Friends World Program of Long Island University

Visa & Passport

Passport

Last updated on May 01, 2006

Enrollment Letter

You will be required to apply for and obtain a student visa (X visa) for mainland China prior to your departure. To do so, you must first apply for and receive the necessary documents from our host university in China, Zhejiang University. You should do this as soon as possible by sending or faxing the enrollment documents (not the Chinese Q1 visa application form) to the China Center before June 20 for fall semester and before December 5 for spring semester, as Zhejiang University’s semester schedule runs differently from the China Center’s schedule and conflicts do occur. New students should also notify the China Center staff by email when you have sent these forms.
If you do not meet these deadlines, please fax your enrollment application to the China Center immediately and contact the center staff for further advice. However, please note that enrollment applications take at least one week to process and up to fourteen days to return by post, so responses to applications after the deadline may arrive quite late and leave little time for you to process your student visa prior to the standard arrival period. This is particularly a concern in spring semester, when the standard arrival period begins very soon after the deadline.
More information about obtaining a Chinese visa is available on the Visa Page of the China Center website.
All necessary forms are available on the Download Forms of the China Center website.

If you have not done so already, send the following forms and documents to the address below as soon as possible:

1. Application for Admission to Zhejiang University: download here
2. One passport-size color photograph. It is very important that the background color is white.
Please print your full name and passport number on the back. Note that you will be required to submit another visa photograph to the Chinese embassy or consulate before you leave and six photographs to the Foreign Affairs Office of Zhejiang University (in addition to the one above) after your arrival, so we recommend that you take at least eight photographs.
3. A photocopy of the information page on your passport.

Send these three items by post to the China Center at:
China Center
Global College - Long Island University
Mailbox 1709, 38 Zheda Road, Zhejiang University, Yuquan Campus
Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China 310027


Fax: +86-571-87951815 (from the U.S. dial 011 first)

If you are faxing documents, it is very important that you either type using at least a 14 point font or print all answers in large and legible lettering.
The International College at Zhejiang University will send you an enrolment letter and form JW201 or JW202. You will need to take these together with your passport and visa photograph to the Chinese embassy or Chinese consulate-general nearest you to apply for a visa as soon as possible. The Zhejiang University enrolment letter must also be brought with you when you come to the China Center in the fall or spring.

Whether you send your application by post or fax prior to the above deadlines, you should receive notice from the International College of Zhejiang University by August 20 or January 8. If you do not, please allow yourself at least two to three weeks to apply for an L-type visa instead. Under such circumstances rush service is recommended.

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Visa Type

In general students are required to apply for a student visa type X (intended for students staying over six months). This is especially necessary if you intend to enroll both fall and spring semester at the China Center. If you are a short-term student at the China Center, studying for just one semester, you may be required to apply for a student visa type F (intended for students staying less than 180 days), which will be indicated on the JW form sent to you by Zhejiang University.

Once you have received your documents from Zhejiang University, you should apply for a student visa by submitting one completed Visa Application Form (Q1), one completed Physical Examination Certificate (Q2) if planning to stay in China over six months, one additional passport photo, the approved Foreign Student Visa Application Form (JW101 or JW202), and the enrollment letter issued by the International College of Zhejiang University, together with your valid and actual passport to the Chinese Embassy or Consulate General nearest you. You may obtain the forms Q1 and Q2 from the visa office or online at any of the Chinese Consulate websites listed below or at the Chinese Embassy website Visa Application (Q1) and Physical Examination Certificate (Q2) or the Download Forms page of this site.

If you did not apply for the enrollment letter and JW form from Zhejiang University or have not received these in time, you must apply for a single-entry tourist visa type L instead, but do not state in the visa application that you intend to study abroad or you may be denied. You will have the opportunity to change from an L visa to a student X or F visa after arrival in China.

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Visa Office

Please note that it is now policy at the Chinese Embassy and all Chinese Consulates in the United States not to accept visa applications by mail. Therefore, all visa applicants must come to the visa office of the embassy or consulate general in the consular jurisdiction in which the person resides, or entrust a relative or friend or travel/visa agent to complete the application process by proxy (no power of attorney is required). No appointment is necessary to apply for the visa.

To determine the proper consular jurisdiction in the United States please visit this website for a list of states.

