China Travel Forum

[Abraham]

I am booked on a trip to China next year and my passport with Chinese visa is lost in the post. I can get a new passport in time but not a new visa.
The travel agent says its OK they can arrange for a visa to be issued on arrival in Beijing. Is this likely to be true? What kind of problems am I likely to encounter in the circumstances.

[James Zhang]

Consulates usually offer at least 24 hour service and it's not unusual
for visas to be issued the same day in times of emergency. In fact
visas are mostly done straight away, and they just sit there until you
show up one (pay a lot more), three (pay some more), or five (pay
normal price) days later. Presumably the problem is that you are living
in one of those countries which require visas to be purchased in person
or via an agency, you don't live in a town with a consulate, and you
won't have time to arrange even a same-day visa.
If the travel agency is claiming to be able to organize this, then make
sure you get the promise in writing. Although a visa counter does exist
at Beijing airport, it appears to be something to do with groups, and
although I've noticed it manned, I've never seen anyone dealing with
it. Usually visas much be purchased in advance of travel to China, and
in fact you will usually be denied boarding of a China-bound aircraft
unless you hold a visa already. If you are allowed to board, but arrive
without a valid visa, you will usually be held until the next departure
back to where you came from with the airline that brought you. So it's
important, if the agency is claiming it can make suitable arrangements,
that you have suitable paperwork to show when checking-in, and so that
you can make a claim against the agency for compensation if all does
not go smoothly.

If you are part of some larger escorted tour, the chances are that the
company is quite used to dealing with this kind of problem. But you
might want to contact the tour company directly for further comment.