Cancelling flight booking for China visa application: best practices

[blakep76]

I would actually disagree with that. A friend of mine was actually flying into China from Thailand and they asked to see bookings for his entire journey from the UK/Europe to China and back

Who asked for bookings for the entire journey? The embassy in Thailand?

I've applied for 4 'L' visas in Bangkok now. 3/4 they didn't ask for anything onward ticket-wise, and once *any* ticket out of the country was fine. They just glanced at the printout of an e-ticket (In this case I had Chengdu back to Bangkok), and handed it back. They certainly didn't care about my earlier trip from my home country two years earlier, or later trip back to my home a year later.

I'd wager your friend was arousing suspicions for other reasons - shorts, dreads, tatts, flip flops, fishnet crop top, B.O. specified plans to visit Xinjiang/Tibet etc.

Hi,

No I was referring to getting a visa in the UK. If you're applying in Thailand then it makes sense that your flight originates in Thailand.

Given the few previous messages were talking about getting a visa in the UK I thought you were suggesting to get the cheapest ticket into China from anywhere in the world, which was not enough for my friend. It was no big deal they just wanted him to add the other tickets to the supporting documents of his application.

You are the only person in the thread who specifically referred to the UK. In regard to applying for the visa in Bangkok they didn't need to see evidence of a ticket specifically back to Thailand in that 1/4 case, just to see that you will leave China at the end of your visa. It could have just as easily been to Korea, Vietnam or Japan.... Or as I mentioned entering China from Kazakhstan and flying out of Guangzhou and on to Bangkok. The cheapest ticket *out of* the PRC will suffice.

Chinese embassies and consulates are notorious for having vastly differing requirements from one country to the next regarding issuing visas, but your friend's anecdote is the first case I've heard of where someone was required to actually show evidence they plan to *return to their home country* in order to obtain a visa.