Visa required?

If she's a Chinese national I think she's going to need visas pretty much everywhere she goes. There are surprisingly, a few countries where Chinese nationals don't need a visa but they are mostly in Eastern Europe and you still need to go through a travel agent. Africa is anybody's guess.

Australia wanted something like a 10,000 USD "deposit" around four years ago to get my (then girlfriend/now wife) a visa. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything nowadays, but it's food for thought. I'm guessing there's going to have to be a large sum in your bank account to even think of taking her to most developed countries. However...great SE Asia destinations are easy as can be. Thailand and Malaysia especially so.

Maybe this can help for Europe (especially Holland, for example. I have no idea why you'd want to go there) ;)...

http://www.hollandinchina.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=...

Oh, forget the USA. Impossible.

The following is an excerpt from a post I put up on www.candleforlove.com shortly after my wife (now, ex-wife) returned to the U.S. in Oct. 2003 after my first 3-year stay in Zhuhai. Some of you might find this interesting.

"Our life together in Zhuhai went on pretty much uneventfully until January of 2002 when we had our first encounter with the Guangzhou consulate. Because I had the entire month of February off as paid holiday, and Kellee had never been to the U.S., we decided to take advantage of the very low air fares at that time, and take a two week holiday trip to the U.S.. We knew, of course, that Kellee would have to get a tourist visa to make the trip. We were sure that, because we were a married, working couple who owned their own home in China, Kellee's tourist visa would not be a problem. How wrong we were.

My first contact with the GZ consulate was through email. I sent them a rather long email explaining our holiday plans, and asked what documentation Kellee would need to provide to secure the tourist visa. I even included scans of our passports and marriage licenses with the email. Four days later I received a 2 line reply which included only the GZ phone number and the times to call to make an interview appointment. I called GZ the same day, and after I made the interview appointment, I asked again what documents Kellee would need to bring with her. They told me that all that would be required would be passports, marriage licenses, and letters from our employers granting us the leave for the trip. I though Nooooooooooo problem; This is a done deal. HA!!!

Because Kellee’s interview appointment was set for 7:30am, and because we lived in Zhuhai, Kellee had to take the bus to GZ the night before and stay with a friend in GZ. Therefore, I didn’t expect her to be back in ZH until late in the afternoon if everything went ok. About 10:30am, while I was on my way home from a morning class, Kellee called me on my cell phone to tell me, in tears, that she had been refused the visa because the VO (a Chinese-American) said that she was trying to immigrate, and that she didn’t have the proper documents with her. I was furious. When I got home I called the consulate to speak with whomever had interviewed her, but I ran into all kinds of resistance. Finally, after issuing all kinds of threats, including: 揑f I have to start with Colin Powell and work my way down the food chain until I get to you, blah blah blah ,to the poor little Chinese girl who was unfortunate enough to answer the phone, I managed to get a promise (sort of) to have someone call me that afternoon.

About three hours later, while Kellee and I were having lunch with some of my fellow teachers, and she was telling us how the VO had browbeaten and humiliated her, the consulate called me. After a rather “spirited” conversation with the VO who had interviewed her, I managed to arrange another interview for her for the following afternoon. This time, I would go with her. We arrived in GZ at the appointed time the following day. Kellee went in for her second interview, which lasted all of three minutes, and was given her tourist visa.

The Chinese do not handle confrontation very well. When someone screws them over, they just roll their eyes and say: “Oh well, this is China; that's just the way it is; we just have to live with it.” The Chinese staff at the consulate know this, and, as a matter of policy, they reject 95% of the under-35, female visa applicants on their first application. Their reasoning is that, if the person is trying to illegally immigrate, they will just disappear after the refusal. If, however, the applicant is legitimate, they, or their mate, will bitch about it, and appeal the refusal. Tourist visas are routinely granted only on the second or third try. All of this was later confirmed to me by an American VO with whom I had a conversation some months later. I have to say this; Every conversation I have had with the American staff at the GZ consulate has been a positive experience. They have been extremely cordial and helpful to me. It is the rude, anal-retentive Chinese staff who give the applicants, and their relations, so much misery and hardship. To this day, I firmly believe that, if I had not raised such a fuss, Kellee's tourist visa would never have been granted."

Orrin, Thanks for the information. I'll share it with my companion and if I am in the mood to go through this hassle then perhaps we'll change our destination.

You should definitely forget the US especially when she is just your companion. You should think locally first, Korea, Singapore, Thailand are all visa friendly destinations.

I have just come back from the Australian Consulate having applied for my girlfriend to visit OZ next time I go back. We have fullfilled every requirement, but the over riding question asked by the back room boys is "will she return to China", there are plenty who jump ship and it makes it hard for those with genuine intentions. Now we wait. Another friend of mine has been refused 3 times thus far, but the circumstances are quite different, so it's hard to tell.