Dear all,
Recently shocked to learn that it seems quite difficult for a Cambodian, unmarried woman to get a visa for China. For me, it's no problem to get a visa but so far when we went to one visa agency, they asked:
-are you married?
-Have you ever been to Europe or the US?
The same agency also told us that without meeting either of these two criteria it is impossible unless you deposit $20,000 at a particular Chinese bank in Phnom Penh.
Also looking at a letter of invitation from my gf's company branch in China, but according to the person in the Embassy, that's no guarantee either.
Also, saw PorkPiePorn's experience http://www.khmer440.com/chat_forum/view ... =6&t=58757 but that relied on knowing someone at the Embassy.
Does anyone know a workaround for this? We have traveled to many countries in ASEAN and also India but never expected to get this difficult of a problem
Thanks in advance.
China visa for Cambodian girlfriend
I have no experience, with a Chinese visa for a Cambodian girlfriend, but every time I went to Chinese embassy there were loads of Cambodians applying (although I also saw someone from a Cambodian visa agency with two hands full of passports....), and each time I flew to China from Phnom Penh there were loads of Cambodians on board. One time my wife and I had a long lay over in Beijing all of us were allowed a free 72h visa without any questions asked.palm_tree wrote:Dear all,
Recently shocked to learn that it seems quite difficult for a Cambodian, unmarried woman to get a visa for China. For me, it's no problem to get a visa but so far when we went to one visa agency, they asked:
-are you married?
-Have you ever been to Europe or the US?
The same agency also told us that without meeting either of these two criteria it is impossible unless you deposit $20,000 at a particular Chinese bank in Phnom Penh.
Also looking at a letter of invitation from my gf's company branch in China, but according to the person in the Embassy, that's no guarantee either.
Also, saw PorkPiePorn's experience http://www.khmer440.com/chat_forum/view ... =6&t=58757 but that relied on knowing someone at the Embassy.
Does anyone know a workaround for this? We have traveled to many countries in ASEAN and also India but never expected to get this difficult of a problem
Thanks in advance.
My advice: move around the shady visa agencies and visit the Chinese embassy. They can tell you first hand without any (OK, maybe little...) interest of their own. Visa agencies love to spread stories about visa that are hard to obtain....
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I concur, go direct to the embassy. Thanks for mentioning my previous explanation, because when I saw this thread, it was the first thing I wanted search up and reference.Kachang wrote:My advice: move around the shady visa agencies and visit the Chinese embassy. They can tell you first hand without any (OK, maybe little...) interest of their own. Visa agencies love to spread stories about visa that are hard to obtain....
Now, I have no idea if it would have been anymore difficult had we not had that contact, as we had never actually tried at the embassy, just that all the (non PP based) travel agencies wouldn't even try.
My suggestion is to get everything together: flights, accommodation, itinerary, health insurance, and a stated purpose of the trip. Make up a letter from a business with a letterhead, and make her your personal assistant accompanying you on your business trip. that's what I did.
Its possible that travel agencies just cannot work with the Chinese embassy on this stuff. I would like to hear from anyone that has attended at the Embassy and been refused and on what grounds.
If she already has many travel stamps that should also be to her benefit. Good luck.
The problem with the world is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
This, and they'll also want to see a bank statement in her name showing a reasonable balance, I think it was 2500.PPP wrote:If she already has many travel stamps that should also be to her benefit. Good luck.
As far as I know they didn't care about hotel and whatnot, but better have too much than not enough.
Thanks Kachang and PorkPiePorn. Kachang, the Cambodians on the flight may have been married, non-female, I don't know, anyone who doesn't seem like a human trafficking victim.
Could be related to this: http://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-urges ... 71535.html
Actually, the person my gf called at the Embassy said also that she would be required to deposit 20,000 USD, and also that she would need a letter of invitation, preferably from a Ministry in China but it could also be from her company (which has a branch in China), but in the latter case they couldn't guarantee it.
This was after the travel agency/visa agency said that she would need this. I don't think the visa agency had any interest at play since they were not offering to do it for us, they just said 'it's difficult'.
Since then we have gone to two more travel agenies. One said they would try to do it, and they need only ID, family book, photo, passport, etc. But they can't guarantee it and if they can't get it they will refund the money.
The second place said they could get it, and had their fixer on the phone. They said she needs to get a letter from her employer as well as her employer's license, tax ID, etc. If they can't get it they will refund the money.
PorkPiePorn, in our case, did you also have a Business Visa? Because you said you were presenting it as if your girlfriend was your personal assistant on a business trip. Applying for a business visa will vastly complicate my own visa process. Also, you mentioned health insurance- do you mean health insurance in China? Or some kind of travel health insurance? That seems quite complicated for a 10 day trip.
