If you don’t have arc you can not get the china visa from taiwan travel agency. So you would need to apply it somewhere else, in hong kong seems the eassiest way to do it. Unless you are valid to apply visa on landing in china. If you are not valid to do that, you can go to hong kong and apply the visa through travel agency. I always used chinavisa.com.hk they also offer same day visa. Always call them before you go to confirm the details. Because china visa policy sometimes changes.
Do a better search on Forumosa and you’ll find better more current information with everything you need to know about china visa. But it also depends on what country passport you hold.
You don’t need an ARC for a Taiwan travel agency to send your passport off for a china visa.
Update: If anyone needs to go to PRC in a hurry ( eg, no time to get a Visa) I have just flown from TPE to Shanghai direct on a 72 Hour Transit visa. The catch is that you have to be going on to a 3rd “region” but recently Hong Kong was included. So you just have to return to Taipei via HK ( or another country) . So at least you can go last minute . This applies to the 51 or so Countries with the Transit Visa agreement.
When I checked in at Taipei the China Airlines girl at the counter told me that this was not possible…100% NO. She was wrong. Had to call the PRC visa office to verify.
[quote=“shiadoa”]Update: If anyone needs to go to PRC in a hurry ( eg, no time to get a Visa) I have just flown from TPE to Shanghai direct on a 72 Hour Transit visa. The catch is that you have to be going on to a 3rd “region” but recently Hong Kong was included. So you just have to return to Taipei via HK ( or another country) . So at least you can go last minute . This applies to the 51 or so Countries with the Transit Visa agreement.
When I checked in at Taipei the China Airlines girl at the counter told me that this was not possible…100% NO. She was wrong. Had to call the PRC visa office to verify.[/quote]
HK, Macao and TW have always been considered a “3rd region” for immigration purposes, including the 72 hour transit program. The problem - as you experienced yourself - comes down to oblivious check-in staff in Taiwan. Irritating but typical for this island: insisting on rules / restrictions that do mot really exist or apply.
I posted this in Legal, but thought I’d try here, too. Thanks (and sorry if I’ve broken any Forumosa protocols/I searched first, too)
My ARC expires in 3.5 months, and I need to get a mainland China visa now. However, I believe I need six months left on my ARC to get the visa. I also understand that I can’t renew my ARC until it’s down to 30 days before it expires. Is that right? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
[quote=“chalouie”]I posted this in Legal, but thought I’d try here, too. Thanks (and sorry if I’ve broken any Forumosa protocols/I searched first, too)
My ARC expires in 3.5 months, and I need to get a mainland China visa now. However, I believe I need six months left on my ARC to get the visa. I also understand that I can’t renew my ARC until it’s down to 30 days before it expires. Is that right? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks![/quote]
The PRC-MOFA office in Hong Kong issues visa to foreign residents of Taiwan who hold an ARC without much trouble. There is a CTS (Mainland China’s state owned travel agency) licenses visa agent on Chang-Chun Rd. in Taipei. I would recommend you contacting them about the details. If they accept your application you are 99% sure to get the visa. sttvisa.com/chinavisa.htm
I have a visa run coming up and I was thinking of taking the opportunity to visit friends in China via Xiamen. I only want to spend about a week, and my budget is pretty low. Looking at this thread, it looks like getting a visa to China will be complicated and costly - have any Canada or US citizens here done a short trip to China lately? What can I expect to spend on the visa application process? If I decide to go, should I apply for the visa first and then book my flights, or vice versa?
Thanks!
[quote=“epinephrine”]I have a visa run coming up and I was thinking of taking the opportunity to visit friends in China via Xiamen. I only want to spend about a week, and my budget is pretty low. Looking at this thread, it looks like getting a visa to China will be complicated and costly - have any Canada or US citizens here done a short trip to China lately? What can I expect to spend on the visa application process? If I decide to go, should I apply for the visa first and then book my flights, or vice versa?
Thanks![/quote]
If you’re Canadian, you might be able to get a 7-day business visa, but…it’s questionable. You should call CTS (China Travel Service). I dunno about that.
If you’re American, you’re screwed. We have to get one of two very pricy visas. I got the 10-year multiple entry for 18,000 TWD (in June 2015). The other one was (don’t quote me on this) something like 2-year multiple entry for 13,000 TWD? Dunno. Didn’t go for that option. Those transit and landing visas don’t apply to us in the SEZ, either. Call around for quotes, but CTS is my choice.
EDIT: I did not have a flight pre-booked when I applied for the visa, but there was some confusion about that. Again, call CTS.
Click on that TTS link, you’ll see they don’t even quote prices for Americans. Gotta call someone.
If you are Canadian it will cost NT$7-8000, maybe more now to use a local travel agency to handle the application through Hong Kong for you. You can then use it to enter China via Kinmen which is not expensive. Just a quick flight to Kinmen, then the ferry to China, and a quick taxi to Xiamen.
[quote=“shiadoa”]Update: If anyone needs to go to PRC in a hurry ( eg, no time to get a Visa) I have just flown from TPE to Shanghai direct on a 72 Hour Transit visa. The catch is that you have to be going on to a 3rd “region” but recently Hong Kong was included. So you just have to return to Taipei via HK ( or another country) . So at least you can go last minute . This applies to the 51 or so Countries with the Transit Visa agreement.
When I checked in at Taipei the China Airlines girl at the counter told me that this was not possible…100% NO. She was wrong. Had to call the PRC visa office to verify.[/quote]
So hypothetically if I was to book a ticket on say Korean Air I could fly TPE-ICN-PEK and return to TPE via ICN and I would not need a visa for China or does it have to be in your case that I book a OW ticket from TPE-PEK and then another OW returning via HK or ICN?
Has anyone recently traveled to China from Taiwan? My girlfriend wants to visit friends in China and has talked with people at agencies that are telling her some outrageous prices for a Visa. She only wants to visit for a week or less.
Where is girlfriend from? They don’t base cost of visa on length of stay. They base it on number of visits.
I believe a single entry visa is like $120 USD to file in the US. What are they asking?
BTW, the multiple entry visa is good for 10 years now, something like $170 or so.
If you go to Hainan, its visa free now
Thanks everyone for your replies.
She’s American and only wants to visit for less than a week. Yes, she recently found out about the Chinese gov doing something similar to what the American gov is doing (10 yrs). People need options. It shouldn’t be 10 yrs or nothing. Agencies she’s spoke with want something around $17,000 NTW.
China Travel Service in Hong Kong for 2 entries
- 4 working day processing; HK$1260/US$162/NT$4800
- 2 working day processing; HK$1960/US$252/NT$7500; before 9am day 1, return after 3pm day
Read the last few pages of this thread.
I paid less than that last time I got a China visa, that was 7 months ago. I think it was 4,800 or 7,500, one of them was the plane ticket. That was all handled for me by a travel agent here.
Ask more than one.
FYI/update:
I mentioned STTVisa to my girlfriend and she said she’s already been there and that their prices online are all wrong - sttvisa.com/chinavisa.htm
They quoted her $17,000! Their prices must have changed a lot since July 2014.
@Mr He - My girlfriend has asked more than 1 (common sense). Can you provide me with more specific info? Which travel agent/where? Thanks.
dude 17.000 NTD is crazy should be more like 1.700NTD
cheaper to pay for her friends to visit taiwan.