China Visa Guide for Hong Kong
It is very easy to get a China tourist visa or China business visa in Hong Kong. I will tell you exactly how to do so in this short guide.
How to Get a China Visa in Hong Kong
- For a China Business Visa - Prepare at least two business cards, a visa photograph, and your passport. The business cards should have your name, the name of the business or company you are a part of, an address, phone number, fax number, and email that are all based in a country other than China. Do not try to apply for a China business visa with a business address in China!
- For a Tourist Visa - Prepare a visa photograph and your passport.
- Go to Tsim Tsa Shui in Downtown Hong Kong - Scout and/or ask around until you find a somewhat legitimate looking tourist/visa office. To get your passport and visa back the same afternoon, you should arrive before 8:30 AM or so. To get it back the same day, anytime before 11:00 AM should be fine. If you turn in your passport later than this, you will probably have to wait until the next day to get your passport back.
- Update: China Travel Services - If you’re running late (won’t make it downtown until after 11:00), go straight to the China travel services (中国旅行社) main office at the entrance to Wan Chai station on Hong Kong island. I got a visa application in at 12:00 there once.
That’s it! It’s very easy to get a visa for China in Hong Kong.
Info on China Business Visas from Hong Kong
This information may be outdated by the time you read it, but a business visa from Hong Kong obtained in the manner proscribed above will take one of two forms. The first two times you get a business visa for mainland China in this manner, it will be a two-entry visa with each entry limited to 30 days. This visa should cost about HK$1350.
After you have used up two of this kind of visa (the third time you go for a business visa to mainland China), you can get a six-month, unlimited entry visa for HK$1600 or so. As an American, my visa has a restriction of 30 days for each ‘visit’ to mainland China (although I live here on a pretty much full time basis). People from other countries seem to get a China visa with no time restrictions besides the full six months of the visa.
Also note that if you get a different type of China visa at any time, you must start this process over again (first getting two two-month visas before you can get a six-month business visa).
Hope this helps someone out there get a business visa to China! People who are not part of a legitimate business have been known to get visas in this way, although I am not recommending this!
ok guys…im a teacher in China..I have just come back from HK and now have Z visa. Its only a single entry..is this right when im here to June/Aug time.
Also am i right in saying all i need to get now is a Resident Permit for about 10 months.
I M MEXICAN. CAN I GET THE VISA TO ENTER TO CHINA IN HONG KONG?
I DONT CARE SPEND THE 7 DAYS IN DETENTION.
hey, i am from Philippines and planning to tour in hong kong and beijing… as of hong kong, i don’t need visa, but for beijing i do need. where can i get visa for mainland china in HK and how much does it costs? thank you…
I’m Irish passport holder, need to get single entry visa on same day, is that possible?
Hi Kevin - if you go early in the morning, you should be able to get a single entry visa back the same day
Hi! We are in China on a 1 month tourist visa. We are cycling to Shanghai and need to extend visa for another month. We would like to go to Hong Kong to do this and leave our cycles and some gear in China, however we are worried that if visa was not granted our stuff would be stranded in China and us in Hong Kong! Could you advise on whether there is any chance we would not be granted new 1 month single entry tourist visa? We are both UK passport holders. Thanks
Hi James - I don’t see why they wouldn’t give you at least a two entry (one month each entry) tourist visa in Hong Kong. Another option that would probably work fine is going to the Immigration bureau in Shanghai and applying for a 30 day extension on your tourist visa, you can only do this once for any given visa but they usually will grant one, you’d have to figure out whether they would or not first though.
The disadvantage of this, though, is that you would probably need to surrender your passports for a week or so, whereas in Hong Kong you can get your visa & passport back the same or next day.
Hi Jeremy,
When was this information posted? Is it still current as of today 2/26/2010? Also, I have a filipino & and an india friend that needs to get a business visa, are they able to do the process described above?
Thanks,
Erik
Hi Erik,
This was posted several years ago. I have not had to do this for almost a couple of years so I’m not sure if it works anymore or not, I know during the Olympics it did not.
If your friends are not living in Hong Kong or China at the moment, the best bet is to try and get a business visa from the Chinese consulate / embassy nearest where they live. If they can’t get one there, it’s unlikely they can get one in HK.
You might want to do a search for a visa processing office in Hong Kong and ask them.
Hi. I am philips. I got China visa. But I don’t know yet whether I can go Hongkong to Shenzhen without HK visa.
As per embassy said, I got China visa no need to apply Hongkong visa. Is it really right? Please advise me asap. Thanks