Hi, I have a 90 days X2 visa. I entered the country on the 6th of September at 11:55pm Shanghai. Can I leave on the 5th of September, i.e. the exact 90th day, or should I leave on the 4th to make sure that everything is ok? If I leave on the 5th, would the flight time matter?

Hi all,

I'm planning on visiting a friend in China (Shenzen) for Chinese new year, I have a few questions if someone wouldn't mind answering please. Looking at 28th of january for 7-10 days-

-How long should I expect the visa application to take? The embassy closest to me is around a 3 hour drive and I am driving past there at the end of November, will that be leaving it too short in terms of time?

• I can get an invitation from my friend and plan to stay with her at her apartment rather than pay for hotels although we may get a hotel for 1 or 2 nights during my stay. Will this cause me a problem as I've heard they want hotel bookings?

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone changed from work permit to student X1 visa before? Do I require the work permit cancellation letter and release letter to transfer the visa?

I am willing to come transit through Hong Kong.

I already bought a ticket from San Francisco to Seoul, but have not bought my flight tickets to go into Mainland yet. I only want to visit those two cities, but I want to visit both of them because I have relatives in both of them.

Do I have to join a tourist group also, since I only want to visit family.

So I plan to visit Beijing this december, and I have the tickets from Hong Kong to beijing and then from Beijing to Manila. Problem is outbond ticket is Beijing - Xiamen (1h40 connection) - Manila. Does that 1h40 connection in Xiamen disqualify me for the 144 visa free policy?

I'm planning to use the 144-hour Transit Without Visa (TWOV) in Guangzhou and wanted to double-check if my travel itinerary will meet the requirements. Here's what I'm trying to book.

• Inbound flight: ICN (Seoul) → CAN (Guangzhou)
• Outbound flight: CAN (Guangzhou) → TPE (Taipei) → ICN (Seoul), booked as a single ticket.

My main concern is whether Chinese immigration will consider Taiwan a valid 'third country' for the purposes of the TWOV, even though I will be transiting at TPE airport for only 2 hours and my final destination, as shown on the itinerary, is ultimately back in Seoul (ICN).

Hi! I’m 36 years old and I’m dreaming of learning Chinese in China, especially in Kunming, the city of eternal spring. I applied to non-degree courses at universities, but I’m afraid they will refuse me because I dropped out of high school and I only have a secondary education diploma. Most of my education was non-formal.

Is there any way for me to get a one-year visa to stay in China and practice Chinese? I checked a private school in Kunming, but it costs $33,000 per year, and my budget is a maximum of $3,000 per year to obtain the visa.

Any ideas?

Hi, I need to find my dads British Hong Kong birth certificate. He did not register his birth certificate and worked for a big british company, affiliated with the british government at that time. They registered him for a seamen identity book. In order to get a passport in hk, you need to get a birth certificate. Im not sure if the company put him as hk born or bao an republic of china born at the time. They didnt ask any questions and just registered him. Im asking if GRO from British birth certificate, would have such records

Hi! I'm applying for a Chinese L-tourist visa for the first time in NYC. I'm a U.S. citizen of Korean descent, with both parents also holding U.S. citizenship. However, I am currently estranged from one of my parents and am unable to contact them.

The last time I went in person to apply, they said I needed to provide my birth certificate and copies of both parents' passports. Given my situation, is it possible to obtain an L-visa without a copy of one of my parents' passports?

Also can anyone provide an updated list of required documents that I can reference before making the trip again? The birth certificate requirement was not online at all...

I'm applying for a tourist visa from the UK. Just wondered if I'm allowed to simply book a normal flat rather than a hotel. And whether it might cause problems during the interview?

Hello everyone,

My friend and I are traveling soon from Frankfurt, Germany, to Shanghai, and we’re planning to use the 15-day visa-free policy by extending our stay through a side trip to Hong Kong, as many have suggested. We’ve already booked our flight to Hong Kong, but now we're a bit concerned about potential issues with the airline regarding our itinerary. (It's Lufthansa, maybe anyone has specific experience with them?)

Specifically, we’ll be landing in Shanghai, planning to travel to Hong Kong before the 15 days expire, and then returning to Shanghai before flying home 25 days after our initial arrival. Our main questions are:

1. Could this itinerary cause any problems with check-in or immigration, given that we extend the visa-free time in China?
2. Is it likely we’ll be required to make changes to our booking, or is having the Hong Kong flight reservation enough to avoid issues?

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

My parents made me do a HK ID even though I was never born there or lived there.

It says R0 on my card. I told them that, and yes I've entered China in the past through HK long time ago (15 years) but that was when there was no Chinese Visa Center.

