China: Visa Rules Tightened for Olympics Period

By Larry Habegger | Permalink | No Comments | May 8th, 2008 | Trackback

The Foreign Ministry acknowledged that it has tightened visa rules after weeks of denials from immigration officials, now requiring invitation letters, hotel reservations and proof of roundtrip air tickets for some travelers. There have been reports of foreigners, especially students, being forced out of Beijing, and other travelers and foreign embassy officials having trouble getting visas to remain in China during the Olympics. Officials encourage visa applicants to apply in their country of citizenship rather than within China or in Hong Kong, a popular place for obtaining entry visas for China. Compounding the confusion, Hong Kong travel agents reported that the government visa office had declared that multiple-entry business visas would not be available from mid-April to mid-October, but a Foreign Ministry official denied that this was the case despite complaints from U.S. and European business leaders about visa denials and their affect on business.

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