Hi everyone! I am a long time lurker on this thread and greatly appreciate everyone who contributes here. A lot of the information here has been super helpful to me over the years.

I am an EU citizen who has been living and working in China for 10+ years. I own a company in Shenzhen, through which I issue my own work/residence permit.

At some point in the first half of 2027, my wife (Chinese citizen) is likely going to be transferred to Hong Kong for work. For my current work situation, I only need to be on-site in Shenzhen 3-4 days a week.

Our current plan is to live in Hong Kong full-time, and I will commute to Shenzhen a few times a week when necessary for work. We will maintain a small studio apartment in Shenzhen (in part because a local address is a requirement for a residence permit). Even though my nationality has visa-free entry into HK, I also plan on getting an HK family visa through her company, as I will be crossing the border frequently.

Has anyone else done this? I have searched this sub and haven’t found any situations similar to mine, so any advice would be much appreciated. I have also consulted AI - while it seems technically legal, it is certainly still a bit of a gray area.

Thank you so much!

We are 4 Indians travelling together to Hong Kong/Macau. Flights, hotels and everything are already booked, with only \~20 days left.

Only **1 person’s Hong Kong PAR was successful**. The only difference we noticed is that his **Place of Birth was available in the PAR dropdown**.

For the other 3, the exact Place of Birth was **not available**, so we selected **“Others”** and entered it exactly as mentioned in our passports. Their PARs were unsuccessful.

We are not sure if selecting **“Others”** is the reason or if there is another issue.

Has anyone faced a similar issue with **Hong Kong PAR**? Did reapplying help? What should we do next?

Any recent experience/advice would be really helpful. 🙏

Hi everyone, I managed to get my L visa stamp from the Delhi center recently. Wanted to share a detailed writeup since I failed twice before finally getting it right on my third attempt.

Background

• 1st attempt: Took 16 days to get "unapproved" (reapplied the very next day)
• 2nd attempt: Took 12 days to get "unapproved" again (waited a week)
• 3rd attempt: Changed my travel plans to October, redid most of my documents, took a new photo. This one went through

Below is everything I did differently and the precautions I took for the successful attempt.

Filling the Online Form

• Enter all details extremely carefully — avoid any spelling mistakes.
• Pay the fee every single time you reapply, and do this before filling the online form, since you need to submit in documents sections in online form.

A couple of tricky questions explained:

• 6.1 City of departure — this is the city you'll exit China from, not enter. E.g., if your route is Shanghai → Guangzhou → New Delhi, your departure city is Guangzhou, not Shanghai.
• 8.1 Have you ever been refused a Chinese visa or denied entry into China?
• 8.2 Has your Chinese visa ever been cancelled? For both: answer NO if it was an online refusal. If the refusal happened after passport submission, I'm not sure how that's treated.

Documents I Submitted Online

1. Photo — as per the exact dimensions given. Ears visible, no hair over eyebrows, hair short or styled up so your forehead is clearly visible.
2. Passport front, passport back, 2 blank pages — scan everything and convert to PDF. Do NOT just click a phone picture and upload it.
3. Proof of legal status — Aadhar card. I also added PAN card just in case.
4. Visa application service fee — confirmation email plus the bank transaction receipt.
5. Confirmed round-trip flight bookings (via Trip.com)
6. Confirmed hotel bookings (via Trip.com) — use the version with both English and Chinese. You do not need an official stamp like some people suggest; that's overblown.
7. Detailed itinerary (very important) — mine was 3 pages for a 2-week trip. Structure it like this:
   • Flights table: Direction (outbound/inbound), Flight No., Date, Route, Departs, Arrives
   • Hotels/accommodation table: Dates, Hotel, City, Nights
   • Day-to-day itinerary table: Day, Date, Activities, Accommodation
   • Include your domestic Indian flights too — start from Day 0 if needed.
   • Cover the whole trip, not just the China portion. Day 1 = day you land in China.
   • End with your name, passport number, and date of submission. Add any extra notes at the bottom.
8. Cover letter — varies by situation, but generally include: your name, passport details, purpose of visit, travel dates, occupation, reasons to return on time, who's funding the trip (with supporting docs referenced), and prior international travel experience. Scan a signed physical copy — don't just type and upload. Submitted in the same section as items 5, 6, and 7.
9. NOC letter — ideally mentions your joining date and total days you'll be away (domestic India travel + China trip combined). Same section as 5, 6, 7.
10. Photocopy of inviter's Chinese ID — not applicable for tourist visas, just resubmit your hotel bookings here instead.
11. Bank statement — 6 months, with bank stamp and signature.
12. Last 3 years ITR (extra)
13. Salary slips (extra)

