China Travel Forum

[Denny]

I am in China on a 90 day L visa and wanted to get an additional 90 day extension and conversion to an F. I called one of the numbers in a classified ad on www.thatsbj.com, and met with the guy. He was 'general manager' of the company (which wasn't an actual visa agency, according to their website) and said he had helped another American get an extension last week. Everything seemed legit to me, so I gave him my passport and 1200RMB, and he told me the visa would be ready in a week.
A week goes by, no word from him, so I give him a call. He tells me, the visa will be ready by Monday, but the Police Station made it a 6 month visa, instead of 3 months. They wanted an additional 3000RMB, but the guy 'negotiated' it down to 1100RMB. So he says he'll call me next week, and bring another 1100RMB with me.
I'm too stunned to say anything initially, but then I just say, yeah, sure, fine, to get off the phone, and think about what he just told me first. Of course, this guy is trying to swindle me. What can I do about it? Not pay? Then I'd never see my passport again. Would going to the police be an option?

[Guest]

This is a really tricky situation and I'm not sure what I would do in the circumstances. My gut reaction would probably be to pay up and put it down to experience. You could refuse to pay when you meet and demand your passport / threaten him with the police, but if he refuses there's not much you can do beyond having a bunch of mates handy to threaten him.
Police would probably be interested, but unless you have an address / company name, what are they going to do, short of coming with you to meet him? Even if you get your passport back, you're still short a visa. If you do wind up contacting the police, then making your embassy aware of the situation may help a little - they won't be very sympathetic though.
I think in this situation I'd swallow my pride, pay up, get my passport and then warn everyone to stay away from this guy. Contacting thatsbj may get his ads deleted, although I wouldn't bet on it.
Good luck.

[haiker]

Personally, I'd figure out what the actual cost of the 6 month visa is for them and then try to haggle. If the guy is too obstinate though, I'd ask for my passport back and tell him I'm not interested in his services. If he refuses to give it back he is committing a fairly serious crime -- you would need to report the theft to your embassy, at which point things get fairly serious. Regardless, bring a credible third party to your second meeting with this guy so that any problems don't end up as a "he-said/she-said".
If you can get your passport back but without a visa... you have options besides using agencies. The overnight express train from Beijing to Kowloon will get you out of the country in less than 24 hours (tickets are booked in a separate office on the second floor of Beijing Railway Station West). It leaves every 2nd day and dumps you in downtown Kowloon at noon -- really convenient as you can do the paperwork for the visa the same day you arrive. There is a place that will change RMB into HKD for you at the train station so all you need currency-wise is RMB, and there are tons of indepedent places near Jordan Station where you can haggle for better rates. (that district also has a bunch of places tourist agencies advertising visas).