Is it true that China embassy in Korea ask for ARC with at least 6 months validity?

Hi Ashley. I'm also a US citizen living in South Korea, and I purchased flights to Shanghai and Beijing last week. I went to a local travel agency yesterday (June 10) to apply for a double entry Visa, and the exact same thing happened to me. My ARC expires in August as well. I literally had to call the Chinese embassy myself and argued with them for over 20 minutes regarding my situation. Unless you have already purchased your airfare to China, I suggest not even bothering with it. It's too much of a pain, and it has added extra stress to my life right now. I don't understand how they expect us to know a policy has changed if we already booked a flight. SO frustrating. Good luck with everything!

Sorry, typo. I meant "June 31st" :)

Yes, Ms. Ashley, it is true. Your valid passport must have at least six (6) months of remaining validity no matter where you submit your China visa application.

The answer of your passport needing to be valid makes me confused. I was told also about my ARC needing to be valid, but when I contacted the consulate they said it was ok not to have the full time amount but the travel agency is still saying no. How are we meant to get a visa? If you hear anything please can you let us know the answer.

Thanks for the info guys! Mr megan I think Mr Kyle got the ARC and passport confused :) I had already booked my trip to China so I have to get this visa on eway or the other. Even if the embassy is making exceptions (as some other questions/comments indicate), in Korea you have to go through a travel agent. As far as I can tell all travel agencies are saying NO. So I don't see how you could send your travel agent in and have them say oh somebody talked to somebody on the phone and said this application is ok even though its breaking the rules. I feel like no travel agent would go for that. I am sending my passport and application back to the US to have a family member take care of it. Crazy, I know, but I feel like I dont have a choice.

I just went in to get my visa from a travel agent in Busan, the lady just needed a copy of my ARC, she said it was fine even though it expires august 19th. I will see next week if I get the visa, but at the moment its looking promising, just email the chinese consulate and they have a list of the travel agents that are doing them! hope this helps!

Ashley,

i'm going to do the same thing. i'm sending my passport and things home (chicago). let me know how it works out for you, and i'll do the same. i pray all goes well for us both.

peace.

Hi Ms. Ashley,

I am in the EXACT same situation and am now in the process of sending my visa documents to Vancouver, Canada and having my friend apply my Chinese visa there.

Did you check with your embassy before hand, to see whether they would accept your China visa application even though your still a resident in South Korea (with less than 6 months on your ARC)?

PLEASE let me know as soon as you get a response from your embassy in the US, whether they accepted your visa application or not.

Thanks a bunch! This really sucks:(

Hi again! I got my visa! I sent it to my family in California. Korean express mail is great by the way (if you've never used it, they send you text message updates on where your package is). My mom said that they badgered her a little at the SF consulate. They wanted to know why I didn't get my visa in Korea lol. Overall, she said it was easy though. She got rush same day service and everything was correct on the visa when she picked it up. Now she just has to mail it back and this whole thing will be over! Hope you guys have success with your consulates back home!

Wow! awesome! i just mailed mine home yesterday, so i'm still waiting to hear what happens. hope it goes as smoothly as yours did ashley! i'm super happy for you, and more hopeful for my own situation (: hooray!

thanks for keepin us posted.
peace.

Ms. Motsen,
I just read that you are trying at the consulate in Chicago...
Tell your family NOT TO MENTION that oyu are in Korea! My friend told them I was not in the US and my visa application was denied! Good luck!

You can still get your visa from Busan without an alien registration card. Apparently the Busan consulate hasn't applied the new rules yet.
I used Kangsan travel in Busan (English speaking) and had no problems whatsoever. Applied for a visa before 10am and got my visa the next day at 11am :)

My husband and I just received our Chinese Visa's! We were very worried because we had bought our plane tickets and booked our hotels before the new rule came into play (needing 6 months on your Korean ARC to get a Visa). We went through Soho travel in Hondae and they were great. They sent our passports to Busan and we got our Visa's.

SO I FINALLY GOT IT! That had to be one of the more stressful experiences of my life... I really hope with this forum all you new comers won't have to experience some of our stories.

So here is all the knowledge I can give.
Long story short, I got my visa back in Canada at the Vancouver Embassy. My friend said there was little to no hassle getting my visa, they just took my app and he picked it up a day later (with rush service).
Once the Busan Embassy implements the new rules, fear not. Sending home is ok. I did however put my address and work as local addresses. Also, I used EMS (Korean Express Post) to send my package to Canada and wouldn't recommend it as they said it would only take 3 days but it took 8!!! Thankfully I had enough time. Fedex would be the only way to go and its still on 29 man won.

Hopefully all of you have a smooth experience getting you visa's. Enjoy that wall:)

yo! i just got my visa in the mail today! all is well, and my plans to travel in a few days are in order. i'll post again if anything goes awry at the border.

with peace.

hey y'all. i been to china and back! the visa from the states (that i couldn't get from seoul) worked beautifully. no problems, questions or worries at all. hope this helps.

with peace.