Doing a Visa Run to Hong Kong... Things You Need to Know

I just got back last night, with 60-day extendable visitor visa in hand. And because there isn’t a very clear place that has all the info, I’ve decided to create something. Yes it’s…

Before you go…

:thumbsup: Make sure you have a document proving your reason for being allowed in Taiwan (i.e. work contract, school acceptance letter, or letter of invitation from Taiwan National). I witnessed some poor 80-year-old man who begged and pleaded to be let in, even speaking perfectly fluent Mandarin with the agents, but was still rejected because the only thing he had to go on was that he “loved Taiwan and really wanted to live there again”. Yes, paperwork is absolutely necessary. As someone told me, kill them with lots of paperwork proving why you should be allowed back in. I brought my new work contract, the old work contract, termination letter from old contract, a copy of my degree, two recommendation letters from previous Taiwanese employers, my address in Chinese, tax statements for the previous year… you get the picture. :wink:

:thumbsup: Take your pictures and make photocopies here in Taiwan. You will need 2 passport-sized photos, following the guidelines given by the government for ID pics. It is slightly more expensive in Hong Kong and it’s one more thing you have to worry about. The cost of 8 passport-sized pictures at a photo booth in Taiwan is NT$150. You can get them taken in Hong Kong in the MTR stations for HK$40 (about NT$165). A photocopy from the shop below the travel agency that processes the visas is HK$2 (NT$8.2) per plain A4 sheet versus what you’d pay at a 7-Eleven (NT$2).

:thumbsup: Make sure you keep your disembarkation card from entering Taiwan in your passport. If you have gotten a new one since your last entry, make sure to bring the old one with the card attached. It will save you a lot of headache, trust me. :unamused:

:thumbsup: Make sure you have some money in HK$ before you go, just in case. The cost of the 60-day single entry visa for those with a passport from the US is HK$1120 (NT$4617). The cost of an Octopus card, the equivalent of an Easycard is HK$220 (NT$906) which can be refunded when you have finished using it, if you want to visit some places in Hong Kong. Without it, the cost for taking the MTR ranges between HK$4.50 to $HK16 (NT$19-68) per trip. The cost of the trip from Tsim Sha Tsui/Jordan (central to Kowloon where there are tons of hotels) to Admiralty (where the visa office is) is HK$8.50 without the Octopus card and HK$7.90 with it. The train ticket from the airport to Admiralty will be HK$100 (NT$413).
Meals are anywhere from HK$24 (NT$98) for a light meal at a cafe, from HK$46 (NT$190) for a fast food/chain restaurant meal, and from HK$180 (NT$742) at a sit-down restaurant. The cheapest way to do money exchange is through an ATM and next would be through your hotel if you are staying overnight. There are tons of places, including Western Union, along Nathan Road (close to Chungking Mansions if you choose to stay there) that do money exchange. All of the ones I saw will change Taiwan dollars. Just shop around for the best rate/lowest commission.

:thumbsup: If time is not an issue, get an airline/hotel package. It is much cheaper than trying to book a hotel on your own. You might need that extra day in case things don’t work out smoothly. Avoid the Chungking Mansions unless you are seriously cash-strapped and don’t mind roaches, bedbugs, or feeling unsafe in general. There are decently-priced accommodations to be had, especially if you do a package. Accomodations for most hotels will set you back starting at HK$600 (NT$2473) a night. If you don’t have the funds or luxury of making your visa run an all-out vacation, make sure you book an early morning flight and an evening return. Also expect to pay an additional HK$200 (NT$825) for an express processing at the visa office. Your visa should be ready after 4pm if there are no problems with it.

Okay, now for getting to the visa office (figures will be in HK$ only, if mentioned above)…

You are going to go to the Admiralty MTR Station which is on both the Island Line (blue) and the Central Line (red), near the end of both lines (on the map, the bottom of the red line and the far left of the blue line). If you are going from Tsim Sha Tsui/Jordan station, you will be heading towards Shiang Wan (blue)/Central (red) stations at HK$8.50/HK$7.90. If you are coming directly from the airport on the Airport Express, you will change trains at Central, heading toward Chai Wan on the blue line for one stop (HK$100).

You will go through Exit B on your right when you exit the pay area, walk down a long hallway that ends with the MTR Shop and up the stairs to the left. You’ll exit on the left-hand side. Walk past the bus terminal for Ocean Park, keeping left. Take the first stairs going up to the Lippo Center (89 Queensway, Hong Kong). Not hard to miss…

You will walk right, past the Chiuchow Restaurant and can enter the center near the Print Shop (where you can make photocopies of your documents if you forgot to do so beforehand at HK$2 per A4 page). Take the escalators up to the first floor. There will be a Citic Bank and information desk to your left and a set of stone seats around potted plants to your right (and a set of elevators for Tower Two). Straight ahead, as you come up the escalators will be elevators. Walk past the ones facing the information kiosk (and the rock mural of a dragon flying over Chinese junks) and go to the ones that are labeled 33-45 (on the right-hand side of that little corridor of elevators). You’ll be going to the 40th floor.