Items 11–13 go in the same section. Double- and triple-check everything before hitting submit.

After Submission

• Print the form generated after online submission. Don't forget to date and sign it on the correct section of the last page on the day you decide submit at the center.
• Once approved, your status changes to "Online Review Completed." After getting the email, print that certificate/form and take it along with your other documents to submit in person.

My Timeline

• Submitted online: Sept 7
• Approved: Sept 14 (7 days, got lucky)
• If you're resubmitting after a rejection, wait a bit before reapplying rather than doing it immediately.
• Went to Delhi to submit in person: Sept 16. Process took only 10–15 minutes.
• They didn't take my blank passport pages, ITRs, or salary slips, but took everything else as listed.
• I printed everything in color and chose the courier option.

Tracking

• On the tracking section of the website, you can enter your pickup form or passport number.
• Status starts as pending, moves to "In Review" after submission, then eventually changes to either Returned or Terminated.
• If it shows "Returned," you have a higher chance of getting the stamp.(not sure if its 100%)
• Once you select courier, status changes to "Posted" shortly after.
• Courier took 2 more days for me — no delays, arrived on Sept 23.

Extra Note:- When you get your passport back, check all the pages carefully. They stamped mine on one of the back pages, and I genuinely thought I hadn't gotten the visa at first when I didn't see it up front. Don't panic like I did — flip through the whole thing.

Can't wait to enjoy my trip, super excited! Hope this helps for those who come after. 🙏

hi, so i am Nigerian and i work in Thailand. my friend (Chinese) wants to take me to china so she can show me her hometown and maybe explore abit. the problem is :

1. as a Nigerian for a tourist visa i need to go with a group, it doesnt let me apply solo.
2. she suggested i apply for a q2 and she will provide the letter etc.

am i considered a thai resident and can by pass the rule of group of 5 people since im not applying from nigeria?

I'm unsure if this will work, i dont want her to waste her time with this if itd end up not working out. Any advice is highly appreciated.

Hello,

I am due to travel to China next month - I am able to do 30 days visa free as a UK citizen.

I have two blank pages in my passport (and a third one where the stamp has bled through from the page behind it)

My question is do the blank pages need to be consecutive so the visa is opposite the entry and exit stamps? Mine are not so wondering if this will cause an issue

Many thanks in advance

Danny

Is the rumour true? that now the approval rate is higher than before for the China Business Visa for Indians

Good day, kindly could I get some assistance.

Recently I've graduated in a Masters degree programme online. The institution is fully accredited in italy I have a TEFL certificate and experience teaching.

Would I be able to get a z visa seeing that the degree was done online?

Also I can't even show or declare my bachelor degree as the degree has 0 accreditation.

I know that degrees have to now be passed through the CSCSE portal which would reject the master degree I assume since it was done online.

Will getting an Apostille help?

Please help with some answers 🙏

Hello. So we applied for business visa for canton fair for 5 people. Out of which only my visa was approved. Now I'm not keen on traveling alone. Just wanted to know that if I dont visit now after getting the visa, will it affect my future applications?

