HI everyone! I am a new member. I have never used a chat room before, so I am not quite sure of the proper way to do this. There are a few things I would like to know. We bought a house in Nanning last year and plan to retire there. What is the visa requirement for living there? Do you have to renew your visa every few months? We will be retiring there in a few years, should she keep her Chinese pasport or apply for the American passport. If there is anyone who knows about this, please let me know. Also anything else that you think I should know would be greatly appreciated. robert

Hi Robert,

If you plan to live here she should clearly keep her Chinese passport. It's much easier for her to get visitor visas if you want to holiday abroad than any kind of residency visa. In terms of your visas, if you are married to a Chinese and come to Nanning on a visitor visa, you can renew at the local PSB Visa Office periodically. First renewal is 3 months, second and third are six months and thereafter a year at a time. It a short process, takes 4-5 working days and costs start at about 400RMB, with additions if you want multi entries of about 180RMB per entry plus a small admin fee. Once you have been married for five years and have lived here for most of that you can apply for permanent residency but it's a tortuous process and can take anything up to nine months.

Hi Robert G,
You don't state your wife's status. Is she living with you in the US? If so, what sort of US visa has she got? It is different for UK and US people. As I understand it, in the US her Chinese passport will be retained if she applies for residency and a US passport.
If she is able to keep her Chinese passport then she should do so. Then you will be the spouse of a Chinese citizen when you retire here. If she gives up her Chinese passport she will also forfeit Chinese citizenship because China does not recognise dual nationalities. Then she will be treated as a foreigner in her birth country and she will need to apply for 'overseas Chinese returning home' status. It would be extremely foolhardy if she gave up her Chinese passport whilst owning property in Nanning.
The other complication is that visas used to be issued as Pu Li described and it was just an irritation going to the PSB every few months. In the last few weeks visa applications are being scrutinised and severely restricted. We are hoping this is a temporary thing on the lead-up to the Olympics.
Pu Li... How is Heckmondwyke? I worked in Wyke and stayed in digs there for many years. Has it still got a fish and chip shop on every corner? That's one thing I miss being here.
Graham

I'm not really in Heckmondwyke, I just like the name. I like Sprotborough as well.

Bit of an announcement on the visa thingy:

'The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied that China had stopped issuing multi-entry visas to foreigners, insisting that visa issue procedures continue to be convenient.
Applications are being scrutinized more carefully, spokesman Qin Gang said, adding that the new procedures are based on practices during previous Olympics and other large-scale international sports events.

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"It does not mean all multiple-entry visas have been suspended," he told a regular news briefing.
He said the policies would be in place "for a period of time".
"What is unchanged and will not change is safeguarding our national security and making sure our environment is safe, and making sure foreigners in China will be safe," he said.
"The Chinese government and people will continue to adhere to the policy of opening and reform, and we will continue to be open to the world. We welcome foreigners to come to China to study, work, and travel," he said.
Qin stressed that traveling to China remains far more convenient than to many other countries.
For example, "we do not require fingerprinting for foreign visitors".
Earlier foreign media reports - citing travel agents in Hong Kong - said China had stopped issuing multiple-entry visas and slowed visa processing in the special administrative region - a major gateway for travel to the mainland - in restrictions that will remain in place until after the Olympics.
They said that the authorities are now issuing only single- or double-entry visas to foreigners in Hong Kong, scaling back a program that issued multiple-entry business visas valid for up to three years.
More rules including additional documentation for business visas and hotel bookings and plane tickets for tourist visas have also been reported.
Some foreign chambers of commerce in Hong Kong said the alleged restrictions were affecting their members who travel frequently to the mainland on business.
In Hong Kong, the Foreign Ministry's Office of the Commissioner issued a statement on Monday to clarify some doubts over the visa policy.
It said Chinese visa procedures remain convenient and the office would continue to provide efficient service to applicants.
The office also suggested those who do not work or reside permanently in Hong Kong to apply for a Chinese visa at the Chinese embassies in their resident countries because "the recent drastic rise in the number of applicants adds to the waiting time for processing".
Visa processing usually takes four work days, it said.'

As to my knowledge the following applies for the US only. The Chinese Embassy is issuing the Multiple Entry Visa [MEV]. A current bank statement must be shown at the Issue Window. Not all applicants receive the MEV so it may be at the whim of the person at the window. My wife asked for a MEV and it was granted. The rules have changed several times in the last several weeks. For Americans the fee is $130, expedited add $30. The rules can change from day to day. A concern that visitors should be aware of is the "enter71 [sic] virus, it has killed 6-8K people [that's what the Chinese Government said, it could be a hellva lot more]

The official figures are that it has infected 15799 people and 28 children have died (yesterdays figures). But it is spreading rapidly. These figures may be grossly understated because of the sensitivity surrounding the Olympics. There are cases in Guangxi.
The disease is called Hand,Foot, mouth disease and is NOT the same as Foot-and-mouth disease which affects mainly cattle and pigs.
Lots of information available on Google under HAND FOOT MOUTH DISEASE CHINA

Graham

China's hand-foot-mouth cases rise to 21,502


(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-08 21:38




BEIJING -- China has reported 21,502
hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases so far this year by Thursday,
resulting in 30 deaths, according to a Xinhua tally of local official
figures.


The figure stood at 19,962 on Wednesday, Xinhua found.


The rising number was
not a sign of a deteriorating situation, but mainly because of a recent
order by the Ministry of Health that made HFMD a class C epidemic, the
incidence of which must be reported.


The eastern Shandong
Province reported 1,440 HFMD cases on Thursday. The southernmost Hainan
Province updated the number of infections to 180 and the northwestern
Qinghai Province updated the number to 10 on Thursday.


The Shandong health
authority asked the grassroots hospitals to immediately shift children
with fever under five years old bigger hospitals for better treatment.

So far, EV71 is blamed for most of the 30 deaths
in the outbreak of the disease. Of all the victims, 22 were in Anhui,
three in Guangdong and two in Hainan, with the rest in Zhejiang,
Guangxi, and Hunan, respectively.