Residence Permit for Wife and Child

My wife and child arrived here on L visas on the 6th of June, and these will expire on the 5th of July.
I have resigned from my present school (finish on June 28) who say it is a waste of money getting them RP's because a) it will take up to 4 weeks, and b) because my RP will be cancelled when I leave my current school.
My new school says that they won't have enough time to process RP's for them before their visas expire, and before they all go on summer vacation.
I am due to start at my new school on July 1, and expect that I will have no trouble getting an RP with a letter of release from my old school, cancelled Foreign Expert's certificate, and results of my medical exam.
What can I do for my wife and child to keep them with me in China?
All suggestions greatly received.

Do a run to Hong Kong and get them new tourist visas for the time being. The school can get them on your visa/residence permit once the school year starts, right? So you just need something in the meantime? Tourist visas in Hong Kong won't be cheap, but they'll get the job done.

OK thanks LD for the suggestion

Presumming they are going to stay a while, you could get anywhere from a 1/3/6/12 month visa. Of course, pricing varies according to length. The longer, the cheaper per month is NOT always the way, ASK!

I don't know the rules regarding infants so I won't speculate. But I doubt it will be any harder then getting mom's.
Some help here: http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?topic=8412.0

If you don't know how, we have plenty of info regarding "The Hong Kong Run" in http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?board=42.0 forum (Seek what helps you)

Excellent Day Dreamer, thank you so much.
Initially when my wife was applying for the tourist visa in Chiang Mai, Thailand, she was told they could get a 3 month tourist visa, but when she went to pick up the visas, there was a different lady who told her that at CM they could only give out 30 day visas, so that is what was given.
I will now have a good read of your links,
Cheers!

To get a longer visa, try having a local write a letter formally inviting them to come visit. The first time my parents came to China this is what we did. We included my Chinese husband's ID number and cell phone number. They ended up with year long tourist visas with 90 day entries. Might be worth a try!

Thanks LD. When my wife went the 1st time, she forgot to bring the photos(!), so the lady told her to come back with a letter from me (A western teacher)inviting them to come and stay with me. When she gave this letter, that is when she was told she could have a 3 month visa. If they have to leave to get new tourist visa before they get the RP, I will get the uni to write a letter inviting them to stay with me if necessary, but I guess if they will get their RP's after I get mine, then they will only need a 30 day L visa, but all of this is good advice, and I thank you again.

Although the HK run is an option it may be quite an expensive one for a family. The first option I would check out is that of renewing the visas through the local Public Security Bureau. Going by Guangzhou regulations of the past (which may not have changed):

From the Guangzhou Govt site:
 
2. Visa Extension 
"A foreign visitor who wants to extend his or her stay in the PRC or change the type or content of his or her visa should file an application with the relevant government agency in a timely manner according to the following procedures:

(1) Present his or her passport, visa and other required identification papers;

(2) Fill out the visa extension or visa change application form;

(3) Provide a certificate justifying the reason for the visa extension or change.

http://www.gz.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/gzgoven/s3667/

Or from an agency that charges a fee for processing a visa (uguide.org):

Renewal of L Visa
Renewal of L (Tourist) Visa:
Tourism Visa (L): Issued to those who enter China temporarily for leisure, family visiting or other personal affairs (multiple-entry is not granted for this category with an options of up to two entries).

L visa in China
If you enter into China on a tourist “L” visa with intent to stay beyond the validity period specified on the current visa, we can assist you to extend your current “L” visa. You can re-apply for a one month zero-entry or single-entry L visa for a maximum of two times per entry into China.

Documents required:
Passport with valid L visa
One 2-inch passport photo
Registration Form of Temporary Residence (from police station or hotel)
Processing time: 5 business days provided all materials for application are complete.

Years ago I had to organise this for a visitor and the 'Registration Form of Temporary Residence' was a basic form filled in by the local police station using information I supplied.



What thoughts on this as an option?

 

Thanks XWarrior. Some years ago, I heard that a visa could be extended at Qingdao exit/entry bureau, and as we are moving to Shandong Province, that might be an option too.
If they have to leave to get a new visa, then an Air Asia flight Wuhan to BKK might be the go too if it is cheap enough........

A few bits of information:

- The cost of the visa from HK depends on the number of entries, not the length of visa or exit period requirement.

- Someone recently posted on gzstuff.com that it was quite easy for him to get a one year visa renewal or extension from the Guangzhou PSB for a tourist visa. He was experienced and knew the price difference with Hong Kong, however he refused to tell his nationality, which is very relevant.

- If you are USA passport holders, you have yet another option. You can send your passport to a friend/relative in the USA who will forward it to a passport agency that can get you a one year tourist visa for $180 visa cost, about $75 processing cost, and also the cost of FedEx or UPS. It usually totals out to under $300 USD per person. The person I know who did it most recently got a 12 month multiple L tourist (which is really a 13 month) with a 60 day exit requirement, which means they have to cross a border out of mainland PRC once every 60 days. I have also heard of 90 day exit requirements on these.

There are agencies in the USA that will accept passports from overseas and some who won't. When my friend did this last year, he was passportless in China for 2.5 weeks and after receiving his passport back with new tourist visa, the first time he crossed out of China for the exit requirement he was waiting to see if there would be any problem since it was obvious he'd gotten a new visa without leaving. There was no problem at that time.

There is also an agency in HK to whom you can send your passport for exactly the same thing, but they charge $800 USD instead of $250.

Update:
I have just been told by my new employer in Shandong, that they can issue me a new Rp no worries, but according to the police there and the PSB Entry/Exit, they cannot extend my wife's or daughter's L visas.
I have also tried today to extend my wife's and daughter's L visas here in Hubei, and was told it is not possible. (Why-I don't know, as no-one is saying why).

I can not afford the visa agents' fees, so they will have to do a visa run from Shandong when we get there. Such is life. I will keep you all updated, as things change very day.

Just to update, they had to go back to Thailand, and now.....see my post on the R1 and R2 visa thread.