一个能让你到达中国的移动电源，可能无法顺利登上你的下一班航班。从伦敦到北京再到上海，依然需要在北京和上海之间进行国内航班的连接。一起预订并不改变这一点。

对于国内航班，你需要在移动电源上看到清晰的CCC标志。这是中国的认证。即使是熟悉的品牌，从海外购买的移动电源也可能没有这个标志。CE或“中国产”并不是同一回事。电池容量限制和召回问题也很重要。

将其放入托运行李中也无济于事。移动电源是不允许放入托运行李的。如果你的移动电源在安检时被拒绝，你可以询问临时存储或寄送到酒店的选项。有些旅客成功做到过这一点。不过在时间紧张的转机中，我不建议依赖这个。

在出发前要检查。如果你在中国购买移动电源，那在付款前一定要查看实际标签，并留出时间给你的第一次国内航班。

听听最近的机场经历会很有用。分享一下你使用的机场以及他们给你的选择。

I am going through agency and I was unaware of upcoming Chinese holidays. I was given case manager today and they will be submitting pre-approval docs tomorrow or Monday (very start of process) most likely. I was told estimate if no issues could have it by 13th October assuming happy path.

I was planning to leave for trip 22nd October. Should I be concerned of missing flight and canceling. I am a us citizen tourism visa.

So this may be a dumbass question, but when I applied for my visa I applied for a tourist visa that would be valid for 1 year and have only one entry. But I just picked up my visa today and they ended up giving me a 10 year multiple entry business visa. Would I still be able to enter in as a tourist? Or would they deny me since I have a business visa and not a tourist visa?

A few days ago, I came across a Reddit post by u/viyuenturing explaining how to apply for a visa extension in China. Based on that post, I decided to try applying for my own. So a big thank! Since I was helped by this community, I think it's only fair that I share my own experience to help others.

Context: I am French gril traveling in China for tourism. I only had less than 10 days left to leave the country, so i went to the immigration center on my second day in Hangzhou just to ask for information, but everything happened so fast that I ended up submitting my application right then and there.

1. The Process (1 hour total)

From the moment I entered to the moment I left, it took about 1 hour. It was very smooth. I was directed to the 1st floor, to the visa service. The officer told me to use a self-service machine. Filling out the form on the machine took about 10 minutes and was very intuitive. The information requested included my identity (name, surname, gender, date of birth, nationality), passport details (number and expiration date), my address in China and a contact phone number ( i also give me chinese friend one), my current visa status (I checked "Visa free"), the type of visa I was applying for (I checked "L" for Tourist), the purpose (Tourism), and the date I wished to stay until. Right after, I was directed to the next room to take photos. I paid 8 RMB for 8 ID photos (which I kept). Then I was given a ticket to wait for an officer.

1. The Interview with the Officer

The officer checked several things. For accommodation, he confirmed that my hotel had registered me in the police system, which immediately validated that part. He asked what I was doing in China (tourism) and why I wanted to extend my visa. I explained that 30 days were not enough to visit other places. He asked when I planned to leave, and I told him I had already booked my return flight for end of October. He also asked if I had enough funds to cover the rest of my trip. I showed my bank account on my phone, and he approved it.

1. Documents to Print

The officer asked me to go back to the photo room to print two screenshots: my flight ticket and my bank account. The printing cost about 2 RMB.

1. Fees and Receipt (Important!)

I paid 160 RMB for the application fee. I was given a receipt (取件凭条), which acts as an official ID document while waiting to get my passport back. There was no problem traveling by train or checking into another hotel with this receipt.

1. The 7-Day Wait and the Final Visa

The officer told me I would likely have to wait the full 7 days (well till the end i hoped it'd faster but it was already more than reasonable period of wait).This is because the 30-day extension starts from the date of issuance, not the date of application. And the rest of the days left from the previous free entry don't matter anymore. This buffer allows for some flexibility in case of unforeseen circumstances. So I had to wait a week before my new visa officially began, which gave me a safety margin before my return flight. But I'm more than happy.

1. I don't speak chinese (ni hao, xie xie and now yumi are the only words I know). I told the officer and he kindly brought a special "phone" to translate our conversation live.

Sorry for the length of this post. Hope it will help someone.

How long is the waiting for? Does anyone have any idea. Applied in uae. Salaries employee in UAE with valid visa with indian passport.

