Visa Questions

[tdprater]

Hi!

 

Hopefully you guys might be able to give me some information about a few things. Please allow me to give some background.

 

I've been in China (Zhengzhou, Henan Province) since March of 2006. Came originally to be with my girlfriend, Bella, married in June 2007, and had our baby daughter, Althea, in May of this year. We got a U.S. passport for Althea without incident. My wife had passed her tourist visa interview 2 weeks ago, so it looks like we are going to the States in February finally to meet the family!

 

Here's where things get a bit tricky and I'm quite confused, so here goes:

 

-After getting a few business visas, I've been granted work permits for the past two years, and am getting another new one before I go to the US. Is that going to be sufficient to return to China, or am I going to have to apply for a visa while in the US? I'd rather not, but since I'll be in NYC most of the time, it's not that big a deal to head to the consulate.

 

-Do I need some sort of special exit visa for my daughter to leave the country? I'm hoping to hell that they aren't considering my newborn daughter to be living here illegally and don't want any surprises when I try to leave. We have an employee that handles visas and whatnot here in ZZ, and he said that the local office can't grant any paperwork for her because Bella is from Jiangsu, so we'd have to go there. That's all I got out of him, and I'll be following up on it, because vagueness is not cutting it. Time is getting tight, especially around Spring Festival, and going to Jiangsu would make the my budget and time tighter than I like.

 

I'd very much appreciate any insight that any of you may have.

 

Cheers!

 

Troy

[GZBILL]

-After getting a few business visas, I've been granted work permits for the past two years, and am getting another new one before I go to the US. Is that going to be sufficient to return to China, or am I going to have to apply for a visa while in the US? I'd rather not, but since I'll be in NYC most of the time, it's not that big a deal to head to the consulate.

 

-Do I need some sort of special exit visa for my daughter to leave the country? I'm hoping to hell that they aren't considering my newborn daughter to be living here illegally and don't want any surprises when I try to leave. We have an employee that handles visas and whatnot here in ZZ, and he said that the local office can't grant any paperwork for her because Bella is from Jiangsu, so we'd have to go there. That's all I got out of him, and I'll be following up on it, because vagueness is not cutting it. Time is getting tight, especially around Spring Festival, and going to Jiangsu would make the my budget and time tighter than I like.

 

If you have a work permit then you also have a residence permit. You can leave and enter China as many times as you wish on the strength of that residence permit as long as it remains valid. A residence permit acts as a multiple entry visa during the validity period.

 

Yes, your daughter needs an exit permit. Newborn infants in China must be registered within 30 days of birth or they are considered illegal aliens. Take all the supporting documentation and the child's US passport to the local PSB Entry & Exit Administration and they will issue an exit permit.

 

You can also obtain a family residence permit for your daughter based on you already having a work-related residence permit. The terms of her residence permit will be the same as yourts, but instead of the purpose being "employment", she will have dependant on hers. You will also have to do this at the PSB Entry & Exit Administration. Your employer will have to affix their company seal to your application.

[tdprater]

-After getting a few business visas, I've been granted work permits for the past two years, and am getting another new one before I go to the US. Is that going to be sufficient to return to China, or am I going to have to apply for a visa while in the US? I'd rather not, but since I'll be in NYC most of the time, it's not that big a deal to head to the consulate.

 

-Do I need some sort of special exit visa for my daughter to leave the country? I'm hoping to hell that they aren't considering my newborn daughter to be living here illegally and don't want any surprises when I try to leave. We have an employee that handles visas and whatnot here in ZZ, and he said that the local office can't grant any paperwork for her because Bella is from Jiangsu, so we'd have to go there. That's all I got out of him, and I'll be following up on it, because vagueness is not cutting it. Time is getting tight, especially around Spring Festival, and going to Jiangsu would make the my budget and time tighter than I like.

 

If you have a work permit then you also have a residence permit. You can leave and enter China as many times as you wish on the strength of that residence permit as long as it remains valid. A residence permit acts as a multiple entry visa during the validity period.

 

Yes, your daughter needs an exit permit. Newborn infants in China must be registered within 30 days of birth or they are considered illegal aliens. Take all the supporting documentation and the child's US passport to the local PSB Entry & Exit Administration and they will issue an exit permit.

