Chinese Visa online recent applications and any exist issues

[Matt_01]

Quick question if are there any ex military types who have applied for a Chinese visa since the changes to the online application came into play. I have had Chinese visa's in the past so I know they ask the question 'are you a serving member of military' or along those lines. When going through the new online visa application in section 8 they now ask if you have ever served in the military and want to know the dates of service, division, rank, specialisation etc.

I don't know if I am being overly paranoid however with the changes to the espionage laws if I check the 'Yes' option I will potentially be flagged and wonder if they could potentially detain me or refuse leaving based on former military service. I left the military 20+ years ago and don't think it will be a problem however it is in the back of my mind.

 

[Seat0B]

Yes I would be interested to know about that too as we are both ex-military, 30+ years ago.

 

[Matt_01]

@Seat0B I have had Chinese visas in the past and I have never been to concerned as I was heading to the location I had put on the application and you didn't need to disclose prior military service. This trip I am planning to go to Tibet which is a restricted area for most foreigners and a seperate Tibet Permit is required and cannot be issued unless you have a Chinese Visa and can only be issued once you are in China.

In order to get the Chinese Visa you need to supply details for your inbound and outbound flights which I have. You also need to supply details of your accommodation and when I asked about this with Tour Company the advice given was "When you apply for the Chinese visa, it’s better to not mention your trip to Tibet as Chinese embassy might reject your application. You can book some hotel in mainland of China according to your international flight in and out of China for your Chinese visa application" So now I have accomodation bookings for my time in China which I will cancel when and if the Tibet Permit is approved.

My only real concern is if my Visa and Passport gets flagged for any reason, when you arrive in Tibet you have to produce your passport and I am not sure if it is just for checking and not input into any official systems (I am assuming it will be). Then on leaving LXA-PEK-leaving China my passport has to be put into the system. My panoria/ concern is that on the visa application I will have not disclosed I will be in Tibet. Also Tibet accommodation will not be booked until the Tibet Permit is issued and you cannot get the visa without accommodation details. Sure travel plans can change and if it was not for the Military Service question I would have no concerns. It is an interesting one.