Because I've mentioned this part, they became suspicious and rude and refused to let me apply. I've told them my parents and my sister all need a normal Chinese Visa because we are not chinese citizens.

I dont know what my next steps are, I've already booked a ticket to China in 2 weeks, and these people recognize me already, refuse to let me apply. Should I go through an agent, would that help ?

I live in Iowa and am going to Chicago this Friday to go to the Chinese consulate to apply for visas for myself, my husband, and our two sons. We are all US citizens and are applying for 10 year L visas. A few questions:

1. Is it ok if I am the only one going/can I submit all the applications myself (we have all already submitted our COVAs online)
2. I might not be able to get back to Chicago for a few weeks. Is it ok if I don’t pick up our visas right away when they are available? Does anyone know of any visa agencies that are willing to pick up and mail visas to me(rather than taking care of the whole process)? If I can’t get to Chicago but my husband can is it ok if he picks up the visas if I am the one who dropped off the application materials?
3. It is my understanding that I don’t need an invitation letter or plane/hotel information to submit. Is this correct?

Thank you!

Has anyone else faced challenges obtaining a visa to China as a Tibetan?

I became a U.S. citizen in 2018, having previously held a Chinese passport. I was born in Sichuan and moved to the U.S. when I was 8. Since becoming a citizen, I’ve applied for a visa three times (span of 4 years) through the Chinese Consulate in New York and have been rejected each time without any explanation. I’ve never done anything that should impact my application negatively. Does anyone know if there’s a “good time” to apply or a way to improve the chances of approval? I’m desperate and just want to visit my family while I still can.

Regarding the 144 hour visa-free transit policy, would this itinerary meet the requirements?

Boston to Guangzhou flight (Cathay has a layover in HKG) ---> 144 hr in Guangzhou ---> Hong Kong bullet train

Would China interpret this as US>China>HK?

Hi everyone! I’m trying to fill out the online COVA form and the photos that I’m getting after using the apps (eg photo aid) are still being rejected. It says the face is covered when it is not covered. Is there no way to keep filling out the form if the photo keeps getting rejected? Planning to go to NYC consulate Friday.

I plan to visit china for a month, goal is to apply for a L visa, however online in the visa application you can choose to put in work experience up to 5 years, information about your parents, annual income etc.

Problem is as a student my annual income is small, only have good savings. It asks for questions about my parents "As shown on your passport", not sure what this means and if I have to fill this in anyway. It also asks for work experience? I'm concerned if I tick non applicable on annual income, work experience, family stuff, they'll just decline me.

I'll have a friend invitation along with my visa also Enter & Departure ticket photocopies, hotels as well.

Hi there!

I will be traveling to Asia with my partner, I have passport that allows the 144 TWOV. My partner is Chinese (although we're not legally married yet). We have a 8h15m stopover in PEK and as I've never visited China, we'd like to go out of the airport just to have dinner and come back for our flight.

I've seen stories online of people being refused the permit to go out of the airport because their connection time "was too short". Can anybody confirm this?

Can my Chinese partner clear immigration with me? I think it should be easier if they explain to the officer we're just going out for some quick dinner and come back?

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Hi all,
I am planning to get a student visa (X1) to study for two semesters in Beijing (BLCU University, regular chinese courses). I was wondering :

- Does the university check attendance in each class ?
- Can class absences lead to a cancellation of a student visa ?

If you have been in this situation or someone who has, your insight would be of great help !

Hi,

There wasn’t many posts related to this.

Shortly, my wife is Chinese national and I’m a national of an EU country with 15-day visa free entry to China. Our child is born in China and has a passport from same country as I do. In china’s view obviously the child has a 国籍冲突 situation and earlier we’ve had to apply for a 通行证 to enter and exit China.

However, now with the visa free access, wouldn’t the child in theory be able to enter and exit the country just by using the EU passport while never mentioning that she is also a Chinese national? (Note she doesn’t have Chinese passport, only national ID).

Does anyone have experience with this kind of situation and whether it might be allowed, or should I be just safe and ask from immigration officers before departure to China.

Thanks.

Hi all, UK citizen travelling via China for first time. Please can you advise if the below will be ok for the 144 hour visa?

London - Beijing (10 hour layover) - Sydney [1 week in Sydney]

Sydney - Beijing (3 days layover) - London

I was slightly confused by the "source" part and wasn't sure, if I leave the airport on the way to Sydney, will that count as a direct return flight between Sydney and Beijing and scupper my chances of getting out into Beijing on the way back to London? Priority for me is to get the visa on the way back as will have more time. If I don't leave Beijing airport on the way into Sydney, presuming getting the visa on the way back to London would be totally fine?