 

You can also obtain a family residence permit for your daughter based on you already having a work-related residence permit. The terms of her residence permit will be the same as yourts, but instead of the purpose being "employment", she will have dependant on hers. You will also have to do this at the PSB Entry & Exit Administration. Your employer will have to affix their company seal to your application.

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply! My daughter has her birth certificate from the hospital. Does that count as proper registration? That was one of the first things that we needed to get her U.S. Visa. As for her residence permit, I will for sure be following up on that.

 

Cheers!

[dnoblett]

The exit visa issue comes up from time to time.

 

More here:

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...c=34590&hl=

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=432324

[Sebastian]

pay attention to the 'type' of psb to go to - there are 'local' ones and there are 'municipal' ones that handle a larger area. You still need the exit visa from a PSB.

 

I think your worker in the office is wrong, you should contact the larger PSB in your area, not the 'local' one. The office that handled your last residence permit might be IN the right PSB. Maybe..

 

But - since you are not all immigrating to USA, don't forget - your baby will need some kind of 'Visa' to get back in the country. MAYBE the attachment for YOUR family residence will handle that, maybe not - you'll need to look into that.

 

Good Luck !

[tdprater]

Much appreciate the help you guys.

 

After doing some more checking, it looks as if we will have to go to the PSB in my wife's hometown in Jiangsu to get our daughter's exit permit. They say if one of the parents is Chinese, then the child must get the permit from where the parent has their hukou. Then I'll have to get my daughter's visa for return straightened out in NYC, which I wouldn't imagine would be a big deal.

 

I'll write more about the process for this once everything is finished for future reference.

 

Happy Holidays

[shadeOgray]

Much appreciate the help you guys.

 

After doing some more checking, it looks as if we will have to go to the PSB in my wife's hometown in Jiangsu to get our daughter's exit permit. They say if one of the parents is Chinese, then the child must get the permit from where the parent has their hukou. Then I'll have to get my daughter's visa for return straightened out in NYC, which I wouldn't imagine would be a big deal.

 

I'll write more about the process for this once everything is finished for future reference.

 

Happy Holidays

Yes do keep us in the loop on this, I'll be in your boat in the future I'm sure and i'd like to know that my self.

[GZBILL]

-After getting a few business visas, I've been granted work permits for the past two years, and am getting another new one before I go to the US. Is that going to be sufficient to return to China, or am I going to have to apply for a visa while in the US? I'd rather not, but since I'll be in NYC most of the time, it's not that big a deal to head to the consulate.

 

-Do I need some sort of special exit visa for my daughter to leave the country? I'm hoping to hell that they aren't considering my newborn daughter to be living here illegally and don't want any surprises when I try to leave. We have an employee that handles visas and whatnot here in ZZ, and he said that the local office can't grant any paperwork for her because Bella is from Jiangsu, so we'd have to go there. That's all I got out of him, and I'll be following up on it, because vagueness is not cutting it. Time is getting tight, especially around Spring Festival, and going to Jiangsu would make the my budget and time tighter than I like.

 

If you have a work permit then you also have a residence permit. You can leave and enter China as many times as you wish on the strength of that residence permit as long as it remains valid. A residence permit acts as a multiple entry visa during the validity period.

 

Yes, your daughter needs an exit permit. Newborn infants in China must be registered within 30 days of birth or they are considered illegal aliens. Take all the supporting documentation and the child's US passport to the local PSB Entry & Exit Administration and they will issue an exit permit.

 

You can also obtain a family residence permit for your daughter based on you already having a work-related residence permit. The terms of her residence permit will be the same as yourts, but instead of the purpose being "employment", she will have dependant on hers. You will also have to do this at the PSB Entry & Exit Administration. Your employer will have to affix their company seal to your application.

 

 

Thanks for the quick reply! My daughter has her birth certificate from the hospital. Does that count as proper registration? That was one of the first things that we needed to get her U.S. Visa. As for her residence permit, I will for sure be following up on that.

 

Cheers!

 

No, a birth certificate does not count as having registered with the PSB.

[GZBILL]

pay attention to the 'type' of psb to go to - there are 'local' ones and there are 'municipal' ones that handle a larger area. You still need the exit visa from a PSB.

