Getting a Chinese Visa in Bangkok

There's a lot of misinformation about obtaining a visa for China in Bangkok on the Internet. I'd read everything from it not being a problem, through to them not giving out any visas. I'd read you couldn't get more than 30 days, and some people said that you needed a whole load of documentation.

It turned out to be incredibly easy - and I ended up with a six month, multiple entry Type L Visa. No need to show an onward ticket, detailed itinerary, or hotel booking.

I'll post a link to this on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum for anyone who's in the same situation I was a few days ago. Leave comments if anyone has any questions.

To get to the Embassy, take the Subway to Pra Rham IX (Rama 9) Station. Look for Exit 1 (Fortune City) and when you exit the Subway, turn back on yourself, past Pizza Hut. Walk up the street for a few minutes, and when you get to the next road - just after the road bridge, the building on your left is the Visa Office.

It doesn't look like a visa office - there's no sign, and the building looks abandoned. One side even has bamboo scaffolding up. I heard a rumour they're going to move the office - but not sure if that's true or not.

Turn left down the road, and the entrance is on your left. I turned up at about 8:30am and there were already people waiting for the office to open.

At exactly 9am they open the doors, and the stampede begins. Just follow everyone else up the stairs, and as you enter the door for the visa office, there's a security guard handing out forms.

Take a form, and then on the left there's a machine where people are taking ticket numbers. Press Visa, and grab the ticket from the machine. My (first) number was 27 - but when I'd filled in the form, they were already past 27, so I took another ticket.

It's worth noting - the form asks for a rough itinerary, so it's worth having one ready to fill in. I put Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Kumming.

After waiting about 2 minutes my number was called, and I went to the desk. I'd not stuck the photo to the form, so they sent me away. There's glue and guillotines available on the long desk at the back of the room (I.e. opposite the visa windows). If you get stuck, ask the security guard - he was really helpful.

Having stuck my pic to the form, I grabbed another ticket (65 this time) and waited 2 minutes until they called my number.

They checked my form, and the only objection they had is that I'd said I wanted to stay in China for up to 50 days for each visit. They don't allow this - and the maximum is 30 days, so I changed the form and gave it back.

They then gave me a receipt slip and told me to return at 3pm that afternoon as I paid extra for the express service.

In total - I was in and out in 14 minutes from the time they opened the door. Not bad. It was a Monday by the way - not sure if different days will make a difference.

I was back at the visa office at 2:45pm and again people were queuing. They open the doors at 3pm exactly and everyone runs up the stairs again.

This time you queue up at the Cashier window (no need for a queue number this time). They tell you what to pay, and then give you a receipt. You then join the Collections queue, where you hand over both receipts (I.e. the one you just got, and the one you got in the morning).

Look for the stuck in page in your passport, and check everything is OK. If there's a problem and you don't question it that day your visa may be invalid, and there are signs saying you'll have to reapply.

In total - I was in and out in 9 minutes.

Real easy - it cost me 2,200 Baht for the visa, and another 1,200 Baht for the express service. That's about 70 pounds.

On a slightly different note - the food stalls outside Fortune City are really cheap and the food really good - just in case you decide to hang around and wait for the visa.

For reference: I've a UK Passport, and today is the 02/03/09 - things change - so this information will at some point be out of date - but was correct as of today.