Embassy China

About Embassy China

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the People's Republic of China to the United States. It is located at 3505 International Place, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Van Ness neighborhood.

The embassy also operates Consulates-General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City.

About Embassy China Services

Chinese Visa Service

What is a Chinese visa?

Visa is a travel document issued by authorized government agencies to foreign citizens who apply for entry, exit, or transit according to the laws and regulations of the host country. According to international law and practice, any sovereign state has the right to decide whether to allow foreign citizens to enter or leave its territory, issue visa, refuse visa application, or cancel visa issued.

Chinese embassies and consulates abroad and other agencies abroad entrusted by the Ministry of foreign affairs are the issuing authorities responsible for issuing entry visas to foreign citizens. They have the right to determine the type of visa to be issued, the number of times of entry, the period of validity and duration of each stay, or, in accordance with the provisions of Chinese laws and regulations, refuse to apply for a visa or cancel a visa that has been issued. According to Chinese law, foreign citizens may be refused entry even if they hold a valid Chinese visa.

Foreign citizens must obtain a visa before entering the country, except those who are exempted from visas according to relevant agreements or regulations. Foreign citizens who belong to the provisions of Article 22 of the exit and entry law of the people's Republic of China may apply for a port visa to the visa issuing authority entrusted by the Ministry of public security at the entry port approved by the State Council to issue a port visa.

For visits to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Macao Special Administrative Region, visa-free short-term visits are granted to citizens of some countries or regions. Otherwise, they must apply for an entry visa as required by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Macao Special Administrative Region. If visitors wish to visit the Hongkong Special Administrative Region / Macao Special Administrative Region and the Chinese mainland at the same time, they must apply for visas separately.

Visa type, validity period, number of people entering and length of stay

There are four types of Chinese visa: Diplomatic visa, Courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa can be divided into 12 sub categories or 16 categories. (click for more information).

The visa validity period ("pre entry") refers to the period from the date of issuance to the "date of entry" (Beijing time) indicated on the visa, or can be used for entry. If the visa has unused entries, the holder can enter China at 24:00 (Beijing time) on the expiry date.

"Entry" refers to the number of times the holder has been allowed to enter the country during the validity period of the visa. If a visa does not stay, or there are some entry projects, but the validity of the visa has expired, the visa will be invalid. If the visa fails, the holder must apply for a new visa before entering the country. Entry to China with invalid visa will be refused.

"Duration of each stay" refers to the maximum number of days a visa holder is allowed to stay in China each time, calculated from the date of entry.

Residence permit: visa holders of categories D, J1, Q1, S1, X1 and Z must apply to the local public security organ for a residence permit within 30 days after entering the country, unless each stay is marked as 30 days. Personnel of foreign diplomatic and consular offices in China must apply to the Ministry of foreign affairs or the local diplomatic department for residence permit within 30 days from the date of entry.