After months of collecting paperwork, medical exams, and endless email chains, the final stages of the relocation process are hopefully coming to an end! The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco is processing my application and I hope to pick it up — and my passport — on Tuesday May 23. If everything is in order and the Z visa is granted, the next steps are to schedule the movers, obtain the one-way plane ticket, and potentially book a hotel for a few nights as my lease terminates on May 31. Whoah. Getting close!
For anyone considering moving to mainland China, the process for obtaining the required Z visa can be daunting. Here’s a list of tips that might help:
- Work with a professional services company, like CIBTvisas, and an immigration attorney who has experience with this process.
- Have 4-6 passport photos taken of you as you will need them for the visa application, your medical report, and potentially other documents.
- Be prepared to submit not only your college/university transcripts but also your diploma. Yes, your physical diploma! (Currently my diploma is in China while the frame is hanging empty on my bedroom wall.)
- The required medical exam should include “all the normal things” — which apparently means a typical annual physical, an EKG readout, and a chest x-ray. The exam should be “stamped” with your physician’s “seal” and include a picture of you.
- Make copies of all the documents and applications before arriving at the Chinese Consulate. You will get to keep the originals, but they want copies. Bring the originals with you when submitting your application.
- Be prepared to wait in line for an hour or longer with each trip to the Consulate. You might also have the pleasure of listening to protesters outside the Consulate yelling at you and the people inside on megaphones. #annoying
- When picking up your visa, you will need to submit payment then. For the L travel visa (good for 10 years and multiple entries for Americans) the cost is $140. I think the Z visa is the same price and will learn for sure next week. I highly advise getting a money order from the US Postal Service as the credit card reader at the Consulate here in SF often goes down randomly. If you do not want potentially wait in line twice to get into the Consulate to pick up your visa, obtain that money order first.
— expatrichie