 

I think your worker in the office is wrong, you should contact the larger PSB in your area, not the 'local' one. The office that handled your last residence permit might be IN the right PSB. Maybe..

 

But - since you are not all immigrating to USA, don't forget - your baby will need some kind of 'Visa' to get back in the country. MAYBE the attachment for YOUR family residence will handle that, maybe not - you'll need to look into that.

 

Good Luck !

 

You can only get an exit visa from the PSB Entry & Exit Administration. It's the same place where you go to renew your visa.

[tdprater]

Okay, to let you guys know what happened, we (my wife, my daughter, and myself) traveled to my wife's hometown, which is about an hour drive from Xuzhou in western Jiangsu, close to Anhui. We arrived at the local PSB Entry and Exit Admin office and had brought a bunch of stuff, like:

 

-My passport

-My wife's passport and ID card

-Daughter's passport

-Our marriage booklets

-My wife's hukou

-Passport size photos of my daughter

 

There was paperwork to be filled out (in Chinese), and my wife had to write a letter of some sort about the whole ordeal. Since her town is kind of small, this was the first time for them to deal with getting an exit permit for an American baby. We were referred to a local print shop that handles the exclusive document copying and photo taking for that PSB (my wife explained that this racket is reasonable because it helps the local economy). So document copying and photos came out to 25 RMB, and the fee for the exit permit was 20 RMB, which we had to pay for through a local bank. They offered a delivery service for 25 RMB, which was fine by me, because it beats the hell out of paying the 600+RMB to travel there and back again. We received the exit permit in the mail exactly two weeks later.

 

The only thing truly bothersome was that the PSB insist that we have a Chinese name for our daughter to enter into their system (we don't have one), so we had to make one up on the fly. My wife is slightly superstitious, and was worried that perhaps the one we chose wasn't very lucky. Nevertheless, when we received the exit permit, there was only the Chinese name inside with no indication of her actual name. My wife assured me that it should be no problem, or so she was told by the official at the PSB, but I'm still a little worried in the back of my mind. If there are any complications resulting from the name stuff, then I'll be sure to keep you guys informed.

 

´º½Ú¿ìÀÖ£¡£¡£¡

 

 

-Edit: Yeah, I had to be there in person to sign one document. That was my sole duty in this entire process. Well, that, and daddy duty

Edited January 16, 2009 by tdprater (see edit history)

[GZBILL]

Okay, to let you guys know what happened, we (my wife, my daughter, and myself) traveled to my wife's hometown, which is about an hour drive from Xuzhou in western Jiangsu, close to Anhui. We arrived at the local PSB Entry and Exit Admin office and had brought a bunch of stuff, like:

 

-My passport

-My wife's passport and ID card

-Daughter's passport

-Our marriage booklets

-My wife's hukou

-Passport size photos of my daughter

 

There was paperwork to be filled out (in Chinese), and my wife had to write a letter of some sort about the whole ordeal. Since her town is kind of small, this was the first time for them to deal with getting an exit permit for an American baby. We were referred to a local print shop that handles the exclusive document copying and photo taking for that PSB (my wife explained that this racket is reasonable because it helps the local economy). So document copying and photos came out to 25 RMB, and the fee for the exit permit was 20 RMB, which we had to pay for through a local bank. They offered a delivery service for 25 RMB, which was fine by me, because it beats the hell out of paying the 600+RMB to travel there and back again. We received the exit permit in the mail exactly two weeks later.

 

The only thing truly bothersome was that the PSB insist that we have a Chinese name for our daughter to enter into their system (we don't have one), so we had to make one up on the fly. My wife is slightly superstitious, and was worried that perhaps the one we chose wasn't very lucky. Nevertheless, when we received the exit permit, there was only the Chinese name inside with no indication of her actual name. My wife assured me that it should be no problem, or so she was told by the official at the PSB, but I'm still a little worried in the back of my mind. If there are any complications resulting from the name stuff, then I'll be sure to keep you guys informed.

 

´º½Ú¿ìÀÖ£¡£¡£¡

 

 

-Edit: Yeah, I had to be there in person to sign one document. That was my sole duty in this entire process. Well, that, and daddy duty

 

Worked out pretty well!

 

Actually, you could have just let the child have both Chinese and US nationalities and avoided the whole problem to an extent.