Bring Chinese girlfriend to the UK for a visit. 50,000 RMB you say???

goodluck seanf...hoep things go well..

we also have that rule in our country (Philippines) that when we visit the UK.AUSTRALIA.NZ and the US we have to have some amount in our banks (which we call "show money") to be allowed to visit tho mentioned countries...

Well, there is hope. My Chinese wife did pick up her French visa this afternoon.

goodluck seanf...hoep things go well..

Thanks very much.  I really hope we will be successful

Well, there is hope. My Chinese wife did pick up her French visa this afternoon.

Congratulations!

Sean

Hey Sean, maybe this is too late but I thought I'd chip in in case anyone else needs help.

I did the same last summer with my girlfriend. I'm a Brit too (Welsh). Maybe this differs as my girlfriend is a student, but I'll give you a rundown about what we did (I wish I'd have known at the time!).

We were traveling together and had a return flight booked, the copy of which we sent in. We got a note of sponsorship from me Ma and Pa who said they'd sponsor her and put her up in the UK for the whole 6 week travel period. She had to get a letter from her Uni saying she'd go back to finish her postgrad course, and I had to send in our bank details, including a letter from my school proving my wage and that it would be paid until we were in the UK. She had only 10,000RMB in her bank, while I would have around 20-30k by the time we went. We also included photos of us together from at least 2 years before and also emails between her and my family, proving contact and the reason why we were traveling- for her to meet my family.

Got the visa about a week later. No qualms at all.

Good luck!

Hey Sean, maybe this is too late but I thought I'd chip in in case anyone else needs help.

Hi.  Your advice is not too late at all and I am very grateful to hear from people that have been in the same situation.  So the only things you really needed for your girlfriend was proof of her flight home and that she would return to Uni in China and some details of how you would support her?  That's very interesting and sounds a lot simpler than what I have heard so far, such as the minimum bank balance.  Have you got any sources you could point me to that you found useful when researching this please?

Many thanks

Sean

Got the visa about a week later. No qualms at all.

Sorry, forgot to ask in my first post, but I assume she already had a passport based on getting the visa so quickly.  Is that correct?

Sean

Sorry, forgot to ask in my first post, but I assume she already had a passport based on getting the visa so quickly.  Is that correct?

Sean

Indeed. Has she not? She got it a while back in anticipation of going abroad with me.

Hi.  Your advice is not too late at all and I am very grateful to hear from people that have been in the same situation.  So the only things you really needed for your girlfriend was proof of her flight home and that she would return to Uni in China and some details of how you would support her?  That's very interesting and sounds a lot simpler than what I have heard so far, such as the minimum bank balance.  Have you got any sources you could point me to that you found useful when researching this please?

Many thanks

Sean

As for links, I'm afraid it was almost a year ago so cannot remember for the life of me! The links would have been through google and other expat sites- maybe Shanghai Expat? I found it pretty difficult as most links online with advice on this was mainly Brits with Thai girls, not Chinese. One thing my GF did was ring a couple of agencies in China for advice. They were very helpful.

And it wasn't as simple as it sounded! Just found the letter I sent- it explained that I (at the time) had around 14k in the bank and that I would be paid up until August that year, giving me around 30k or so overall. Anything else would be covered by me ma and pa (including, crucially, residence). Hope this will help further- I just completely forgot half of this stuff as it was so long ago!

List of attached documents referred to in this letter:
•   Copies of emails from my mother, my father and my brother showing contact between my family and my GF
•   Copy of my bank statement in China
•   Copy of my bank statement in the UK (had a couple of hundred quid)
•   Copy of my GF's bank statement (she had 10k in there- that I transferred over!)
•   Copy of itinerary (this seemed fairly important)
•   Letter granting GF leave from her college in Xiangtan University ( officially stamped)
•   Copy of flight booking  (big warnings in the embassy saying don't do this as you might still get rejected, but it was cheaper booking so soon)
•   Copy of my contract with the school (proof of incoming funds)
•   Letter from my college, confirming my monthly wage and future income until we went away
•   Letter of sponsor from me ma
•   Copy of me ma's bank statement
•   Copy of me ma's passport (proof of UK residence)

There were also photos of us together from over a year before, proving we'd been going out for a while.

Thank you so much once again.  Your advice is invaluable

Indeed. Has she not?

Not yet.  She needs to travel to her home town for this and will be doing that next month

Copy of my GF's bank statement (she had 10k in there- that I transferred over!)

I will probably be transferring money too.  Did you just make a payment straight into her bank account for this?

Sean

Sean, I just made a payment- no questions asked. In fact, there were no questions at all: as opposed to the American visa system (by the sounds of things), there was no interview. We just rocked up to the consulate visa place in Guangzhou, she got her iris/fingerprints scanned, had a photo, gave the documents and then that was that (after an hour or so of wait). No interview or anything.

Btw, although we didn't have to get any proper translating done (i.e. professionally), we did have to translate ourselves at the last minute on her photocopy of her Hukou.

Good luck! If there's any more questions just fire away.

Good luck! If there's any more questions just fire away.

Thank you yet again.  It really is so helpful to be able to talk to people who have been through this already.  Once my girlfriend has her Passport I will start to complete the Visa application for her and then we will both submit it the next time I travel to see her.  I'm sure I'll be back here if I have more questions!

Sean

The time has come for me to   over this issue for my lovely wife, and questions have arisen.

1.  She's got a passport.  I told her that AFAIK, she still needed Chinese permission to take a jaunt across the puddle to visit the USA.  She checked online and kept getting referred to the US Consulate website (see question #2).  Where are the regs for Chinese citizens to get whatever may be needed from the Chinese side before visiting the USA?

2.  Looks like she needs a B2 visa from the US Consulate.  Unlike civilized countries, the US website doesn't seem to allow any preview of the visa application form - instead, it's revealed bit by bit as you fill out the application (am tempted to file one for a panda just to see what the later pages look like in advance of doing the real one).  Anyone know how long a B2 is typically good for?  Optimally, I'd like to to be as long as possible since I'm hoping for another trip sometime next year and would like to skip leaping through extra hoops.  The only thing I found in the FAQ at the consulate was something about Indefinite duration visas now having a definite expiration.


Note:  We're not going as a tour.  Instead, we'll be flying off to a remote and boring town in the middle of the mountains somewhere to spend a week or two being tormented shown around by my parents.  I've already showed her Meet the Parents and Meet the Fokkers to help prepare her.

She doesn't need permission from China as long as she has a passport EL. Unless she works for the government, in which case her danwei might have some issues with her going, or is in the army, China doesn't really care. When they gave her the passport that was their "permission" for her to go wherever.

Now the USA side will want some stuff from China, depending on the visa type, but all that is outlined on the consulate website.

I am pretty sure USA tourist visas are good for six months but I'm not 100% sure. That said, once you've been granted a visa once it is pretty easy to get another one, in fact I think you can even renew your tourist visa online.

Thanks TLD!

Now we just need to collect that new 2"x2" ID photo on the white background (ever notice that every type of application requires different sizes and backgrounds? )

   
She doesn't need permission from China as long as she has a passport

That depends. If she is a political activist, she may be detained indefinitely by authorities while attempting to cross the border out of China.

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She doesn't need permission from China as long as she has a passport

That depends. If she is a political activist, she may be detained indefinitely by authorities when attempt to cross the border out of China.

She confines her political activities to supporting my Escaped Lunatic for Emperor of Earth campaign, so I don't think that should be a major issue.