Australia to China - some basics? (Could be a duplicate)?

[Krusty]

Sorry if this is a duplicate but the previous post failed to materialise???

Hi all,

Sorry to pose such basic questions but I know that many readers would know
the simple answers so here goes:

We plan to travel to China (organised 14 days) is around six weeks so I have
limited time to tie up some loose ends.

1. My passport expires in October this year (we would be back early August)
but the conditions say "a passport should have at least six months before
expiry! Is this correct & if so is it okay to renew it five months before
the due date (do you lose the balance).

2. Where & how does one apply for a Visa & what does it cost?

3. Any comments (nasties) or suggestions that we should know about before
organising such a trip.

4. With around six weeks before departure is this time frame okay or should
we delay the trip till a later time.

5. Are there autotellers in the major cities, if so are they plentiful or
scarce?

6. Will mobile (phone) roaming work in major cities (Vodafone or Telstra)

Many thanks, sorry about the banal questions!

Kevin.

[A Mate]

Yes! Get a new passport - it will have 10 years validity from date of issue.

Visas for China can be obtained from either the Consul General for the PRC
in Sydney; or the Embassy for PR China in Canberra. Cost is $30 for a single
entry visa.
Passport takes about 4 weeks; visa 3 working days (both 'standard' ie
non-urgent issue - both can be obtained more quickly if it is urgent).

There are ATM's in major (and minor) cities - most take Australian plastic -
especially Bank of China machines.
Forget roaming - it costs the earth. As you arrive in China (and in every
Chinese city and town) there are booths where you can buy a pre-paid Chinese
phone sim card. Mobile phones grow out of every Chinese ear (well, every one
under 40 anyway). They ring incessantly - and Chinese are far from discreet
phone-talkers. They yell into them such that you wonder why they need the
bloody thing at all!



Have Fun

"Krusty" > wrote in message news:429bfd44$1@news1...
> Sorry if this is a duplicate but the previous post failed to
> materialise???
>
> Hi all,
>
> Sorry to pose such basic questions but I know that many readers would know
> the simple answers so here goes:
>
> We plan to travel to China (organised 14 days) is around six weeks so I
> have
> limited time to tie up some loose ends.
>
> 1. My passport expires in October this year (we would be back early
> August)
> but the conditions say "a passport should have at least six months before
> expiry! Is this correct & if so is it okay to renew it five months before
> the due date (do you lose the balance).
>
> 2. Where & how does one apply for a Visa & what does it cost?
>
> 3. Any comments (nasties) or suggestions that we should know about before
> organising such a trip.
>
> 4. With around six weeks before departure is this time frame okay or
> should
> we delay the trip till a later time.
>
> 5. Are there autotellers in the major cities, if so are they plentiful or
> scarce?
>
> 6. Will mobile (phone) roaming work in major cities (Vodafone or Telstra)
>
> Many thanks, sorry about the banal questions!
>
> Kevin.
>
>

[Viviane]

Yes, you do lose the balance of what's in your passport if you renew early.
Since most countries now want a passport valid for 6 months, it effectively
means that the life of a passport is 9 1/2 years. I tried discussing this
with DFAT and I couldn't get them to see my point that they were effectively
ripping us off, since a 10 year passport is useless! It filled it a bit of
time but didn't get me anywhere!

"Krusty" > wrote in message news:429bfd44$1@news1...
> Sorry if this is a duplicate but the previous post failed to
> materialise???
>
> Hi all,
>
> Sorry to pose such basic questions but I know that many readers would know
> the simple answers so here goes:
>
> We plan to travel to China (organised 14 days) is around six weeks so I
> have
> limited time to tie up some loose ends.
>
> 1. My passport expires in October this year (we would be back early
> August)
> but the conditions say "a passport should have at least six months before
> expiry! Is this correct & if so is it okay to renew it five months before
> the due date (do you lose the balance).
>
> 2. Where & how does one apply for a Visa & what does it cost?
>
> 3. Any comments (nasties) or suggestions that we should know about before
> organising such a trip.
>
> 4. With around six weeks before departure is this time frame okay or
> should
> we delay the trip till a later time.
>
> 5. Are there autotellers in the major cities, if so are they plentiful or
> scarce?
>
> 6. Will mobile (phone) roaming work in major cities (Vodafone or Telstra)
>
> Many thanks, sorry about the banal questions!
>
> Kevin.
>
>

[Krusty]

"Viviane" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, you do lose the balance of what's in your passport if you renew
> early. Since most countries now want a passport valid for 6 months, it
> effectively means that the life of a passport is 9 1/2 years. I tried
> discussing this with DFAT and I couldn't get them to see my point that
> they were effectively ripping us off, since a 10 year passport is useless!
> It filled it a bit of time but didn't get me anywhere!

Hi Viviane,

Yeah, I've concluded that with five months left then it's basically expired!
If you take the extreme case of a senior citizen aged 74 years & 7 months,
not me :o) whose passport was in this last six month period, who planned one
last trip, not only would he/she have to renew their passport but would also
be excluded from the 5 year option at $75 (they have to be 75+ to qualify).
This could mean the difference of $150 since they probably wouldn't have
renewed their passport after the trip anyway!