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I'm in China and thinking of taking a ferry to Taiwan. I'm an Australian citizen and I've been to Taiwan before and know I get visa-free entry. But I'm wondering about getting a new visa for China when I'm in Taiwan.

I know China considers Taiwan a part of it so doesn't have embassies or consulates in Taiwan.

But for visa purposes China does consider a trip to Taiwan and back to use up an entry of a China visa. Similar to Hong Kong and Macao.

In Hong Kong you can get a visa to China but it must be done through an agency. Is this also the same for Taiwan or is there a different procedure? Or is it just not possible at all?

(I'm sure the situation and procedure is different for Taiwan citizens so I'm not asking about that.)

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    The RoC sounds like about the worst place to be trying to get a PRC visa, but maybe the PRC are more pragamatic than that.
    – CMaster
    Sep 3, 2015 at 10:25

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The general consensus on the web seems to be that you have three options:

  1. Go through a travel agent.
  2. Apply for a visa with the Chinese embassy in your home country.
  3. Go to Hong Kong and spend a few days waiting for the visa to be processed.

According to this Chinese Forums post, going via a travel agency will involve shipping your passport to a neighbouring country/republic with a Chinese embassy.

If however you feel like going on a visa run in Hong Kong, note that this guy did it, back in 2007, in 10 hours of which 4 were needed to process the visa application. There seems to be a reliable travel agent, China Travel Services, with a desk at the airport just outside of immigration which can help with this type of procedures. Indeed, another more recent thread from the same forum as the 2007 guy, dating from 2013, mentions this company and the straightforward visa application procedure.

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  • So basically, 1. get an agent in Taiwan to it 2. leave Taiwan and 3. Leave Taiwan and get an agent to do it. ?
    – hippietrail
    Sep 9, 2015 at 3:15
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    @hippietrail Yes those seem to be your three options. The advantage of getting an agent in n. 3 is that you'll get the visa the same day as you apply.
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Sep 9, 2015 at 6:54

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