China Visa (Photo : Beijingvisitor.com)
Beijing’s Public Security Bureau is launching on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, a new online visa and permit application service for foreign applicants in Beijing. The streamlined procedures aim to simplify obtaining documents and cut approval time.
On Sunday, the bureau’s Entry and Exit Department announced that foreigners could apply for a residence permit, stay permit or visa with the website’s Public Service section. After the applicants fill up an online form and make a reservation, they must go to an assigned window at the department to turn over their documents. The department is located at No. 2 Andingmen Dondajie.
For residence permit applicants, they must register at the local police the accommodation where they intend to stay before they apply for a permit, said Lin Song, an official of the department. He added that the applicant must also bring the printouts of their online application forms with the barcodes.
The department also said on Sunday that foreigners who need to stay in Beijing without getting a visa in advance could do so for an emergency matter. They must apply for the visa online and get the visa stamp upon arrival at the Beijing Capital International Airport, reported China Daily. The same policy applies to foreign applicants invited by a Chinese host to attend to an emergency issue. They must apply online and turn over documents at offices authorized by the bureau’s Entry and Exit Department of the Beijing Airport’s Terminal 2 and 3 where they would get the M or F visa.
In January, the bureau extended the period that a foreign family member of a Chinese citizen to stay in the capital city to a maximum of two years from one year. The two-year permit could be renewed.
Meanwhile, for outward-bound Chinese tourists, TTGAsia reported on Friday that by spring 2016, Finland would open 13 new visa centers in the cities of Xi’an, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Nanjing, Kunming, Jinn. Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu and Changsha. That would be in addition to the existing Finnish visa application centers in Beijing and Shanghai.
