China visa help

maureen59

I need advice please. We are cruising out of Beijing on a cruise. I need to get a visa for this. There are companies out there who will check your visa application, I just need advice on a good company please who can do this. The one that the cruise line has recommended is £300 ish each 😱. Any advice would be appreciated please.

Voyager2002

Either do it all yourself with the embassy or use a well-known agent like Trailfinders.


The issue is not so much checking your application as having to be at the embassy in London at an inconvenient time, unless the agent does it for you.

sentosa

Last time we needed a Visa for China we used Trailfinders and found them to be excellent.
You can use them even if you haven't booked with them although they will charge an extra fee.

NoodleDoodleMan

You can visit the Embassy or a Consulate in person - but it requires two trips, once to submit the completer application (available online) and then to collect the approved, around a 4/5 day turnaround in my experience.

It is a very precise and detailed form that needs completion, four pages if memory serves, and it asks about parents and grandparents. You really need to read it through thoroughly before atteempting to fill it in.

Not a convenient system unless you live near the London Embassy or provincila Consulates.

One crucial thing to remember if you are on a cruise - you'll probably need more than one entry visa if your itineraty takes you out of China's territorial waters from port of departure then back in - we sailed from the port that serves Beijing and called in at Shanghai, hence the double entry visa.

Your cruise line should keep you right on these aspects,

Archergirl

We were thinking of going to China until I saw the new visa rules, China is now off the list which is a shame but there are plenty more places to go. I don't know if they are trying to reduce tourism but it sure is a trial to get one now, not to mention the expense...

koalakoala

Archergirl wrote: »

We were thinking of going to China until I saw the new visa rules, China is now off the list which is a shame but there are plenty more places to go. I don't know if they are trying to reduce tourism but it sure is a trial to get one now, not to mention the expense...

Totally agree. I wouldn 't go back, too much hassle.
I have no idea if it's true but heard it was something to do with the Huawei carryon

Kernow666

Archergirl wrote: »

We were thinking of going to China until I saw the new visa rules, China is now off the list which is a shame but there are plenty more places to go. I don't know if they are trying to reduce tourism but it sure is a trial to get one now, not to mention the expense...

in the same boat as you , I live in cornwall so would be very costly to get to London and back just for a visa


if they ever do an E-Visa I'd be straight on it

nicechap

maureen59 wrote: »

I need advice please. We are cruising out of Beijing on a cruise. I need to get a visa for this. There are companies out there who will check your visa application, I just need advice on a good company please who can do this. The one that the cruise line has recommended is £300 ish each ��. Any advice would be appreciated please.

There may be companies that do this, but at the end of the day you still have to apply and if its wrong, reapply.

I did this recently, its a bit of a faff, applying electronically and in person with itinery and new photos, but you have to have yet another photo taken at the visa place as well as all your fingerprints. A company can't do this bit for you.

Its certainly worth visiting, lots of culture to see & experience and some magnificent geography. I found people very welcoming - I lost count of the number of times people wanted to have their photo taken with me. There was no animosity for our joint past history (e.g.the opium wars or Boxer rebellion) but I did see lots of hatred towards Japan - one shop had a sign saying Japanese not served here.

The big tourist sites are incredibly busy, e.g Forbidden City has up to 80,000 people a day. There is a large and growing middle class in China with money to spend on their leisure time, hence lots of queues.

One of the benefits of the photos is at some of the airports, when you look at the departures board, it recognises you, tells you where your flight leaves from and how long it takes to walk there! They have leapfrogged the west in terms of technology deployment - their TGV trains system is amazing. Every subway and train station has an x-ray machine to check for knives explosives etc. You get used to it very quickly. Shanghai subway is very cheap & easy to use. One big contrast to the UK is lack of street beggars or drunks, we found it felt very safe everywhere we wandered.

Have a great time.

blackshirtuk

https://thetravelvisacompany.co.uk/

I used the above a couple of years ago, they obtained a 2 years multi entry visa for me in around 10 days, for a similar cost to a single entry visa.

Kernow666

blackshirtuk wrote: »

https://thetravelvisacompany.co.uk/

I used the above a couple of years ago, they obtained a 2 years multi entry visa for me in around 10 days, for a similar cost to a single entry visa.

great idea but no good for single travellers as it says 2 or more

Archergirl

Not sure how those places will work now you have to go to the embassy.