China Expat Forum

Mikfly
Joined 2014
Posts: 1

9 years ago

Trailing Spouse Visa - How does this work?

9 years ago

My girlfriend and I lived in Sanya, China for 6 months until our Z-Visas expired. We returned to Canada, and now are wishing to return to China.

What we would like to do is return to China, with my girlfriend working full time under a Z-Visa, and myself not working, using a sort of trailing spousal visa.

Just to go into more detail, my girlfriend has a teaching job lined up and her work Z-Visa is being prepared for her. I am a full-time student whose studies are completed entirely online, allowing me to study anywhere abroad. So having me under a trailing visa would be the best scenario, but we are open to any other options.

We've looked into this, and so far, we've read that I can enter China using an L-Visa (tourist), and then visit our Canadian embassy to have that tourist visa turned into a trailing visa. We would need a letter explaining our relationship is 5+ years, and a confirmation letter from my girlfriends Z-Visa provider confirming that.

Is this accurate? Has anyone done something similar to this before? Is there an easier method?

Finally, China recently allows 10-year tourist visas, is that a better option? (see link: http://tinyurl.com/q3436a6 )

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