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What is a visa? | |
| A visa is authorized permission issued by an Embassy or Consulate of a country that permits a foreign traveler to visit that country. It is a privilege, not a right. Most visas are stamped or affixed into the traveler's passport. Visas are issued with specific limitations regarding purpose of visit, length of stay, validity of visa, etc. It is the traveler's responsibility to obtain necessary visas before he/she travels abroad. A traveler must follow very respective guidelines and procedures established by Embassy or Consulates of a country when applying for the appropriate visa. | ||
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Do I need a visa for China? | |
| Americans or Canadians traveling to Mainland China, whether for business or pleasure, require a visa, which should be obtained in advance. You are exempt from this requirement if you travel and stay only in Hong Kong or Macao for less than 90 days. | ||
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How to obtain a China visa? | |
| The Chinese Embassy and Consulates do not accept mail-in applications. Applicants for visas are requested to appear at the Consulate in person or apply through an authorized visa agency. VisaRite Service is authorized by the Chinese Consulate to handle China visa service. We can process visa application on your behalf no matter where you live. We serve residents in all 50 state. We have clients all over the U.S. |
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Do I need to send my physical passport? | |
| Yes. it is required to send your actual passport. The Embassy/Consulate
needs your passport in order to affix or stamp your visa onto it. |
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Why must I have full blank visa pages in my passport? | |
| China visas are affixed in your passport on the pages specifically marked for them, and countries require that visa stamps be placed on those pages that do not contain any other stamps. | ||
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Can a visa be issued on a blank amendment page at the back of my passport? | |
| No, amendment pages at the back of passports are specifically for changes and endorsements to a passport after initial issuance. Embassies and Consulates generally refuse to issue visa to amendment pages. | ||
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What is the requirement of the photo for Chinese visa? | |
| The Chinese Consulate require passport type photo i.e. full face frontal, 33mm x 48mm, with white or off-white background. You can obtain this type of photo anywhere that advertises "passport photo" service. If you print your own photo, it must be high resolution and needs to be printed on special photo paper. Cutout from personal photograph is not acceptable. US passport photo should also work in most cases. | ||
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How should I send you my passport and other materials? | |
| We highly recommend that you use a traceable courier service to send your passport and valuable documents such as FedEx, UPS or United States Postal Service Express Mail, registered or certified mail. Regular mail is not recommended. | ||
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How will my passport and visa be shipped back to me? | |
| We will use FedEx for return. FedEx is most reliable according to our experience. | ||
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Will any of the information I submit to you be sold or disclosed to others? | |
| No. Information about you provided to us stays with us. We will not disclose or sell your information to third party for any reason or under any circumstance. Please refer to our privacy policy for more information. | ||
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What type of visa do I need? | |
| Visas are issued with specific type relevant to the purpose of visit. The most popular types include tourist, business, student, work, crew, private and family visa. | ||
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I will visit someone in China and do some sightseeing. Should I apply for a L visa and a S2 visa? | |
Tourist visa is easier, if you can provide flight and hotel confirmation. However, if you don't have hotel confirmation, you will need to provide an invitation letter. Because there are requirements on 1) how the invitation needs to be written, 2) who is qualified to be an inviting person, 3) how to prove the relationship between the inviting person and the invited. Therefore, using invitation letter tends to be less predictable. Consulate may come back for more information if they deem it necessary. Hotel reservation can solve a lot headache and you can cancel it later. |
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How long can I stay in China for each entry? Can I extend my stay in China while I am there? ? | |
| With regular tourist or business visa, you can now normally stay 30 -60 days for each entry. If you need to stay longer while you are in China, please contact with the visa office of the local Public Security Bureau to file for an extension. Do not overstay. | ||
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We recently applied our China visa. Our application said we would only be visiting Beijing, can we change our plan now and take a side trip to Shanghai? | |
| Yes, you are permitted to travel to other cities as well. Information you provided on visa application form is for reference purpose only. You are not limited to cities you listed on the application form. | ||
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I'm traveling to Beijing for business and then plan on staying for a few extra days and doing the tourist thing, then travel to 1 or 2 other cities for sightseeing. Will a single entry business visa suffice or will I need a separate business and tourist visa? | |
| The business visa will not prevent you from doing any sightseeing, so there will be no need to apply for a separate visa for tourism. As long as you travel within mainland China, you don't need separate entry visa to travel to other cities. | ||
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My visa says "Enter Before" 30SEP2016, "Duration of Stay" 60, can I use this visa for trip arriving China on Sep 20 and departing on Oct 15, 2016? Or do I have to leave before Sep 30? | |
| You can enter China any date before "enter before" date specified
on the visa, then stay up to the days specified by "duration of stay".
