Aude Biojoux asked 5 years ago
Hi,
I have a tourist VISA, with 2 entries. I got in Shanghai end of Jan. My VISA expires in 10 days, but I want to stay. The plan was to apply at uni and get a student VISA. The school is closed and they can’t give me all papers to activate the student VISA. I have 2 solutions :
– extend my current tourist VISA
– leave the country to use the 2nd entry of my VISA, with the risk of the quarantine when I get back.
My questions :
– How long does it take to extend a tourist VISA ? How long before it expires should I ask the EEA office the extension ?
– Do I have to leave the country with an extension ?
– If I extend my current VISA, will I loose my 2nd entry of the 1st VISA I have ?
Thanks a lot for your help. Cheers !
smooth-administrator Staff answered 5 years ago
Hi Aude,
I know someone who went to the Shanghai Exit Entry Bureau in Pudong to extend his 1-month tourist visa by another month. The visa immigration officer there said no. She started accusing him of not being a real tourist and started asking for his real purpose of staying another month longer. I think she just got up on the wrong side of the bed.
The same guy went to another exit entry bureau (maybe the one on Hankou road.. or jing an) and he made the same request. The visa immigration officer there said “Sure! Submit it now and come pick it up in 7 – 10 working days.”
So it really depends on your luck with the visa immigration officer. You can go Exit-entry-bureau-hopping and check out the various architecture styles.
You can visit an exit-entry bureau even one day before it expires or even day of. But you wanna make sure if you do have to fly out, you can fly out on the day it expires.
But there has been announcements made by the Customs that they will “go easier” and give “light penalty” if you stay past your visa expiration date, given the current situations.
If you get an extension in China, then you don’t have to leave the country. If you don’t get an extension in China, you’d have to leave China. (OR stay past expiration date and be ready for the surprise “light penalty”.)
Don’t quote me but I don’t think you will lose your 2nd entry if you successfully extend the current visa. However, the visa officer might not give you the extension in the first place when they see that you have a double entry visa. You might really have to plead your case and explain why you want to extend by another month.
Once you do get your visa through the university, your L-visa should be automatically cancelled.
Also, I think quarantine is just self-quarantine…(?) so not too bad if you have to leave and re-enter China…
My advice: go visit at least one exit-entry bureau and plead your case. They have people on duty to answer ANY questions regarding visas.
Good luck!!