[New!] Good Samaritan Case Study 6:
L-visa holder's experience getting a stay permit
From Samaritan #6:
“This website was super helpful as I applied for my own stay permit here in SH, so just wanted to add on my experience as well in case someone else needs it. I went to the Entry-Exit Bureau out in Pudong
Documents brought:
- A letter of explanation detailing that I needed to stay in the country due to a lack of flights, work visa processing, and medical reasons
- Screenshots from the Trip.com app showing that there were no flights going between the US and China on the week that I was supposed to leave the country. I actually provided the full 7 days, but she ended up only holding onto 3 of the screenshots so that might be all you need
- Invitation letter from a Shanghai friend. The officer didn’t look too keen to accept it because the friend didn’t sign the letter, but she was still okay because I provided a copy of her ID and hukou as well. The officer also took more notice of the Chinese translated version, so I highly recommend translating all letters if you can.
- Letter of support from my boss, who explained that she was in the process of getting my work visa processed (for a start date of Sept, to clarify that I am not working on a tourist visa) and wanted to keep me in the country to make things easier
An important note about timing:
I came in a month before my stay expiration date of July 25, and she said that that was way too soon. She would have to cancel my visa and could still only give me 30 days–which meant that my new stay would expire July 28. Because of this, full disclosure, I didn’t actually submit my application for the stay permit today. However, she DID assure me that with these documents everything would be totally fine, and that I could keep coming back as many times as I needed until my work permit was processed. She recommended I come back 10-7 days before expiration instead.
Also, I cannot stress this enough: get there right at 9am if you can!!! It made my morning so quick and painless.
Anyway, thanks for making my own process so much more clear!”
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, Good Samaritan #6!
I love how this Good Samaritan went one month before the current stay expiration date to make sure all the documents are okay for the final submission.
Please consider sharing your experiences in extending your stay in China and paying it forward to inform others during this challenging time. You can email your experiences / findings at shanghai exit entry at gmail dot com, all in one word. Thank you.
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