Visit China: Find out if you need a visa

Passport

• Original passport with at least six months of remaining validity,
• and with at least two blank visa pages,
• and a photocopy of the passport’s data page.

Visa Application Form and Electronic Photo

• Please complete the Visa Application Form.
• Upload your electronic photo (click to check the rules for photos).
• Print the Visa Application Form and sign.

Physical Photo

Submit a physical photo along with your application. Your photo should meet the following requirements:

• Photo size: 33x48mm;
• Printed in color with white background;
• Meet the rules for photos (click to check the rules for photos).

Proof of legal stay or residence status (only applicable for non-local applicants)

If you are applying for a Chinese visa at a location that is not your country of citizenship, you must provide the original and photocopies of the following documents provided they are valid and provided by the authority of the country you are applying from.

• Certificates of residence
• Visa of stay
• Employment status
• Student status
• Residence permit
• and/or other valid certificates of legal staying

If you have previously owned Chinese citizenship and have now obtained foreign citizenship, you must additionally provide:

• A photocopy of previous Chinese passports or previous Chinese visas

If you are applying for a Chinese visa for the first time, you should provide your former Chinese passport in original and a photocopy of its data page. If you can’t provide the previous passport, please provide a written statement for the Embassy’s further review.

If you have obtained Chinese visas before, you should also present a photocopy of a previous Chinese visa held each time applying for a new one.

If your name on the current passport differs from that on the previous one, you must provide an official document of name change.

If you are under 18 years old with one or both parents being or having previously been Chinese citizens and you are applying Chinese visa for the first time, you must provide:

• Passport copy of both parents.
• Stamped and signed Certificate of Kinship in original form.
• A photocopy of the permanent residence permit of the parent(s) being or having previously been a Chinese citizen.

Itinerary documents including air ticket booking records (round trip), proof of hotel reservation, and a travel plan on a separate paper or an invitation letter for tourists issued by a relevant unit or individual in China. The issuer of an invitation letter needs to provide a photocopy of his or her Chinese ID. If the issuer is a foreign national living in China, he or she should provide a photocopy of the valid residence permit and the passport data page.

The invitation letter should contain: 

• Applicant information (incl. full name, gender, date of birth, passport number);
• Information regarding the planned visit, including:
  • purpose of the visit
  • arrival and departure dates
  • place(s) to visit
  • the relationship between the applicant and the inviting entity or individual
  • financial source for expenditures during the stay in China
• Information on the inviting entity or individual, including:
  • name
  • contact telephone number
  • address
  • stamp
  • signature of the legal representative or individual

Flight booking records should always be presented together with an individual invitation letter.