Is it possible for my fiancee to get visa/passport to various ports in Asia for a cruise?

[Apple & Wil 0]

Have anyone taken a cruise around Asia with their Chinese girlfriend? I wanted to find out if my Chinese fiancee can hop on a cruise that will go to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Japan , Hong Kong.

Have anyone taken their girlfriend from China onto one of these cruises and if so, did they need a passport or visa to stop at each country's port?

Thanks for your information and advice.

Thanks

Wilfred

[Casprd 167]

Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam it is fairly routine for her to get a visa to these countries. Hong Kong requires special permission and is much harder. Korea and Japan even harder still. Best bet is to talk to the cruise line and see what they require as far as transit or tourist visas

Yes they will need a passport and a visa.

As a side note, I would think twice about a cruise through the Java Sea. although the horn of Africa gets all the news lately, the pirate activity around Indonesia has been a problem for much longer.

[Apple & Wil 0]

Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam it is fairly routine for her to get a visa to these countries. Hong Kong requires special permission and is much harder. Korea and Japan even harder still. Best bet is to talk to the cruise line and see what they require as far as transit or tourist visas

Yes they will need a passport and a visa.

As a side note, I would think twice about a cruise through the Java Sea. although the horn of Africa gets all the news lately, the pirate activity around Indonesia has been a problem for much longer.

Thanks Casprd,

Oh, I thought Korea and Japan might be the easiest. The Pricess Cruise lines person told me to talk to a company that specializes in getting visas for Americans. I called the visa company and they told me they do it for Americans but if she is from China, I would need to write to the each consulate (located in China) for each country that the cruise will stop in. I am waiting for their reply to my email.

Wilfred

[bigdog 376]

A cruise might not be the best idea, tour beautiful; China.

[Casprd 167]

You don't need to contact each consulate. Your SO can go to a travel agent in her city and they can apply for a visa to each country for her. The Chinese travel agent will know what is needed. I know with Thailand she can actually get the visa on arrival, but IMO it is still better to have it before she leaves. I think Vietnam is the same way but not 100% sure.

[Apple & Wil 0]

You don't need to contact each consulate. Your SO can go to a travel agent in her city and they can apply for a visa to each country for her. The Chinese travel agent will know what is needed. I know with Thailand she can actually get the visa on arrival, but IMO it is still better to have it before she leaves. I think Vietnam is the same way but not 100% sure.

Yes, someone else also told me to find a travel agent to get them for us. Thanks for that idea. Sounds good to me. I don't want any mess ups especially after we have boarded the ship.

I was given a website to go to in order to find what is needed and it seems that it is possbile to get the required visa/passports to go to these ports. I sure hope so. I wrote emails and is waiting for their replies from each consulate in China.

wilfred

[freetv 7]

Most of asia can be seen on your own, Korea is hard, Hong Kong is easy but you have to join a fake tour group (u won't ever see the group except to cross the border) and is pretty cheap.... Japan does not give Chinese personal visas (unless u have a GC) and u would have to go on a very restrictive Chinese group tour.

A Chinese passport is pretty much worthless, everyone will want tons of money and/or you in a group in order to go. Even student visas require at least 350k yuan to be approved, a million for the u.s. We were in South America last year and were restricted on where we could go simply because we didn't have time to apply for 10 visas....

[Casprd 167]

Most of asia can be seen on your own, Korea is hard, Hong Kong is easy but you have to join a fake tour group (u won't ever see the group except to cross the border) and is pretty cheap.... Japan does not give Chinese personal visas (unless u have a GC) and u would have to go on a very restrictive Chinese group tour.

A Chinese passport is pretty much worthless, everyone will want tons of money and/or you in a group in order to go. Even student visas require at least 350k yuan to be approved, a million for the u.s. We were in South America last year and were restricted on where we could go simply because we didn't have time to apply for 10 visas....

This was after she got her green card and is an LPR in the US? Damn, I was hoping that getting visas would be more of a pro forma thing once my wife gets here.

[Apple & Wil 0]

Most of asia can be seen on your own, Korea is hard, Hong Kong is easy but you have to join a fake tour group (u won't ever see the group except to cross the border) and is pretty cheap.... Japan does not give Chinese personal visas (unless u have a GC) and u would have to go on a very restrictive Chinese group tour.

A Chinese passport is pretty much worthless, everyone will want tons of money and/or you in a group in order to go. Even student visas require at least 350k yuan to be approved, a million for the u.s. We were in South America last year and were restricted on where we could go simply because we didn't have time to apply for 10 visas....

So you think that my fiancee won't be able to get a 1 day passport/visa from Japan to go on land when we dock in Nagasaki, Japan? She will need to stay on the boat?

On another topic, when we get married after getting a K-1 , she would be considered a Chinese yet or she would be an American after we get married? Sound like a stupid question that I should know the answer to but after reading your post, I don't know.

thanks.

wilfred

Edited August 30, 2011 by Apple & Wil

[MuDelphi 159]

She is Chinese until she gets US citizenship, but Chinese with a US green card, after passing all of those hurdles in the future.

[freetv 7]

So you think that my fiancee won't be able to get a 1 day passport/visa from Japan to go on land when we dock in Nagasaki, Japan? She will need to stay on the boat?

On another topic, when we get married after getting a K-1 , she would be considered a Chinese yet or she would be an American after we get married? Sound like a stupid question that I should know the answer to but after reading your post, I don't know.

thanks.

wilfred

If you can work the cruise into a group tour she would only need to provide 10,000rmb "promise money" and the visa would likely be approved for Japan and other countries like Korea. The Japanese consulate in China does not accept non-group visa applications, a group has to apply for you and if you are seeking a personal visa it is 99% likely to be denied... but you are on a cruise so it wouldn't apply in this particular situation.

Once you have a GC, visas to so so and below countries are pretty much guarantied, but for first world countries like Japan, U.K. etc etc, they will want you to prove at least $5,000 in the bank before they hand you a visa. But that is still a big jump from what a person without a GC needs ($50,000, house, car, etc).

Oh and like someone else said, she is a Chinese until you do citz in America. But a Chinese with a GC is considered a "Super-Chinese" by those within and outside China... so things get a lot easier as far as jobs, visa, etc go... for example with a GC you can buy special stocks that only GC holders can buy in China (a much lower rate).

Edited August 31, 2011 by freetv

[FoundNanning 0]

Stocks? Financial stocks? Can you elaborate?

... for example with a GC you can buy special stocks that only GC holders can buy in China (a much lower rate).

[freetv 7]

Stocks? Financial stocks? Can you elaborate?

Sorry for the late reply I just got back to China and have been really busy. About the stocks, I know we were able to get stocks for half price at a joint Chinese-American broker after we showed him her GC and a few other things that linked her to America. I can try and figure out exactly how it works if you are really interested, all I know is that we got a really good price on stocks that were dependent on her status as a GC holder, that even an American couldn't get.

Edited September 3, 2011 by freetv

[Apple & Wil 0]

You don't need to contact each consulate. Your SO can go to a travel agent in her city and they can apply for a visa to each country for her. The Chinese travel agent will know what is needed. I know with Thailand she can actually get the visa on arrival, but IMO it is still better to have it before she leaves. I think Vietnam is the same way but not 100% sure.

yes, we have filled out papers at a nearby travel agency and are waiting word from the boss to review papers my fiancee filled out before sending the applications to the various embassies. I hope everything is approved.

My fiancee said that Korea and Japan cannot get viwsa/passport so we won't be filing there. We will just stay onboard the ship when we hit port at those places. No problem.

wilfred