you. On one occasion, only 2 years ago, my details were recorded on an overnight train trip. |
| Feb 27, 2008 23:31 | #4 |
| They recently changed the Chinese entry forms (the one you fill in at the border) to include a departure attachment which you keep for when you leave. It clearly states on the back of this that all foreigners must register at their local Police station if not staying in an approved hotel. However, although you are supposed to register within 72 hours of arrival, what you can do is turn up at any time, and say that between your arrival and now, you have been travelling around, staying in approved hotels. Explain that you now plan to live in private accommodation, and need a temporary residents permit. I've done this a couple of times with no problems at all. |
| Feb 28, 2008 04:18 | #5 |
| Yes, if you didn't register before, you can simply pretend to arrive at the place the local police station in charge right now. Anyway, the local police takes care only the whole place they are responsible for. And there are more than 100 police stations in Beijing only!!! If you travel from city to city, from district to district, from one apartment to another apartment, from one hotel to another one..., they will not ask for the previous registration forms. It's BEYOND their rights. But PSB can grant such rights later if they wish to tighten the policy again. Anyway, at present, the previous registration forms are out of the business of the local police. |
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