How to apply for China Travel Visa?

Type of Visas

Throughout the website, I always talk how China is like, but thinking about it I never have tell you how to get there. Well, silly me. To make up for my carelessness, I will delicate this article by going into details of all things you need to know about China Visas, because it can become very confusing.

When you first apply for visa, I bet you didn't know that China have so many different visa types. To sum it up to you, there are 4 main types of China travel visa which are L, F, Z, and X.

L- Visa (for tourist):

The rule is that you can only stay within 30 days time period, and it only grants you one or two entries per visa. After it expires, you may reapply as normal.

F- Visa (for Business):

To obtain this visa is a little bit tricky. The Chinese host company has to provide you with a formal invitation to come into China and with the invitation, you then can apply for type F- Visa.

As a side note, this visa still considers to be a tourist visa, meaning that you cannot gain employment in China. This is best so you able to get in contact with the China embassy and consulate when apply for this visa.

Z- Visa (for Work):

X- Visa (for Student):

That is the four common visas for normal people. However there are two more visas for special cases. I know that you feel like you just got scam, but after these two, then it would be it. I don't know much about these two visas. Sorry, for being brief.

C- Visa (for Crew):

J-1/J-2 (for Journalist):

Common questions

Each visa can run you anywhere to about $130 not including service fees. You have not step foot into China and it already cost you some money. Definitely, there is no fun in that.

A side note for people that travel to Hong Kong and Macau. If you just travel to Hong Kong and Macau and does not step foot on to Chinese mainland, then you do not need to apply for a visa.

There also different types of entry as well: one entry, double entry, and multiple entries. Entries are count by how many times you step foot into China mainland. The reason I'm mentioning this is because of the special case about Hong Kong.

Let me give you an example,

Let said you plan a trip to China. After getting into China, you stay for couple day, and through your excite of the moment you decide to go to Hong Kong. Now that you staying in Hong Kong for a day, you then want go back to China mainland.

By this time if you buy a one entry visa, the people will not let you in. In this case, you need a double entry visa to go back in to China because you are stepping foot into China twice. So definitely, keep that in mind while travel.

You may ask, "Why is China doing that, and I thought Hong Kong is a part of China?" I'm sorry I don't know why China is doing that, except thinking as it a way to try to make money off you and I. However, if you do know, please, feel free to contact me. Once, I have the information; then I will post it up here so everybody can see.

One you have decided which type of visa that you want, you may then start to apply. There are two ways to do so. The newest way is using the internet; I will not go into detail into this because you can go to the government website for a full explanation. The old way is physical goes to the Chinese embassy and consulate. If you are going in person, please, remember to bring your passport with you.

This is the list of places for you to obtain Chinese Visa in United States:

Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC
2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20007
Phone: (202) 338-6688, (202) 588-9760
Fax: (202) 588-9760

Chinese Consulate General in Chicago, IL
100 West Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: (312) 803-0095
Fax: (312) 803-0110

Chinese Consulate General in Houston, TX
3417 Montrose Boulevard, Houston, TX 77006
Phone: (713) 520-1462
Fax: (713) 521-3064

Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, CA
443 Shatto Place, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Phone: (213) 807-8088
Fax: (213)807-8091

Chinese Consulate General in New York, NY
520 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 244-9392
Fax: (212) 465-1708

Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, CA
1450 Laguna Street, San Francisco, CA 94115
Phone: (415) 674-2900
Fax: (415) 563-0494

Another excellent article by Dat, but I could done without your support. Thank you. From where I am and whenever you are, have a good night and good luck everybody.

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Resource Links

• Direct-PassportVisa.com - US Passport and travel visas expedite service. We help tourists and business travelers with their travel documents before they go on international travel.
• Visa Types