Suggestion & Tips on Visa Issues

Suggestion & Tips on Visa Issues

1. Keep a copy of important documents

  We suggest every student keep a photocopy of all important documents, such as passport, visa, residence permit, admission notice, JW201/JW202 form and Accommodation Registration Form for Foreign Nationals. Keeping an electronic scanning copy on the internet may be a good idea, as long as you guarantee them not be stolen by others. The copy may not authorized in some official circumstances, but it still can help you a lot when you need the important information, such as the passport number or visa number, and help you identify yourself much more easily.

2. Renewing Passport

If your passport is to be expired during your stay inChina, please apply for the extension of passport or changing a new passport as early as possible. Please pay attention that the duration of your visa/residence permit could cover a longer period than that of your passport. Please ask the embassy of your country in China ahead of time to know how long it takes to extension of passport or change for a new passport in order to guarantee that you can get a new passport 3 months before your visa/residence permit expired. After you get the new passport, you should report to the overseas students’ office as soon as possible to transfer the visa or residence permit to your new passport in 10 days as required by the law.

3. Accommodation Registration Form for Foreign Nationals

  You need to register at the Overseas Students’ dormitory to get the Accommodation Registration Form For Foreign Nationals within 24 hours after you move in., and you need to present your passport.

  Accommodation Registration Form for Foreign Nationals is another important certificate besides your visa. Take care of it with your passport. It is required if you apply for a new visa, visa extension or residence permit.

  ▲If you leave mainland China (including going to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan region), or you come back to Changsha from other cities, you need to apply for a new Accommodation Registration Form for Foreign Nationals even though you come back to the same residence within 24 hours. Please DO confirm with the reception desk of the hotel, apartment, or the local police station whether your residence information has been submitted successfully via internet.

4. Extension of Visa/Residence Permit

  The foreigner who needs to continue his/her stay in China after the expiration of his/her visa/residence permit should apply for an extension 3 months before the expiration date. Otherwise a fine will be imposed (RMB 10000 Yuan at most). The misfeasor may be arrested for further investigation or deported.

5. Difference between “Accommodation Registration Form For Foreign Nationals” and “Residence Permit”

  The terms Residence Permit and Accommodation Registration Form For Foreign Nationals are usually confusable to foreign students. Residence Permit is actually a kind of visa, usually issued to foreigners who stay inChinafor study or work purpose. It is issued by the authority of Entrance and Exit (the counterpart of Immigration Department in many countries), and usually adhered to the passport of the holder. Accommodation Registration Form for Foreign Nationals is the registration of a foreigner’s living address, usually issued by the local police station of the living place and is a separate form. To foreigners living inChina, the absence of either of them will result in an illegal stay.

6. Please bring the following materials when taking the physical examination inChina

  1) Passport;

  2) Two passport-sized photos;

  3) Around RMB 500 Yuan for physical examination.

7. Keep in Touch with Overseas Students Office

  It is suggested that you leave your latest contact to Overseas Students Office, so that you can be notified of important messages if necessary.