When you reach the 40th floor, head to the left from the elevators (you’ll see a sign also pointing to go left for visas and passports). Push the A button on the machine next to the water cooler to get a number for queuing for the visa application. If there’s no one handing you a form, go to the information/pick-up counter to ask for one. You will pay the money, either HK$1120 for a next-day visa or HK$1320 for a same-day application, when you apply. When you pick up your visa slip, go to the first window at your specified time. It’s 11AM for those who rush applied on the previous afternoon. It’s 4PM for those who applied for either a same-day application (only in the morning) or those who applied on the previous day. Please note that while they stay open to 5pm, they only take applications until 3pm.

Congratulations! :bravo:

:hand: But wait, there’s more!

When you arrive back in Taiwan, do not go straight to the lines for immigration. You will need to go to the kiosks at the back for immigration (the one on the left, if you are facing away from the lines) to have them put in the official visa. Then take your passport and shiny new visitor visa through the lines and on your way back to your home in Taiwan.

If you are doing the one-day trip, look at spending about NT$14,500 - NT$7900 for the plane ticket, NT$826 for the MTR ticket (from the airport to Admiralty and back), NT$5442 for a 60-day extendable visitor visa with rush, NT$160 for pictures and to copy five pages (NT$215 if you do this in Hong Kong), and $100+ for a meal while waiting for visa to process (you can go to the mall past the bookstore to the right of the information counter at the Lippo Center where there’s the British chain Prêt à Manger with awesome sandwiches and salads for HK$24 to HK$42 or a Delifrance with meals for similar prices). Or you can do a little sightseeing while you wait.

I hope this helps fill the information void on this topic and helps others avoid the expensive, time-consuming (and at many times, heartbreakingly frustrating) pitfalls I had to deal with. Information, costs, and exchange rates (NT$4.1215=HK$1) are accurate as of July 14th, 2010.

Special thanks to Chris, Okami, Tommy525, jimipresley, citizen k, Maoman, housecat, Ironlady, and StuartCa for your advice and help in my original post on this topic.

ImaniOU, aka Little Miss :stinkyface:

:notworthy:

By the way, when in Hong Kong, I regularly go to a place in Causeway Bay where I get fried noodles for HK$15!

You can also take pictures on the fourth floor in the Lippo center, just remember to bring change :wink:

I have done exactly one (1) "visa run.
It was to Hong Kong.
It consisted of flying there, going through customs and getting the stamp, exiting the area, walking through the turn-styles, going back through customs, getting the stamp, getting back on the airplane (the same one actually - even picked up the same magazine I was reading) and flying back to Kaohsiung.

Why does this seem to be such a confusing thing for so many people?

Because that visa you received, the landing visa, cannot be turned into a resident visa anymore. Things have changed since the olden days, young Tainan Cowboy.

This applies to the visa runs, but wont for visa exempt entries, been on exempt for a year now and haven’t had a problem

By going out and coming back on a landing visa, you reset your continuous residency time to zero, so I understand (please correct me if I’m wrong). So if you’re going for an APRC, it’s not advisable to return on a landing visa.

If you are trying to get a resident visa, the standard ARC or the vaulted APRC, you cannot CANNOT CANNOT convert to it with a landing visa (visa-exempt entry).

thanks for the info man was just curious on visa exempt.

Imaniou,
One Q…do they also ask to see a “returning ticket” (leaving taiwan) print out ? I looked at your post & didnt see it…and looked at the HK taiwan visa office website…didnt see that as a requirment too. Maybe they dont ask for one anymore or should i prepare one just in case?

great write up Imaniou. Hope you get a great new job for yours and your kittys sake.

Thanks, Tommy. They were almost as happy to see me as they were to see the can of tuna I picked up on my way home from the airport.

[quote=“Weig”]Imaniou,
One Q…do they also ask to see a “returning ticket” (leaving taiwan) print out ? I looked at your post & didnt see it…and looked at the HK taiwan visa office website…didnt see that as a requirment too. Maybe they dont ask for one anymore or should i prepare one just in case?[/quote]

I did not have to show them an ongoing ticket because I had a one-year work contract set from August 2010-August 2011. If you want the extendable visa (the kind that will be turned into a resident visa if you are a long-term student or applying for a work permit), you should only need the documents from your school or workplace proving that they are sponsoring you (via work contract or school acceptance letter).

ok…i just got back yesterday …got a Mult. visitor visa good for 3 yrs! :discodance: They did not ask for the “ongoing” ticket…(but they do if your applying in your home country) This was the 1st time getting a visa from HK & i have to say…it went very smoothly & fast! You’re right on 1 thing…get all your paperwork, documents, pictures, etc ready BEFORE you go in…saves tons of time & headache too im sure!