Could be related to this: http://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-urges ... 71535.html
Actually, the person my gf called at the Embassy said also that she would be required to deposit 20,000 USD, and also that she would need a letter of invitation, preferably from a Ministry in China but it could also be from her company (which has a branch in China), but in the latter case they couldn't guarantee it.
This was after the travel agency/visa agency said that she would need this. I don't think the visa agency had any interest at play since they were not offering to do it for us, they just said 'it's difficult'.
Since then we have gone to two more travel agenies. One said they would try to do it, and they need only ID, family book, photo, passport, etc. But they can't guarantee it and if they can't get it they will refund the money.
The second place said they could get it, and had their fixer on the phone. They said she needs to get a letter from her employer as well as her employer's license, tax ID, etc. If they can't get it they will refund the money.
PorkPiePorn, in our case, did you also have a Business Visa? Because you said you were presenting it as if your girlfriend was your personal assistant on a business trip. Applying for a business visa will vastly complicate my own visa process. Also, you mentioned health insurance- do you mean health insurance in China? Or some kind of travel health insurance? That seems quite complicated for a 10 day trip.
logos wrote:This, and they'll also want to see a bank statement in her name showing a reasonable balance, I think it was 2500.PPP wrote:If she already has many travel stamps that should also be to her benefit. Good luck.
As far as I know they didn't care about hotel and whatnot, but better have too much than not enough.
Thanks logos, I think my girlfriend has several thousand dollars in fixed term deposits. I guess that would be enough? It doesn't really look like a bank statement though- I think she has like a bank book.
OP,
what kind of visa are you aiming for? It seems like you're not just looking for a single entry tourist visa but for more. About the money, if I remember well they used to require 100 USD in the bank per night, a return ticket and hotel reservation also required. Not sure about health insurance, but I can't remember I've ever showed it @ the Chinese embassy.
what kind of visa are you aiming for? It seems like you're not just looking for a single entry tourist visa but for more. About the money, if I remember well they used to require 100 USD in the bank per night, a return ticket and hotel reservation also required. Not sure about health insurance, but I can't remember I've ever showed it @ the Chinese embassy.
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I do have legitimate corporations, so the letter I issued was on business letter head. I also have business interests, and even visited a few manufacturer's. I thought making it look like a business trip would be beneficial, however, I was granted a multiple entry L (tourist) visa good for 1 year.palm_tree wrote:PorkPiePorn, in our case, did you also have a Business Visa? Because you said you were presenting it as if your girlfriend was your personal assistant on a business trip. Applying for a business visa will vastly complicate my own visa process. Also, you mentioned health insurance- do you mean health insurance in China? Or some kind of travel health insurance? That seems quite complicated for a 10 day trip.
There was no indication I should show any kind of financial security for her, this is interesting and the first time I heard it.
I meant travel health insurance, I never travel without it, and I purchased for her also from world nomads.
Another idea I had would be for you to book a trip tour with a Chinese travel agent. I contacted direct and on-line. We looked into that. They do the letters of invitation and can help with the Visa.
Hearing all this, I feel very fortunate that we both had the chance to go. And it is pretty awesome. Again, good luck.
The problem with the world is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
Hi Kachang,
For me personally I will be trying for a multi-entry tourist visa. For my girlfriend, if we could get a double entry visa that would be great because we could go to Macau, which doesn't require a visa for Cambodians, and we are flying into Guangzhou which is not very far away. But if it's only single entry, that's fine.
Thanks for the other items- we already have that covered.
For me personally I will be trying for a multi-entry tourist visa. For my girlfriend, if we could get a double entry visa that would be great because we could go to Macau, which doesn't require a visa for Cambodians, and we are flying into Guangzhou which is not very far away. But if it's only single entry, that's fine.
Thanks for the other items- we already have that covered.
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Let us know how it goes. Again, good luck.palm_tree wrote:Hi Kachang,
For me personally I will be trying for a multi-entry tourist visa. For my girlfriend, if we could get a double entry visa that would be great because we could go to Macau, which doesn't require a visa for Cambodians, and we are flying into Guangzhou which is not very far away. But if it's only single entry, that's fine.
Thanks for the other items- we already have that covered.
The problem with the world is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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When I first applied for China Visa, only single entry was permitted.
Subsequent applications have been multi-entry.
Subsequent applications have been multi-entry.
Never got back to you all on this one... We did find some travel agents that said that they thought they could get the China visa for my girlfriend. But they wouldn't guarantee it, and it was more expensive. They had some contact that would try to get it, and they would list various documents. It was about $60 or $65.
My gf got a letter from her employer which is a company that also has a branch in China to issue her an invitation letter. We paid the money and got the visa but it was only single entry.
So in the end we did get it without paying a $10,000 deposit at the bank, but it was not a sure thing.
My gf got a letter from her employer which is a company that also has a branch in China to issue her an invitation letter. We paid the money and got the visa but it was only single entry.
So in the end we did get it without paying a $10,000 deposit at the bank, but it was not a sure thing.
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