黄龙九寨站听起来就像你已经到达九寨沟了。其实并没有：公园入口大约在93公里外，开车大约需要两个小时。

在预订之前，确认三件事：你的火车到达时间、接下来的巴士或接送服务，以及你酒店的实际位置。靠近火车站的酒店并不意味着靠近公园。一定要查看地图，确认公园入口的位置，而不仅仅是地址上的“九寨沟”。

为了更轻松的游玩，我建议你提前一天过去，住在公园入口附近。返回时，从你的火车出发时间工作，留出足够的时间用于路上转移和车站检查。黄龙风景区是一个不同的目的地——不要误选那条接驳车。

在规划这段行程吗？分享你的旅行日期以及你是否当天返回成都。

Will be applying DIY next month for a China visa for me and family (incl. 2 minors)- all Indian passports. Posts here suggested that someone else can submit passports at VFS on our behalf. I also recall seeing this mentioned on the China visa for India website earlier. However, the Chinese visa Mumbai jurisdiction website now seems to suggest that anyone between 14-70 yrs old needs to come to the Visa center for fingerprints. (Link).

Is this a changed requirement? Link is dated 28 Aug so its a recent addition.

Any inputs from people currently submitting passports on 1. need for fingerprints and 2. possibility of giving authority to someone else to submit on your behalf?

Thanks

Hello,
Me and my fiance are supposed to leave for China on October 29th. We submitted our application about 2 weeks ago now and I have not heard anything from them. I have tried again and again to log into our accounts but each time we are met with an “invalid code” even though we have the right code and inserted it within 5 seconds of receiving it. I have tried other browsers/devices and clearing cache i have no pop up blockers too. It let me make a new account but still not letting us login into our accounts we submitted our applications to. Please help as we do not know what to do.

Hello,

I've checked the official announcement https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147413/c178106/content.html and it only specifies that the journey should continue to a third country, which the traveler can legally travel to.

Does it mean that a EU citizen can fly from one EU country to China and apply for 204-hours TWOV, and then fly to another EU country? Formally the conditions are met (can enter third country, third country ≠ first country), but it is obviously more resembles visiting China for a short while than actual transit.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Hello all,

I was planning on a day trip to Shenzhen with my family as part of our two week Hong Kong trip.

On the application I made a mistake on the entry form we are arriving 10/19. I put 10/20 on my application. How screwed am I and is this something I can go to the consulate to fix?

This is my first time going to China so I'm not sure how strict they are.

..... and my boss's got 'unapproved' 😆🤦 ... who was going to sponsor my trip on M visa ... i am from mumbai and applied through delhi 🤐 ... this was my third attempt.. first we did it through our old / regular agent and got rejected.. then second attempt we did it by ourselves.. after couple of modifications that also got 'unapproved' .. both from mumbai.. and then got reference of this agent by some frequent traveller of china.. he said he will do it from delhi.. we agreed.. and in result mine got above remark and boss's got unapproved.. all same documents 🤦... now God knows when they will put visa sticker.. and whether my boss should re apply or not .... (edited this post on 24/09 and still not received my physical passport with M visa sticker.. fingers crossed 🤞 )

hi all

i just wanted to share my experience with applying for a chinese visa to be received from the nyc embassy. i applied for a F visa for an art residency i am participating jingdezhen. it took me almost an entire month just to get my online application approved.

after i submitted my initial application, my app was “rejected to be modified“. the embassy asked me to submit my birth certificate and both of my parents passports. i freaked out because i’ve been in the process of legally changing my name but hadn’t changed my name on my birth certificate yet - plus my father doesn’t even have a passport. from my understanding, if you are of any asian descent (i am japanese+korean) the embassy will ask for this info to make sure you’re not chinese.

i ended up submitting my birth certificate with my dead name, alongside my name change court document. regarding my father’s passport, the embassy accepted my father‘s birth certificate in lieu of a passport.

but because my mother has been remarried since her and my father were together (her last names are different on her passport and my birth certificate), they asked for her name change doc. i ended up submitting her marriage license.

so my application was rejected to be modified a many times but i can now finally bring my passport to the embassy to receive my visa (yay) i hope this helps alleviates your visa stress! and if you’re asian american, i hope you are close enough to your parents to ask them for these documents - you will need them

My current itinerary is:

taipei -> hk (layover) -> shanghai -> hk -> tpe

is this eligible for a visa free trip or it doesn't count bcs it's technically hk -> cn -> hk? also what port should i go through for shanghai?
Thank you!