You don't need to leave before Sep 30. |
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If I leave China for a short time and re-enter, does my visa term re-set to day 1 upon re-entry? Or, does my term continue from the first day I enter China on a visa? | |
| Every time you re-enter China, the duration of stay will reset and start from the day of arrival, not from the date of your first entry. You also need to make sure your visa is for multiple entry, not just single entry. |
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When to apply for visa? | |
| The best time to apply for your visa is 2-3 months before your departure. | ||
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Are the Chinese Embassy or Consulates open on the weekends and Holidays? | |
| No. The Embassy and Consulates are closed on the weekends and US national holidays. The Embassy and Consulates will also close to observe Chinese national holidays. | ||
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When do you begin processing my application? | |
| Receiving day is the review day. Processing starts on the next business day of receiving your application. Normally application will be reviewed on the day of arrival and submitted to the Consulate for processing the next business day. | ||
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Does the processing time include shipping time? | |
| No. Shipping or return delivery time should be added to the processing time when determining the total amount of time needed to fulfill your order. Shipping times do not include Saturdays or Sundays unless specified. Deliveries may not be available on some holidays. | ||
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Are you able to process the passport and visa at the same time? | |
Yes. You may send both applications together, we will process both then send them back. However, there are two concerns that need to be addressed. |
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What are the fees involving visa processing? | |
| Total cost of visa includes Consular Fees, VisaRite Service Fee and Shipping Fee. Consular fees paid to an embassy or consulate in order to fulfill visa issuance requirements. VisaRite Service Fee is charged for the services performed by VisaRite in facilitating the application. Shipping Fee is for the return of your completed passport, visa and/or other documents. | ||
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What forms of payment does VisaRite accept? | |
| Payment for China visa can be made in forms of money order, cashiers check, certified check, company check or cash. Checks and money orders should be payable in US dollars and drawn on a bank in the US. International money orders must be in the form of US dollars. You may also pay by all major credit card. You will receive a receipt with your completed documents. | ||
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Can I include the payment combined as one payment for? | |
| Yes, You can write the total amount on one check, money order or credit card payment authorization, no need to send separate checks or money order. | ||
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Do I need to pay for the shipping fees for all the applications included in the package? | |
| No, one shipping fee covers 1 passport. If you send in multiple application together, please add $5 extra shipping fee for each additional passport. | ||
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I am not a U. S. citizen. Can you still process my application? | |
| Yes, we may help you to obtain the Chinese visa in the US, if you are legal resident or you have a valid long term US visa. You will also need to provide the legal status in the US, such as photocopy of US Green Card or valid US visa such as F, H, L, TN, etc. You may only be able to apply for a single or double entry visa. Other restriction may apply. Policy may change without notice. Please call for details. | ||
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I am a US citizen currently living abroad. Can you still assist me? | |
| China visa policy changed after September 1, 2013, you are supposed to be physically in the US when applying for the China visa. | ||
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Can I mail my passport from China to the US in order to apply for a new China visa? | |
| China visa has an activating process. You will need to use the visa to enter China in order to activate the visa. On the day of entry, the clock starts to tick and duration of stay starts to accumulate. When you exit China, the immigration officer will count the days you have stayed, it must be within the authorized duration of stay specified on your visa. There might be unpleasant consequence for overstay. In another word, you will need to exit China in order to apply for a new visa. According to Chinese consulate, you are supposed to apply for the visa in your home country, unless for emergency reason. We don't know how much the Chinese Consulate may know your whereabouts when applying for the visa. But question 1.25 on China visa application form "Country or territory where the applicant is located when applying for this visa" will reveal your location. | ||
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I will be needing to enter China multiple times, is it possible to get a Z Visa that can allow me to do this? | |
| Z visa will only be issued as Single Entry. Once you arrive in China,
within 30 days, you are required by law to register at designated police station
(AKA Public Security Bureau). A Residence Permit will be issued in place
of visa. Residence Permit will allow for multiple entry. |
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Will you be needing me to mail in the original
Notification of Work Permit? |
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| No need to send in the original notification of work permit. A clear scanned copy is acceptable. | ||
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I recently received my Student X Visa for China. However, I noticed that the "duration of stay" listed on the visa is 000 days. I assume that this means my length of stay is indefinite, but I wanted to make sure. Is this correct, or was this a typo? | |
| That is not a typo. Duration of Stay listed as 000 means to be determined. It is required by law that you register with local public security bureau with 30 days of arrival. Your student visa will be converted to Residence Permit. Duration of stay will be specified by then. Residence Permit normally allows you exit and enter China multiple times within it's validity. | ||
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I recently received my Work Visa Z Visa for China. However, I noticed that the "duration of stay" listed on the visa is 000 days. Is this correct, or was this a typo? | |
| That is not a typo. Duration of Stay listed as 000 means to be determined. It is required by law that you register with local public security bureau with 30 days of arrival. Your work visa will be converted to Residence Permit. Duration of stay will be specified by then. Residence Permit normally allows you exit and enter China multiple times within it's validity. | ||
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What visa should Work or Student Visa applicant's family apply for? | |
| Z visa or X1 visa holder's spouse and children should apply for S1 visa. Copy of main applicant's supporting paperwork, such as Working Permit and Invitation Letter of Duly Authorized Unit (Z visa) OR JW202 and Admission Notice (X1 visa) AND Original proof of Kinship are required. Please refer to S1 visa for details. | ||
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Can I apply for a tourist (business) visa and change to work visa later on? | |
| No, you won?t be able to change visa type in China. You will need to exit China, then apply for a new visa. | ||
