I’ll be going to Shenzhen on a British passport. Apoarently they have a “5 day” visa on arrival service. I have screenshot attached the details. British passports pay double not sure why ? And has anyone been there very recently and used this service without hiccup. Any advice ?
Because the U.K. charges chinese citizens a lot for visas, well that’s what I was told when I asked at the consulate building.
Quid pro quo😔 I used this method ( via HK) a few years ago to attend the F1 race as a guest of one of the teams woohoo.
I remember there were a few extra rules , using this Visa. One was an area restriction ( distance from the airport) and you can’t stray too far if you stay in hotels as they log ( and keep) your passport and report all foreign guests to the local thought police.
I’ve done it twice, most recently a year or so ago. You can only do it at some entry points (I went through SheungShui /Luohu if I remember), and official information is non-existent. The list of allowed passports does change but British is always on it, AFAIK.
Finding the office inside the immigration building is tricky, it’s not signposted and it’s up some obscure stairs. There are some photo guides online.
Be prepared to wait up to a couple hours, depending how busy it is. When I went there were like 50 people waiting and only one desk open.
Other than the above it was pretty straightforward to get the stamp, and I didn’t have any real problems.
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Thank you , can I get a visa for Shenzhen before I.arrive there instead or what that be a standard China one in which I’d have to leave the country.
The five-day one is walk-in only, as I remember. I get normal multiple-entry business visas these days but I’m not sure what’s involved, my company uses a travel agent for it.
thanks for the ups on the 50 people waiting the website says “you can have it as quickly as ten minutes” . I’ll give me self an extra 2 hours so I’ll arrive at 10 instead of 11AM ha
You can get a standard China visa from Taiwan if you have an ARC, just go to any travel agent.
Another option is these guys: http://www.fbt-chinavisa.com.hk/ I got lots of same day China visas from them, but last time they also wanted a sponsor for same day, which was a first.
5 day visa - I did it once and the wait was about an hour. giving your-shelf 2 hours sounds about right, ten minutes, no way.
ok Thanks I’ll go to a travel agent as I have an APRC, means I don’t have to wait around in the airport etc. Less hassle. Thank You Very Much.
On a side note I haven’t been to China for five years and I never needed to hand over my phone. Is it true that everyone needs to had over their phone now to get their social media searched by some keyword search super device ?
I’ve been back and forth over the SZ HK border about 40-50 times and never had my phone searched, never saw or heard of anyone having their phone searched. I was made wait to the side once as the immigration officer said I looked different to the photo in my passport, they asked me a few questions, that happened once. every other time they just scaned my passport, looked at me, stamped it and handed it back to me
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Ok thanks very much good Sir. Would you happen happen to remember the name of the travel agent you have used in Taiwan?
I only used the agent here once, used lion travel , if you Google them you will see they have lots of branches.
I’ve always either had a longer term visa or used the agent in HK.
This is incorrect, it’s got nothing to do with distance to the airport
You are limited to the former sez districts, which generally speaking are the ones hugging the hk/sz boundary
If you go past the former sez check points(they kind of look like a toll booth area for a freeway except they removed the toll booths) you are outside the allowed area
I’m a bit surprised though you can get this visa at the airport as it’s in bao an, which for sure is outside the sez districts
You sure you can get it at airport ?
Shenzhen airport has the 144 hour visa free transit but you have to be flying from A → Chinese Mainland → B
http://english.sz.gov.cn/news/News/201905/t20190505_17284000.htm
You can travel anywhere in Guandong province on that.
Baoan is a district of Shenzhen
I went to Shanghai …at the time the guide said I can go here, here and here…so it was an area , yes , but dependent on which airport one arrived at . I am sorry if I came across as a pedantic arse , I shall try to learn from you .
Bao an is not one of the sez districts, the visas you get at hk/sz boundary don’t allow you to go there(or at least this was the case last I was there 4 years ago)
incorrecto
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oh, i learned something new then. I thought it was always outside, but seems it was included shortly before the whole thing in practice was abolished
But, you know when the checkpoints were removed and why only core/original sez districts are within the visa you get at hk/sz boundary?
My recollection is that the checkpoints were there past 2010
I think the only way it is enforced is by hotels, so you can travel where you like but might have trouble booking into a hotel if you leave sz.
Yea the checkpoints are still there, just not used anymore. I also heard talk about using them again if the HK border is softened further.
I think I should just get a Chinese visa if the price is the same, I’m going to Shenzhen, but it seems a bit confusing. I still have 4 weeks before I leave. As I have to pay more traveling on a British passport will I have any benefits such as tea and scones or fish and chips included in the price ? I’m a bit annoyed about the extra charge perhaps a battleship should be sent to Hong Kong to annex it again ?
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