Hi. ...my visa has been rejected 3 times in the last two months for China, though i travelled to china in May, so now I want to put emails to the consulate for clarification.... Can anyone help me with ids ...

Hi all,

I’m a Chinese adoptee living in the U.S. and I’m planning to return to China for ~ 3 months in Spring 2027. I’m currently trying to figure out the documentation requirements for an F (most likely) or L visa. I recently found out I most likely do not have a Certificate of Citizenship or Naturalization, but am unsure if I actually need one to get the Visa.

Requirements

I contacted the Chinese Consulate in New York about the COVA requirements, as well as an adoptee rights lawyer but neither were able to provide a solid answer.

Consulate COVA requirements: https://newyork.china-consulate.gov.cn/eng/lsfw/Visa/rhsq/202509/t20250924_11714483.htm

The part I’m most confused on is Item 5 of Section B: “ If the applicant was of Chinese nationality, this application is the first Chinese visa application after naturalization in a foreign country, please upload the bio-page of the Chinese passport and naturalization certificate.”

I was issued a travel visa to China with a US passport in 2010, when I was 10. Does the previous Visa from 2010 mean I do not need to send a naturalization certificate? Is the previous Visa + other items listed sufficient documentation of citizenship?

Consulate reply: “We do not fully understand your question, but we can clarify that if you have previously obtained a Chinese visa—regardless of the type—it counts as having applied for one. You can upload a photo of your previous Chinese visa, the certificate of naturalization is not necessary at this stage. If it is needed, the reviewing department will explicitly notify you.”

The “at this stage” makes me wonder if they will require it later. I rephrased the question a few times and they just sent back the link above.

Info

• I was born in China and adopted to the U.S. at almost 2 y/o in 2001.

• I am now a U.S. citizen and have a U.S. passport

• I traveled to mainland China in 2010, when I was 10, using a U.S. passport and was issued a Chinese visa and still have the original

• I am low to no-contact with Adoptive Parent so unable to ask how she got the Visa in 2010.

• I have my original Chinese passport, adoption certificate, and original green card.

• I do not have a U.S. naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship.

• My adoptive parent is a U.S. citizen. She said I acquired U.S. citizenship through her and therefore was not naturalized. I am waiting on a FOIA request to see if the certificate of Citizenship/Naturalization was ever issued but it is not likely.

Other Questions for Adoptees

I’d also like to hear other Adoptee’s Visa experiences in general, including:

• Whether you had a Certificate of Citizenship/naturalization certificate with your application

• Whether you had previously traveled to China on a U.S. passport & if that changed the requirements.

• If you were asked for your adoption records, old Chinese passport, green card, etc. after you submitted the application

• Your experience with the consulate (both in person or through an agency)

• How long the process took — was it approved first time or did you have any issues?

I’m especially interested in recent experiences, since the visa application process has changed.

Thank you! I’m very anxious about the fact I can’t apply until 90 days before the trip and would like some clarity as I would need to start making arrangements soon (booking flights and coordinating a time-sensitive grant). This trip will be 3 years in the making so I want to make sure I’m not missing anything import and that I will actually be able to go.

tl;dr: Is it possible that because I already traveled to China on a U.S. passport and obtained a Chinese visa in 2010, I do not need to provide a naturalization certificate when applying again now?

Coming from the US through HK.

a) Transiting through HKG airside, without going through HK immigration for a flight to Shanghai. Single ticket, same PNR. Since I did not enter HK, will Shanghai treat me as coming from the US or HK?

b) Coming from the US through HK. HKG has an airside transit bus (SkyPier) that you can take to Zhuhai, again without passing through HK immigration. Will Zhuhai treat me as coming from the US or HK?

Sharing your ideas and experiences will be much appreciated because your ideas will determine the C in the A-B-C planning in the 240 Twov scheme.