In fact, you can now enter Taiwan on a 30 day landing visa and ‘convert’ it into a resident visa / ARC. You just have to be quick and have your health check ready. This has been the case since 2009.

Heres a link with info:

taiwan-acga2010.ibms.sinica.edu.tw/page/visa.htm

A Landing Visa is not exactly the same as Visa Exempt entry according to the above. And it says , if i read correctly that a LAnding visa (costing usa citizens 1600nt plus 800nt) can NOT be converted to other visa but a Visa Exempt CAN !! IF one is getting a work permit as a white collar worker during the 30 day visa exempt (for USA citizens). If I am reading this correctly. Not soo sure if USA citizens get their visa free (it says refer to point 2) but I dont think so as the USA charges TW citizens money to get a visa. This may change when and if TW gets visa free to the USA. Which I am hoping will happen soon. And hoping USA citizens will get 90 days too instead of 30 days per now.

p.s. so if that is true that a Visa Exempt can be changed into a Tourist Visa locally (and then into an ARC I guess) then Iman by paying money for a visa in HK is really just buying 60 days instead of 30 days per Visa Exempt in order to get a new job and an ARC set up.

In fact, you can now enter Taiwan on a 30 day landing visa and ‘convert’ it into a resident visa / ARC. You just have to be quick and have your health check ready. This has been the case since 2009.[/quote]
That might be the case when you first arrive, but if you are aiming for an APRC, coming in on a landing visa will reset the clock to zero, and you’ll have to wait another five years to be eligible to apply.

Once you have your APRC, and you lose it while overseas, you can return on a landing visa, and you then have to apply ASAP for a re-issued APRC.

Actually, Cowboy, you made it too complicated. If you are coming back on the same day for a landing visa, you don’t need to go through immigration/customs at all. When you check in at the counter in Taiwan, ask the airline to give you both boarding passes. Sometimes, they will act like they can’t, but if you push them they can. I have done this with Cathay, China Airlines and Eva…in fact, they usually print my return boarding pass automatically. Then, when you get to HK, you take your other boarding pass to the transfer area and just enter the HK terminal. Saves time and effort and you can shop, smoke in their nice smoking facilities, or have a latte.

I did this every month for roughly 2 years…usually I was right back on the same plane I flew in on. I can’t count the number of people I have talked to who go through immigration in Hong Kong because they think they need the stamp…totally unnecessary. When you reenter Taiwan they don’t care where you went, just that you left. Technically, once you go through immigration in Taiwan, you are set to come back in. Unfortunately, the only way I have found to get back in is to get on the plane and come back…there is not way to get back in through immigration without coming off of a plane-trust me, I have searched several times over :whistle:

[quote=“TainanCowboy”]I have done exactly one (1) "visa run.
It was to Hong Kong.
It consisted of flying there, going through customs and getting the stamp, exiting the area, walking through the turn-styles, going back through customs, getting the stamp, getting back on the airplane (the same one actually - even picked up the same magazine I was reading) and flying back to Kaohsiung.

Why does this seem to be such a confusing thing for so many people?[/quote]

Iman wanted a tourist visa with sixty day validity per entry. I would imagine its multiple entry and valid maybe for up to five years??

A landing visa, if you use this term, please note it is not the same as VISA EXEMPT entry. Landing visa cost MONEY and is for people who either have less then six months left on their passport or carry temporary passports. Read the thread I put in.

I would think you meant VISA EXEMPT entry. YOu go out, you come in, get another 30 days.

IMan wanted more then 30 days as she wanted perhaps more time to get a job? This way she has 60 days until she must leave.

If she was a brit passport holder she wouldve gotten 90 days and likely wouldve done what you described.

[quote=“tommy525”]Iman wanted a tourist visa with sixty day validity per entry. I would imagine its multiple entry and valid maybe for up to five years??

I would think you meant VISA EXEMPT entry. YOu go out, you come in, get another 30 days.
[/quote]
Yeap, sorry…should be visa exempt entry. I understand what the original poster wanted, but I just wanted to clarify for people that if they only want a visa exempt entry and are doing the same day turnaround, there is no reason to pass through HK immigration. Also, I should add that you get a NT500 reduction in airport tax for same day turnaround, so make sure that gets discounted before you pay.

TainanCowboy said it was simple, but it’s actually even simpler than he made it out to be. Of course, if you need to get more than 30 day (90 for Brits), you gotta go apply.

I wish I had known this. I got a job the day after coming back from Hong Kong and I got my health check back the Monday after that. Would have saved me over $NT19000 that I really needed for other things (i.e. food, transportation to work, rent, electricity, a much-needed visit to the doctor).