Any advice very welcome - many many thanks in advance!!

Following meeting between Xi and Stubb, China is willing to further expand people-to-people exchanges with Finland, and has decided to apply the unilateral visa-free policy to Finland, he added, noting that China welcomes more Finnish friends to visit for business, tourism and study.

Hi!

I’m planning a trip from the Netherlands to Bali with a layover in China, both on the way there and on the way back. My question is whether I can use the 24-hour visa-free transit option twice in one week: once on the way to Bali and again on the way back to the Netherlands. Each time I’ll be transiting through a Chinese city and staying under 24 hours. Has anyone tried this or knows if it's allowed under current rules? Thanks for any advice!

I'm traveling to China for an academic conference and have applied for an F-visa. I just submitted my passport and application documents at the NYC consulate today. I have two questions:

1. Where do you track the status of your submitted application online?

2. My pickup date is Nov 1. I live in Boston and can't travel back by Nov 1. Can I go pick up my passport a few days later? Say on Tues Nov 5?

I recently got a divorce. I have a passport and 10 year Chinese visa with my married/pre-divorce last name. I need to travel urgently to China to care for a sick family member. I don't have time to apply for a new passport with my maiden name and then get another Chinese visa. Can I use my current passport (the one with my married last name) to travel to China?

Just dropped off my application for L visa in NYC.

Thought it would be straight forward as I had all my docs prepared. They took everything and my passport, and I received the pickup slip but instead of a pickup time, I was told that I have to now wait for a call from them on next steps, and that it would take up to two weeks. There was also no option to expedite for an answer. They said if I don’t hear back in two weeks that I could send an email to the address indicated on the slip.

Some background:

• Hong Kong born, Canadian and British citizenship
• applying for tourism visa in my Canadian passport
• previously had Chinese business visa in my UK passport for a trip in 2017, and a tourist visa in my Canadian passport for a trip in 2012
• currently living in US with a work visa in my Canadian passport
• haven’t been to any countries that would be flagged

Any idea what’s causing the wait for a call? / anybody experienced anything similar?

I’m sorry to add to the set of posts that ask whether there itinerary is allowed by TWOV, but I’m scared. I’m fairly sure this is all allowed, but here goes:

UK passport holder. Itinerary Tokyo -> Beijing (PEK), stay for 5 days, Beijing (PKX) -> London via Doha. The outbound flight is a single ticket with a short layover in Doha.

My areas of concern are:

1. We’re entering and exiting Beijing from two different ports*. I think that’s fine, but the emirates guide seems to suggest same airport: https://www.emirates.com/my/english/before-you-fly/visa-passport-information/visa-passport-information-results/?widgetheader=visa&nationality=gb&destination=gb&transit=cn

2. The outbound flight is not direct. I think this should not matter given that the first stop is a third country.

3. The inbound origin nor the first outbound stop is my country of residence. Again, think that is fine but don’t see any official guidance allowing this.

If anyone could quell my fears, that would be appreciated.

• note that I haven’t actually booked this leg yet, and may end up going from Tokyo to PKX, making this point irrelevant.

So I was born in Hong Kong and both parents are citizens of China and I gained Australia citizenship a few years ago. So now I've got both a Hong Kong and Australian passport. I was wondering how I can travel to mainland China. Would I just need to leave Australia with my Australian passport and enter Mainland China with my Hong Kong passport?

Has this happened to anyone?

I went to the visa centre in person to find out and they insisted that they do not know and told me to apply again online. Without knowing the reason for obtaining a visa that I did not apply for, I don't think I want to spend another 170 dollars to apply only to be given the same treatment again. The only other option they gave me was contacting the Toronto consultate which I am attempting right now.

The rep murmured certain things like my job as a military member or something but they could not give me a straight up answer as to why.

Edit: I have discovered a grave error on my previous application while I was beginning a new one. I have selected single entry instead of multiple. My requested expiration was 114 months from the past July. I really hope that that was the reason why my visa was only valid for 3 months, or else I will have to keep paying $170 for a brand new visa when I want to visit China.

So I wanted to study master degree in china. However I came across the fact that I need to take a medical check once I step in china. I have an autoimmune disease called ( systemic lupus erythematosus) and it's chronic. However I am almost symptoms free, And I spoke to my doctor she told me that it's fine I can go. I am healthy as any other person I just need to keep up with medicines. Is that going to make any problems? Would I get rejected? Should I tell them about that? Bc they are a chance they can't know about it since I am almost symptoms free. In that case I don't wanna lie about that honestly, should I tell them about it? Bc anyway I still have to do medical check up every 3 months. Please answer me, china has been always my dream country to study, I don't want something to come in between especially something I didn't ask for.