How to Apply for a Chinese Tourist Visa

The People's Republic of China is a very interesting place to travel. To visit China for travel as a tourist, all U.S. Citizens must have a valid United States passport and a Chinese Tourist Visa. The process to apply for a Chinese Tourist Visa is not very difficult.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Application fee
• Visa application
• Passport photo
• Valid passport

1. Be sure that your passport is current and has at least six months remaining validity and one blank visa page.

2. Complete the Visa Application Form Q1. You can download the form and print it from the Chinese Embassy website. You will also need one standard passport photo, which can be black and white or color.

3. Submit the application and visa fee in person. You must go to the visa office of the embassy or general consulate in the area in which you live. The People's Republic of China has one embassy in Washington D.C., as well as five general consulate offices. These offices are located in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston.

4. Send someone else to submit the application on your behalf. If you cannot come to one of the offices, you can entrust a travel or visa agent to file the application for you. Mailed applications are not accepted.

5. Wait for processing of your Chinese Tourist Visa. Normal processing time is four working days. You can pay extra to have the processing time expedited.

6. Travel to China. Chinese Tourist Visas are valid for 90 or 180 days, meaning you must arrive within China 90 or 180 days from the date of issue. The visas are issued for stays up to 30 days in length.

Tips & Warnings

• Read books and magazines about traveling to China so that you know what to expect.
• Fees cannot be paid by personal check. Credit cards, money orders, cashier's checks, company checks and cash are accepted.
• Persons suffering from mental disorders, AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are not permitted in China.

Resources

• Get information about fees and download the application for your Chinese Tourist Visa at china-embassy.org.
• Contact passportvisaexpress.com if you need a visa agent to handle your application.
• Learn more about traveling to China at travelchinaguide.com.

[cooper36]

on 6/25/2009 To the person who was asking for a place to buy cheap china flights, I’ve been booking my flights from http://www.bamboobookings.com for the past 3 years that I’ve been living in China and have had great reliability. Other companies end up never booking what I want and I end up wasting time and money going to the airports.

[hawkeye177]

on 7/28/2008 There are many companies like www.mastervisaservice.com that are willing to help you submit your documents to the consulate. Their fees usually range from 20 - 40 dollars but they will help you fill out your application and get everything else in order.