Chinese Visa Help: A DIY Guide to Out-Witting Big Brother

As I'm sure many of you who live in Korea already know, the rules for applying for a Chinese visa as a non-Korean within the borders of the ROK have changed drastically in the past month and a half (sorry, I'm a little late with this one). Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way, and for many others, it was a lot worse. Refused visas, canceled reservations, missed flights, and a general scramble to sort out new travel plans a week or two before their pre-determined vacation time. So as a guide to anyone in Korea who is considering travel to China in the near future, doesn't have a visa, and hasn't heard the news, here's the scoop:

First, the changes. As of July 1, 2010, all foreigners applying for a Chinese visa in Korea must have 6-months remaining on a valid KOREAN Alien Registration Card (ARC). Since most of us are here on a year-to-year basis, what that basically means is that anyone who wants to go to China needs to apply for a visa (generally valid for 3 months) within 6 months of starting a new contract. Sorry, no more contract-finishing trips through history. Seems simple. Six months or more, and you're in. Less than six months, and your out of luck (Even by one day. Believe me, I experienced this one first-hand). Or are you? Luckily for a few, there are some exceptions.

• You've been to China in the past two years and still have your expired, used visa. Not sure how this changes anything (since no one really knows why the rules changed, anyway), but if you fall into this category, the ominous 6-month rule does not apply. 100% sure this one definitely works, since that's how I ended up getting my visa approved. Unfortunately, I still had to cancel my trip, but that's another story.
• You're French. I can't vouch for this, but it's something that my travel agent mentioned when I was applying for my visa. Basically, if you're French, you're out of luck (of course, no one has a logical explanation as to why). There is actually a surprisingly large French population in Seoul, but unfortunately for them, they're going to get a visa to China from here. No way, no how.

So why did this happen, and what can you do about it? Does this mean that if you don't qualify under the new 6-month rule, you have to forfeit your lifelong dream of traveling to China during your stay here in the ROK? Maybe not. But first things first.

As far as I know, there really is no good explanation for why any of this has happened. Logically, it doesn't make any sense why an American (or Canadian, French, English, or anyone for that matter) person's entry into China can be limited by a third-party. I'm sure there's some excuse out there (acceptable or not) that has caused this recent travel panic, but I've yet to hear it. And it all seemed to change overnight. No announcement. No warning. So there were people who showed up to their travel agents to apply for visas on July 1 (or the night before, as was my friend's case), only to be told, "Ohhh...if only you came yesterday. Sorry I didn't tell you. Can I interest you in a flight to Taiwan?" No thanks. The other funny thing is that these rules only seem to apply for foreigners in Korea. Koreans are clear (since their registration cards don't expire), and as far as I know, foreigners in other countries (i.e. their home countries, Hong Kong, Japan, etc.) also don't have to face these restrictions.

Now the real question (and really the whole point to this blog entry) is, "What do I do now?" Through a bit of thinking and talking with my friends, here is a short list of possible ways around this new roadblock:

• If you've been to China in the past two years and have the expired visa (as I mentioned above), the two year rule doesn't apply to you.
• You could always (probably not the safest, quickest, or cheapest solution) mail your passport back to your home country and have someone else apply for the Chinese visa on your behalf there. A friend of mine from the UK mailed his to London, and it worked. Of course, if the passport would have been lost, stolen, or discovered in customs, there could have been far less-successful results, to say the least.
• There was a rumor a few weeks back that the Chinese consulate in Busan was still issuing visas without the 6-month requirement after the July 1st deadline. I don't know anyone who's done this personally (and things very well may have changed since I heard about it), so I can't tell you for sure if it works. But it's worth a call. And Busan is not a bad place to visit this time of year. UPDATE: The day after writing this post, I was talking to someone who was traveling through Korea and just got a visa through the consulate in Busan. So I guess that means it works. He actually found a travel agency in Myeongdong near the Chinese Consulate in Seoul who was willing to do it for him for an extra $30, though I have no idea of the name of the place. Not a bad option, at all.
• Fly to Hong Kong (or elsewhere) and apply there with expedited processing. I can't be certain that this works, either, but that's what my friend was considering before mailing his passport to the UK. Again, it's not the cheapest way, but at least you're in (visa-free for most of us) China. You can start your travels there, and you don't have to send your passport in the mail. I'd talk to someone else first, though, to make sure this is possible before going through the headache.

As far as I know, those are your options. Don't take my word that all of them work, but it's a place to start. I'm sure someone else has discover a few more clever ways of navigating the system, so if you know any, feel free to post them below. And as for mailing your passport across international borders, I honestly have no idea whether it's legal or not. If you're considering that, you might want to do the research. If it is indeed frowned upon, you should probably reconsider. I in no way advocate doing anything illegal.

So that's it. I hope this helps. Good luck!

P.S. Here's a few more general notes about applying for a Chinese visa in Korea:

• The Chinese embassy in Seoul does not accept visa applications from individuals. If you want to apply, you're going to need to go through a travel agent (which will raise the cost by about $10-20. There are a few English-speaking travel agencies that handle these things, but I recently lost faith in the one I've used in the past. So you'll have to search them out on your own. For the 'official' list of acceptable travel agencies (though I'm sure there are plenty more), you can go here. Unfortunately, for anyone who can't read Korean, this won't do you much good other than giving you a list of phone numbers you can try to call.
• Visa fees have recently been raised. For Americans, the cost is around $150 (from around $120 a few months ago) and for the rest of the world it's a little less than $50.
• Make sure you have at least one completely empty visa page in your passport. My personal visa application process got a lot more complicated because I didn't.
• For Americans, you can have pages added to your passport at the embassy. It takes a few days and costs $82 (used to be free, until about a month ago). The good news about my whole mess is that I found out and took care of this about a week before they started charging.