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[tomhume89]

I'm probably leaving China this year after four years for a restart in the UK.

The problem is, my residence permit expires on June 30th and I have the small issue of having my family and chums here in September for my wedding.

Would I have to go to HK to get an L visa? I assume I couldn't get my residence permit extended.

Thanks in advance!
 

[china-matt]

Talk to your employer; they may be able to get an extension on your residence permit or help you obtain an L visa without the HK trip. If you get an L on the mainland it would probably be a 30-day exit visa.

[tomhume89]

Cheers Matt.

I completely forgot the option of the family visa so might try to apply for that instead.

[adamsmith]

Last summer, when I left the school I was at in Shanghai, I had no problem changing the res permit to an L visa while I got my affairs in order and get set up with the new school that my employers are partnered with.
The only problem with doing this, is the L visa shows up as a 0 entry (extension) and this can make it difficult to get another L visa later in Hong Kong if you have too many of them.
Too many being an arbitrary number that the visa clerk seems to decide on a daily basis.
But if you are planning on heading back to the UK and only taking the occasional trip back this would not be a problem for you.

Cheers.

[tomhume89]

Thanks- I assume you got it extended in Shanghai then?

[adamsmith]

oh yeah, I just needed to write a letter saying I was going to do some local travel, and got a letter from the school saying that it was ok plus my copy of the police registration of residence or whatever it is called. Note that the letter from the school has to be addressed to the PSB and not the education guys who give out the FEC - my first one was wrong so I had to make a second trip. It is only a 30 day extension but it is worth it if you are only planning on hanging around for awhile and then leaving anyway because if you are going home then it is usually not going to be a problem to get another visa there to come back when you so desire (or the wife decides it is time to go back because the noodles are too expensive in your home.)