MY FRIENDS "L TO F VISA" PROBLEM

i am posting on behalf of my british friend


(a) He came as a tourist, with usual L-visa for tourist


(b) he then went to exit/entry place and got his first 1 month extension for tourist visa


(c) he then went there again to get a 2nd extension for 1 month



Now he wants F-visa the same as me, but we went to an Agency together, and they told him because he had "2 of the 1 month tourist extensions", he now has to go to hongkong to get Tourist visa and re-enter china, and then he applies for F-visa with the agency here



my questions are.......


(1) Is there anyway he can 'stay in mainland china' and still obtain his F-visa here ???


(2) If it seems like he still has to go to hongkong, where are the best agencies to use for him to obtain his F-visa?? (he is studying chinese here, but by private lessons , so does he need invitation? or can you just get F-visa for 'freelance, as i've heard HK is where most freelancers get their F-visa............ and how long would it take to get this?


best regards,

british guy , writing on behalf of my fellow british friend here

I'm not sure if you can change an 'L' visa which has been extended for an 'F' visa unless he has a job offer and the company is willing to sponser a 'Z' visa for him.Getting a business visa is pretty easy to do in HK,go to Hung Hom KCRC train station and go to CITS they can get you a 3 or six month multiple entry visa same day.The cost is based on nationality,Aussies pay HK$1800 for this,British citizens I'm not sure about.

I would go to HK rather than go through an agent as you are paying extra money and a return trip to HK will set your friend back around 3000.You can also contact the Chinese embassy here in HK for further information.