Trouble with visa renewal is one thing, but forced deportation is quite another. Foreigners whining about the former should take a look at the recent case of Dechen Pemba, a Brit of Tibetan descent who was detained, driven to the airport, and expelled from the PRC for five years when she walked out of her Beijing apartment last Tuesday. The seven plain clothes policemen who escorted Pemba allowed her only time to pack a bag,......

We've been writing a lot about the visa situation recently, which has gotten more and more bothersome as the Olympics approach. But this tactic is a new one: Matt of bizCult gives us a play-by-play of his experiences using a student visa... for business purposes. Pros: easier to obtain, multiple entry, much cheaper. Cons: actually having to go to class sometimes, like the Mongolian prostitutes using the same strategy. All in all, Matt gives the......

With less than six weeks before the Games, the Chinese visa situation Shanghaiist reported on earlier this month is not getting any better. Many foreign residents living here for years are now being forced to leave China, and some of them are reconsidering "how much of their operations they keep in China," Andrew Work, executive director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said. The Wall Street Journal follows a story similar......

From the highly authoritative People's Daily:The Beijing Olympics official website recently released "A guide to Chinese law for Foreigners coming to, leaving or staying in China during the Olympics" (hereinafter referred to as "the Guide"). The Guide points out that ticketholders for the Olympic Games from overseas will not automatically be granted a visa. They still need to apply for a visa from China's overseas embassies. Fons Tuinstra of China Herald fills us in on......

The huge African community in Guangzhou is starting to feel the heat as many of them are being forced to leave the country because of new visa policies, reports Bloomberg citing the South China Morning Post:Nearly half of the 10,000 Africans in the city have already been forced to leave because their visa-renewal applications have been denied and at least 100 people are stranded in Macau without enough money to return home, the newspaper reported.......

Photo from Heidi D Via Danwei: For the first time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has acknowledged that visa procedures have been tightened. Said Qin Gang, according to the AP:"We have made some arrangements according to usual international practice. That is, in the approval process we are more strict and more serious with the procedure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. He did not directly link the changes to the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics, but......

Richard Brubaker of All Roads Leads to China has some good visa news (if true), but only for UK citizens. An update he quoted from the British Chamber of Commerce:Visa Situation Update The British Embassy lobbied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing and have now secured confirmation from them that 12 month multiple-entry business visas will continue to be available to all qualifying UK applicants. Chinese Embassy websites now makes clear that the following......

function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_link { padding:2px 0 0 20px; height:16px; background:url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?0:26981) no-repeat top left; }Share on Facebook Richard Brubaker of All Roads Lead to China talks to Magic of VisaInChina and throws in a few comments on the impact the new visa regulations will have on Hong Kong-China business:Just spoke to Magic, a well known consultant in Shanghai, about the current mess and it seems that the door opened again on the 16th…......

function fbs_click() {u=location.href;t=document.title;window.open('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436');return false;} html .fb_share_link { padding:2px 0 0 20px; height:16px; background:url(http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?0:26981) no-repeat top left; }Share on Facebook Today we received the following two tips on our Contribute page:Dutch news sources say that tens of thousands of foreign students in China are being told to go home. Supposedly, instructions have been handed down to Universities that they are not allowed in China during August and September - even if a student continues their studies......

Latest message from the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong S.A.R.:Visa applicants are increasing in a large number and need longer waiting time in the visa office recently. If you don't reside or work in Hong Kong permanently, you are required to apply Chinese visa from the Embassy or Consulate-General of Peoples' Republic of China in your resident country. You are welcome to China for tourism, business, visit of the......

We told you it wasn't going to work in Hong Kong. And now it won't even work in Shanghai! Here's the latest update from everyone's favourite visa guy, Magic, from VisaInChina.com:From 1st April 2008, The Entry and Exit Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security update the visa policy again. According to that, now the Authority will not accept of changing the visa type from L visa to F visa or F visa to......