First off...I now have a visa. It's a Spouse Visa...which in turn is actually a 6-month L visa (NO WORK PERMIT!). Being married to a Chinese national is one of the very few ways left to get one of these. The tale of getting there is long, weird, and includes accounts of ineptitude, cruelty, and terrorism.
Uh, the "terrorism" part was me.
Coming soon to a Saloon near you...
I'm damned lucky. I have survived. Again.
Were I not married to Typhoon Susan, right now I would be back in the Tulsa airport with only the clothes on my back, unresponsive and curled tightly in the fetal position.
With this, renewals are pretty much automatic in the future
...as long as I remain married.
The Lord sure works in mysterious ways.
Meanwhile, I'm hearing things that are yet unconfirmed but definitely scary.
These include:
- No more visas of any kind (at least not any kind relevant to us) from Hong Kong/Macao. Applicants may be required to return to their home countries to apply.
- New work/residence permits, and some other such "long-term" visas, will not be issued for periods of not more than 3 months at a time.
Don't panic. No confirmation on these yet, and we all know how bullshit gets around. But we all gots homework to do...