I did a forum search but could not find this answer even though I thought I had read it here before…
What is the quickest way for an American to get visa when going to China?
I have limited time. I want to depart here on a Sat morning and arrive in Beijing as soon as possible. On this trip speed is more important than cost. I’ve heard some stories about stopping in HK overnight but also heard it is possible to get visa in one day. Help please thank you!
Can I get the visa in Taiwan before departure?
If you book through a travel agency they will do it for you, but I don’t know about the time required. And it isn’t cheap.
good luck
Yes, I think you’ll have to do it through CTS in Hong Kong. If you did it through a travel agent here they’d have to send your passport to Hong Kong anyway.
Yes there is one-day service in Hong Kong though that’s a whole working day – drop your passport off in the morning and pick it up just before the office closes.
As the posts above mentions China Travel Service in HK will be the fastest, They even have an express service which only takes an hr or so (bit spendy HK$1400, 6mth multiple).
Sadly if you were from any other nation, you would have been able to pick up a visa in 30mins at most China border crossings.
I just picked up a shiny new 6mth visa myself this morning at the HuangGang customs…
Shh… I didn’t even really leave the country!! Basically from the China side, I went through customs to exit China (been here a while), got to no man’s land, walked around to the other side (customs into China), applied for a new visa, waited the 30 min processing time, and passed back into China through customs again… Sorry if a bit OT, but may be useful to someone else who needs to renew a China visa quickly.
You can get it at Hong Kong airport within 4-5 hours. Just immigrate to HK, go to the travel agent in the arrival hall, hand over your passport + picture + money (I recently paid 1600 HK$ for a 6 month multiple entry express Visa), go to the irish pub and drink beer and wait. Then catch a flight to mainland a few hours later…
Thanks for the tips.
Just wish I could do before I leave Taiwan do not to waste time… ah, well, will spend some time in HK airport I guess.
Any followup on this? I was just checking on this today and was told that American visas run 4200NT and you can’t get tourist visas through Hong Kong – the passport must be sent back to the States (business visas, on the other hand, are doable through Hong Kong).
I was also told that I need to send in my Taiwanese ARC along with my passport and a 2" photo for a China visa application. I don’t have an ARC because I entered the country on my Taiwanese passport.
For various reasons, I would rather not get a Taibaozhen. I would rather enter on my American passport. But if anyone has experience with that special visa for Taiwanese citizens, I would be interested to hear how that works, too…
in Japan, the travel agent should organise it when you book your tickets… I expect it should be the same in Taiwan?
I’ve contacted two travel agents and they both told me to deal with it myself in Hong Kong. Does anybody know a Taiwan-based (Taipei preferably) travel agent that can take care of my China visa for me? Thanks 