It's the 3nd of July and it is finally time for the new visa regulations to be implemented. As some of you might already have been aware of, the Chinese government and the Public Security Bureau, specifically the department of immigration, have been thinking of changing the visa regulations much more than usual since last year. The date given for the visa changes implementation was the 1st of July, 2013.

Recently the World of Chinese online and offline magazine released a <a title="World of Chinese - Visa Changes" href="http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/07/visa-pocolypse/">post</a> about some of the new proposed regulations and the changes made to the visa types. According to the post, aside from the already known changes that will take place (new professional visa, the change of the F visa to an M visa for business purposes, and proof of noncriminal record for people who wish to work in China), many other new changes will go into effect, mainly those dealing with new visa types, as well as the subgroups for some visa types, like the X student visa, the J journalism visa and the Z work visa, which will be split into short term and long term types.

[caption id="attachment_5134" align="alignright" width="300"]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ChineseLaw.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5134" alt="Every foreigner must have the correct type of visa to come to China" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ChineseLaw-300x224.jpg" width="300" height="224" /></a> Every foreigner must have the correct type of visa to come to China[/caption]

Four other types of new visas will also come into place: As previously mentioned, the M visa will act as the new F visa in its place for business and trade purposes, Q visas for visiting family members or long term residents, R visas for highly skilled professional workers (possibly including freelancers who work in China) and S visas for private activities (marriage, inheritance, medical services, etc.).

Our visa specialist called the Public Security Bureau to confirm the rumors, however no comments was given about the changes, so it is only left to wait and see how harshly, if at all, it will be implemented when foreigners try to come to China for different reasons, applying for different visa types.

We will keep you all posted!

[caption id="attachment_5115" align="aligncenter" width="569"]<a href="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130702_VisaChangesWorldOfChinese.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-5115" alt="Visa Changes" src="http://ltl-chinois.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130702_VisaChangesWorldOfChinese.jpg" width="569" height="913" /></a> Visa Changes[/caption]