China Visa

[mlkitt3]

I know this is a strange place to post this but thought some Aussies may have had this situation and could answer my question.

We are cruising in Oct Tokyo to Hong Kong we have one day in Port at Shanghai.

Do we need to get a visa before we leave home ?

Do the ships organise on ship ones?

Anyone that could give me some information would be much appreciated.

We may not even leave the ship as have been to Shanghai before but need to have all bases covered for what might eventuate!

Do you need a visa if you do not leave ship?

Many thanks in advance. 😀

[By The Bay]

I know this is a strange place to post this but thought some Aussies may have had this situation and could answer my question.

We are cruising in Oct Tokyo to Hong Kong we have one day in Port at Shanghai.

Do we need to get a visa before we leave home ? Yes

Do the ships organise on ship ones? No

Anyone that could give me some information would be much appreciated. I used http://www.visaforchina.org/SYD_EN/ to arrange the visa.

We may not even leave the ship as have been to Shanghai before but need to have all bases covered for what might eventuate! You are entering their territorial waters, so you are in their country whether you go ashore or not.

Do you need a visa if you do not leave ship? Yes. See above.

Many thanks in advance. 😀

The answers provided are from my experience sailing with Princess. Other cruise lines might be different.

[Pushka]

This is from our Cunard Cruise.

They wont let you board without the Visa. Whether or not you plan to leave the ship.

You can get them yourself by attending the Consulate in your state. If you dont have a consulate then you need to use a Courier Visa service company which is really expensive.

You need to provide a detailed into and exit itinerary.

You need to complete the Visa application.

You need to leave your passport with the Embassy and wait for a few days to collect.

 

Chinese Immigration Officials boarded the ship at the port before the China entry one. In our case this was Malaysia.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Pushka

[The_Big_M]

This is from our Cunard Cruise.

They wont let you board without the Visa. Whether or not you plan to leave the ship.

You can get them yourself by attending the Consulate in your state. If you dont have a consulate then you need to use a Courier Visa service company which is really expensive.

You need to provide a detailed into and exit itinerary.

You need to complete the Visa application.

You need to leave your passport with the Embassy and wait for a few days to collect.

 

Chinese Immigration Officials boarded the ship at the port before the China entry one. In our case this was Malaysia.

 

For Chinese visas they've now outsourced them in Australia (and also apparently in many other countries) to 3rd party processing firm. If you go to the embassy, they'll just shoo you away.

 

You still pay the standard fee, but have the delight of paying the processor for their non-value adding service as well (since it's just purely a revenue raiser for China now.).

 

Aint outsourcing grand.

[Pushka]

Ok. Thats changed for the worse. We had to use one of the outsourcing people as we don't have a consulate here. And way too many $$$$.

[cruisine21]

For Chinese visas they've now outsourced them in Australia (and also apparently in many other countries) to 3rd party processing firm. If you go to the embassy, they'll just shoo you away.

 

 

Has this been a recent change? My parents went to the embassy in Sydney in January last year and got their Chinese Visa.

[By The Bay]

Has this been a recent change? My parents went to the embassy in Sydney in January last year and got their Chinese Visa.

I must admit that the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre has the appearance of being part of the official Chinese embassy. However it is not.

 

"As of 9 May 2013 Visa applications of ordinary passport holders must be submitted to the Chinese Visa Application Service Centres"

 

 

"The Chinese Embassy and Consulates General in Australia do not accept visa applications of ordinary passport holders directly. All applicants holding ordinary passport are required to submit their visa applications to the Chinese Visa Application Service Centres located in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane according to their services areas. More information of the Chinese Visa Application Service Centres" Ref: http://au.china-embassy.org/eng/ls/vfc/t1038761.htm

[Tara Jane]

We sail on 13 March and got our visas from the service centre in Melbourne. Our Adelaide friends had to post theirs to Canberra as there is no office in Adelaide. It was by memory about $139 each for them and ours was $109.50 each. Still a lot cheaper than using the visalink service.

Someone posted on the Asia thread that cruise passengers from 1st Feb won't need visas for port stops however our Cunard instructions state we will not be allowed on board if we dont have the visa.

[Pushka]

Very wise Tara Jane. I wouldnt risk someone checking you in in Adelaide/Melb being up to date. Lucky you. That was me 2 years ago. Had a wonderful time. I loved cruising through the Barrier Reef. Stunning scenery right up the top.

[mlkitt3]

Many thanks for all your info we still have a while to go till the cruise so will keep on monitoring China site to see if any changes. Then a few months out will get a visa if need be.:)