I am a gold card holder and I am about to return to Taipei in the coming weeks. In the next month or so I also plan to have a short trip to Shanghai (not yet scheduled, but it will happen).
I understand that there are no places in Taiwan which can issue visas for China mainland, and that people who need them usually stop over in HK to do the procedures. Reading online a bit, I found out that apparently an ARC and a “Prrof of employment letter” is usually required. While I have the former (the gold card is also an ARC) i don’t have the latter.
Can someone share his/her experience on the procedure and whether the gold card will suffice?
Are you sure about this? That seems like an odd requirement to get a Chinese tourist visa in Hong Kong. What if you don’t live in Taiwan? How would you provide an ARC?
Besides, why do they even need to know you live in Taiwan? As far as they are concerned, you are just a European tourist in Hong Kong looking to travel to China. They don’t need to know you have any connection to Taiwan.
If ARC/Gold Card is in fact a requirement, then just tell them you are unemployed. Gold Card holders aren’t required to be employed when living in Taiwan.
in the past, travel agencies in TW would fedex you passport to HK, apply on your behalf and then return it to you. Im not sure this option exists anymore.
No idea whether something has changed in the last couple of years, but previously this wasn’t strict once you’ve got the visa. I always just provided an “expected” but detailed itinerary for the purpose of getting the visa, then just winged it. (That said, I was entering and leaving over land, or saying I would be - might be trickier if they’re asking for flight tickets.)
So back to the point any updates about China visa procedure in Hong Kong? Still need wait a couple of days there to get it? Any advantages having ARC ? Thanks
has been like this with the Chinese Visa centre forever. I was refused for my first ever chinese visa at the centre in Milan coz the trip plan was in… CHINESE! they required an Italian translation of that. Fucking joke.
Sent the passport through my friend’s travel agency to the embassy in Rome, 3 days later came back with a 30 days 1 entry visa in, no details given.
You don’t need to pay for a flight. You only need a reservation, you can make flight reservations without paying anything.
I was issued a 1 year multiple entry tourist visa (which doesn’t officially exist) for China by the Chinese consulate in Melbourne. I just made reservations for flights spread out across the year (never paid for them), showed my Taiwanese visa, and wrote a letter requesting a 1 year multiple entry tourist visa as it is not possible to be issued a visa for China in Taiwan.
This was just before COVID, I wanted it just in case we decided to go on holiday to China. I never ended up using the visa
So, I went to visit them today. I was received by a lady whose English was not the best, and she said that the only way for me to get a Chinese visa is through Macau or Hong Kong. I showed her my ARC and my European passport, but she insisted that it was not possible. I also asked her whether they did offer such service in the past and why they didn’t anymore, but she didn’t give information on this regard.
I wonder if it is just this agency not offering the service anymore? Any other option I might try before opting for Macau?
don’t think so, they can’t really issue them here, they were just sending them to the US or HK to process (not even Macau tbh, not a prime centre to do that).
Just checked STT Visa as well, same answer. They went as far as saying that it was never possible in Taiwan to get a visa for China as a foreigner, and that they recommend to apply directly in Hong Kong
Is it a short visit? Some countries get non visa stay for a few days (144 hours) or in my home Japan its 14 days visa free to China
for the 144 hour max stay you could buy a Taiwan to Korea or Japan cheap ticket and make few days stopover(144 hours=6 days), then get one way ticket back to Kaoshuing?
