bobabubbletee

Hey guys and girls,

I really need a visa to get to China but when I went to a visa agency they told me that my passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months before I can apply for a visa. I have a British passport but don't understand why my passport needs to be valid for 6 months as I am only staying for 2 weeks at the end of this month.

The agency I went with is http://www.govisas.co.uk can someone confirm if it is true that my passport needs to be renewed?

Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

CanadaChinaTraveller

Simply because the Chinese government says that you need a passport valid for 6 months to apply for a visa. Not an unusual requirement.

LancasterLad

For a British Passort holder it's not a bad idea to browse through all the good info in the FCO Travel Advice...

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...y-requirements

The China discussion forum on Trip Advisor is always kept up to date as things change.

We'd be in China now, but the visa and agency fees are extortionate, so we're enjoying a few weeks in Nicaragua instead.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

A lot of countries have that six-month requirement. It may stem from their worry that unforeseen circumstances could keep you in their country longer than you intended, and they want to make sure you are legal beyond your stated period of stay. It's just the way it is; there's no way around it.

Nicaragua is also rigid about the six-month requirement.

LancasterLad

<<<Nicaragua is also rigid about the six-month requirement.>>>

As you can renew a British Passport up to 9 months before expiry, and have the unused validity added to your new passport, it makes sense to renew in good time.

thursdaysd

You mean you can't renew it earlier??? What if you run out of space? I once renewed my US passport with several years left, I wanted one without a chip for as long as possible.

LancasterLad

Thursday. If you run out of space I don't think there's any option other than renew.

jobin

New USA ones all have chip. Old USA passports now cannot get additional pages stuck in. Mine now is really fat due to the extra pages and will be good for another 3 years.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

Lancaster, that's nice that you can add the unused validity to the new passport like that.

LancasterLad

Jeff. My current passport was issued in July 2010. I remember it well as the UKPA failed to add the 7 mmonths of validity from my old passport. Easily sorted, but it pays to check all the details are correct.