You may apply for a Chinese visa in the United States at any of the below six locations (see individual website for further instructions and directions):

1. Embassy in Washington D.C.
2. Consulate General in New York
3. Consulate General in Los Angeles
4. Consulate General in San Francisco
5. Consulate General in Houston
6. Consulate General in Chicago

Last updated on Apr 25, 2007

Visa Fees

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Visa Processing Time

Last updated on May 01, 2006

Medical Exams and Forms

You are required to have a physical examination from a doctor to fill out the "Physical Examination Record for Foreigner" (Q2) form issued by the Chinese visa office if you intend to study in China for more than six months. Students intending to study in China for two or more semesters should submit the above form when applying for a Chinese visa, which is available online from the Chinese embassy website or on the Download Forms page of the China Center website. Students who have already studied for six months in China and decide later to continue for a third semester without leaving the country will be required to submit the Certificate of Verification (for physical examination record for foreigner or overseas Chinese) from the China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Department to the Public Security Bureau visa office together with your invitation letter from Zhejiang University, your passport and visa photographs. Please arrive before 8:00 A.M. and on an empty stomach with all your paper work prepared in advance (including the basic application form available from the Foreign Affairs Office, four two-inch visa photographs, and your actual passport) to the Zhejiang Provincial Health Inspection Department (see address below), since the number of applicants is large and the tests time consuming. If there are no complications you should be able to pick up your results the same day after lunch (typically 2:00 P.M.). You will be tested for an entire range of disease and illnesses and for general physical health, including a blood test for HIV, and X-ray, ultrasound and electrocardiogram (EKG) tests for cardiovascular and other diseases. Please be warned that if you do not arrive before 8:30 A.M. you will not be able to complete the exams and pick up the results the same day, and if you do not arrive with an empty stomach you will need to return another day to complete the medical exam. Applicants with visas expiring the same or following day will most likely not be given privilege over other applicants.

Zhejiang Provincial Health Inspection Department
Phone: +86-571-87046164
Address: 17 Lao Zheda Zhilu
Address in Chinese: 浙江省卫生检病局, 老浙大直路17号
Open for new applicants Monday to Friday 8:00 to 9:00 A.M.

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Residence Permit

The student with an X visa must register with the local public security bureau (PSB) within thirty days after entering the country. All students, whether entering on an L, F or X visa, must make sure not to overstay the validity date of their visa or temporary residence permit. Failure to do so will result in legal consequences, including fines (typically CNY 500 per day for each day overstayed and up to CNY 5,000) that must be paid in full by the student prior to leaving China.

The student X or F visa is good for one entry and may be used within a three-month period. Please note that the Enter Before date on either an L, F or X visa is the date before which you must enter the country, and is not the date of validity for the visa. The date of validity for an L or F visa must be calculated yourself and is based on the Duration of Each Stay (typically 90 days for an L visa, and 120 or 180 days for an F visa), which begins from the date of entry indicated by the customs stamp given at the port of entry.

Chinese Residence Permit for Student

The X visa will indicate a Duration of Each Stay of 000 days. The student entering with an X visa is therefore required to go through residential formalities at the local public security bureau within thirty days after entering the country to arrange a temporary residency permit. This Residence Permit for Foreigner in the People's Republic of China will be added to the visa page of your passport and replace the student visa used to enter the country as the official document used to prove right to reside within China. It is valid typically up to one month longer than the period of study indicated on the JW form and allows multiple and unlimited entries into China for the entire duration of the permit without additional fees or paperwork. The Chinese residence permit looks very similar to a Chinese visa, but unlike a visa indicates your purpose of residence.

Validity Date Warning


Students staying more than one semester are warned that it is much easier to unintentionally overstay a visa than one could possibly imagine, and every year numerous foreign exchange students in Hangzhou are forced to leave the country and/or pay substantial fines. Short of tattooing the expiration date of your visa on your forehead, students are encouraged to take the necessary means to remember this date and to begin the renewal process well in advance of its expiration. While the application may take only four to five days to process, students staying in the country for a second semester should make sure the necessary paperwork is in hand at least three weeks in advance. If you are a fall student extending your visa to the spring, you will need to apply for a letter of extension from the Foreign Affairs Office of the International College at Zhejiang University prior to their winter holiday, even if your visa is good beyond that date. It is difficult for spring semester students wishing to study another semester in China during the fall to extend a student visa without leaving the country during the summer. Students spending two semesters or more in China will be required to submit records of a physical examination, which may be completed in Hangzhou or prior to entering the country. If you do not extend your visa through the Foreign Affairs Office prior to leaving the country you will need to pay an additional CNY 400 processing fee when you return.

Please be warned that while the China Center faculty and Zhejiang University staff will provide students with information regarding visas and residency permits and will always be available to answer questions regarding these, it is entirely the student's responsibility to apply for a residency permit if on an X visa, to beware of the validity date of the visa regardless of type, to register change of residence with the police, and most importantly not to overstay the validity of the visa and to be in complete compliance with all local visa and residency laws while in China. Any fines or legal consequences for noncompliance are entirely the student's legal and financial responsibility and not those of the China Center faculty, Zhejiang University or Long Island University.

To overstay a student visa does not just impact your own legal status in China, it also impinges upon the relationship between the Foreign Affairs Office and the local Public Security Bureau and adversely affects the standing of Global College with both.

