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China Is Making Visas Interesting.

By Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson

Visas have always bored me. Sorry about that, but they have. A law school education is rarely needed to figure out visa issues and I did not go to law school for that. I have always taken a rather perverse pride in not keeping up on visa requirements. Anywhere:

Client: Will I need a visa to come to the United States and, if so, what kind? Me: I dunno. Let me pass you off to the high school freshman who does our filing and we can have her figure this out and get back to you in 15 minutes.

Not that I have been immune to visa problems. Not that long ago, I was enroute to Qingdao via Seoul (and when I say enroute, I mean in the air half-way between the two places) when I put on my glasses and noticed for the first time that though the date on my visa was still plenty good, I had already maxed out on the number of visits. My sweet talking the Chinese customs guy did no good and I had to return to Seoul and spend the weekend chillin' at the Westin Chosun until the Chinese Embassy opened back up on Monday. Or the time I was held by the police in Vladivostok, Russia until 2:00 a.m. because I had failed to get a visa for that particular city.... Okay, so I agree visas matter, but they are still not very interesting. Until now. China is cracking down on entries into China every which way it can, and it is doing so to such an extent that it is affecting business. It is impacting business because businesspeople are getting stuck in Hong Kong where they had gone to get visas to re-enter China and are now being told they must return to their "resident country" to get any such visas. It is impacting businesses because companies that were hoping to delay having to form Chinese entities to do business in China are now having to register a WFOE or Representative Office to ensure their people have a basis for coming into China -- another case of lawyers' benefitting from others' bad fortune. And it is impacting business because it is creating massive uncertainties. Rather than my having to deign to explain what is going on, I am just going to link you over to the newly (and timely) formed China Visa Blog, which is valiantly trying to keep up with the constant changes in China's visa situation. Note how 95% of this blog's readers, as per its poll on the left side of its site, are not happy with China's recent visa changes. Me? Thanks for asking. I have a one year multiple entry visa, secured just in time to skirt this mess. Would love to hear any and all China visa stories in the comments below. Let's try to build up a "database" regarding what is going on with China's now ever-changing visa situation, with you-all doing the grunt work.

Full post as published by China Law Blog on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).