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Declaration of Temporary Residence

It is also the responsibility of the student living in individually arranged off-campus housing to register any new residence address at the local police station within twenty-four hours. This includes any stay more than one night at any residence (Chinese or foreign) that is not a state approved hotel or hostel. The student must also report any change of address to the International College of Zhejiang University and the China Center faculty within the same time period.

Students checking into the International Students Dormitory on campus should keep a copy of this registration paperwork as proof of temporary residence in China when extending or changing a visa type or when applying for a Temporary Residence Permit. Students living in off-campus apartments have the responsibility of registering your residence with the police on your own. To do so, students should first request Proof of Accommodation (Zhusu Zhengming 住宿证明) from your landlord. Next take the Proof of Accommodation together with your passport to the local police station (paichu suo 派出所) in your neighborhood district during hours of operation.

Registration is free (assuming you have no fines for late registration to pay). Once inside present your Proof of Accommodation and passport and fill out all three sections of the Registration Form of Temporary Residence for Visitors from Overseas (Jingwai Renyuan Linshi Zhusu Dengjibiao 境外人员临时住宿登记表). The first two parts are in English and the third part is in Chinese. Make sure you fill out the Date of Arrival in parts one and two as the date you register with the police and not the date you entered the country, the city or moved into your apartment. You may fill out the third part of the form in English. Fill in the five blanks in this part in this order: 1) your full name 2) today's date in the order of year 3) month 4) day and 5) the address you are registering. You will be provided a small, insignificant looking strip of paper with no English torn from the bottom of a form stamped with one and one-half red official seals. This is the Proof of Declaration of Temporary Residence for Overseas Visitors (Jingwai Renyuan Shenbao Linshihukou Pingzheng 境外人员申报临时户口凭证) and should be kept in a secure place. You will need to show this to the Public Security Bureau every time it becomes necessary to extend or change your visa type during your stay in China.

Please note that students with an X-type visa are allowed free multiple entries into China without further paper work from the Public Security Bureau, but according to law you must announce your change in temporary residence to the local police each time you return, even if you are residing at the same address.

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Miscellaneous

Last updated on Mar 26, 2008

Work Visa and Employment

Students wishing to seek part-time or full-time contracted employment from a Chinese work unit must apply for a work visa. However, the China Center may employ students for certain tasks or projects. For example, a student may be paid to organize the books and articles left out by other students, and qualified students may be hired to work with the Academic Director on special projects. Students in past semesters have worked at the China Center to catalogue new books, create a library database, and design and update the center website.

Many students do, however, find non-contractual employment with Chinese individuals or unregistered institutions. In recent semesters some students have worked as English teachers at many venues throughout the city, such as the Nova Language College, where most students can earn CNY 100 (approximately USD 12) per hour without a B.A., although CNY 150 per hour is not uncommon with a B.A., TESL/TEFL certification or substantial teaching experience. Time English, at CNY 80 per hour is also a good place for students without teaching experience or a B.A. and the center is conveniently located walking distance to Zhejiang University.

Some students have also worked recording English language radio programs for Zhejiang Radio, which can be fun work that pays quite well. The going rate is CNY 1,000 for 30 five-minute shows, which can be recorded in about four-five hours, or about 200-250 per hour (up to $30/hour). Other students have worked in clubs as a DJ or a dancer, a personal trainer at a gym, or a musician at a local bar, or a radio host on the air. Some students have even worked as models in the advertisement business and as actors and actresses in Chinese television and films. However, such non-contractual work does not protect the student's rights and is not officially sanctioned nor encouraged by the China Center or the host university. Students interested in securing contractual employment prior to arriving in China should consult local online human resource sites such as on Jobs East:
Working for China or contact the following organizations directly:

Nova Language College
Address: 5 Huanglong Road, Hangzhou
Name and Address in Chinese: 诺华语言培训中心, 杭州黄龙路5号黄龙恒励大厦三楼啊区
Phone: 571-87630030
Website

Time English
73 Shuguang Road
Located in the first-floor lobby of the Zhejiang Library across from Trust Mart
Name and Address in Chinese: 曙光路73号浙江图书馆时代英语
Director: Yang Yichun (John Yang)
Cell: 13082816848; 13819198287

Graduates of Friends World interested in continuing to live in Hangzhou may also consider teaching fulltime at the Shane English School, where the basic monthly salary for a candidate with a B.A. is CNY 6,600 (or more depending on qualifications) and flight reimbursement up to CNY 4,200.

Shane English School
Address: 9 Yaobei Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310007
Located on the corner of Tianmushan Road
Phone: 571-88801866
Cell: 13336002330
Fax: +86-571-88067077
Website
Contact: Liam Brady


Voice of the Tourist, Zhejiang Radio
Address: 111 Mogan Shan Road 莫干山路111号,浙江广播电视集团)
Contact: Zhou Hui
Cell: 13777868956

Last updated on Jun 07, 2006

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