r/Chinavisa

plan to use 240 hour transit visa. Is it difficult to go through border control? Since there is no approved visa, do they ask lots of questions? What kind of questions? Just don't want to be denied entry or get an exit ban. Thanks all for responding.

Hi, everyone. I’m trying to get my diploma authentication ready for my work visa. I graduated in May with an MA, but I just now got my diploma in the mail (didn’t attend graduation).

My concern is: they notarized my original diploma with “I certify this to be a complete, full, and true and exact reproduction of the original document” on the back on the diploma. It worries me that this wording will cause the Chinese immigration bureau to think that there is an original. So, at this point, I either have to get a reissued diploma /or/ I need to just submit the original for work permit and immigration purposes. The former will probably take too long. The latter isn’t ideal, but I’ll kick the can of getting a certified copy authenticated down the road if I have to.

So, my question is, does anyone have experience using their original for each process? Will the notary’s wording cause me issues if I try to use my original diploma?

Thank you

Just saw another post.

But I have a US passport and my country of birth is China. Will I be denied entry?

I already have my flights booked and leaving in two weeks.

Good morning. This subreddit was invaluable in my application so I wanted to share my experience. If you find anything useful, the info came from Reddit posters before me so thank you collectively:

1. I applied online on June 17th. I travel to Japan on 7/15 from NYC and I enter Beijing through Tokyo on July 22nd. I am a Chinese-born American citizen who was approved for a Chinese visa before on my American passport. My minor daughter is American by birthright and this was her first application.
2. I used https://ishotaphoto.com/documents__china-visa-online for the free pictures. You can get 1 free photo per email address. I luckily have 3 email addresses because one photo was rejected once. The Cova website will tell you the results instantaneously.
3. I knew my general details but never had to share specific bookings in China. I am doing 45 days abroad and there were enough spaces for me to input every city/country I was visiting.
4. By 6/23, I was lucky that I checked the website for updates. I had to explain my Turkish travels and upload a passport for my ex husband. I uploaded my itinerary from summer 2025 to explain my tourist activities in Türkieye and stated my ex husband does not have an active U.S. passport (American citizen by birthright).
5. Based on the Reddit feedback, I decided to email the Consulate (at the address listed on the application) to ask if I should upload my ex’s driver’s license or birth certificate. I offered the birth certificate because I thought it would prove his citizenship and not cause delays. I was a little nervous about my timeline. The next day, I received a response and the ex‘s documents were unnecessary (he went to China with me in 2011 so maybe they had his records). The status online told me to drop off my passports.
6. I went without my daughter on June 25th. I walked from Grand Central to the Consulate and it was 30 minutes down the same street. I arrived around 10:30am and was out by 10:48am, including a bathroom break. I printed a whole book of anything you could’ve asked me for except the photos. The agent did not request anything from me. I was overly prepared but relieved. I asked if I could pay for expedited service. She recommended regular and said I pay at pick up. She advised me to check the website for status. On my pick up slip, I noticed a projected date of June 30th.
7. On June 30th, the website status changed.
8. On July 2nd, I went to pick up my passports. This time, I rode the M42 bus for $3 (paid by ApplePay) both ways. I went in around 9:30am and left around 10:20am. There was a line to take a number (separate from the drop off service) then a line to pay during the actual pick up. I paid $280 using a Visa card and don’t recall any additional fees.

Overall, I am grateful for my experience. If I had to redo it, I’d start earlier. Thank you to fellow Redditors and the NYC location for excellent advice and great service. I thought the process was very efficient, even though it appeared intimidating and unfriendly at first. Best of luck to every applicant. I’ll see you in China!💕

My Chinese employer (training center) has already submitted the application to get my work offer letter, is it too late to quit and still be able to get a different offer letter from a different job?

I want to quit because the process of submitting said application was very rushed and had mistakes, it made me lose confidence in working with the school.

Will I be able to get another job that can submit another application for a different work offer letter, or will this previous submission impede me?

In 2018, flew with family on a TWOV trip (Canada - CN - JP). On arrival (Beijing) were denied entry only because of place of birth (Canadian passport, born in Pakistan). Ironically I had been in China multiple times prior for work (business visa). 8 years later have travelled the world but regret we haven't been able to visit CN.

Not confident we can rely on TWOV, don't want to plan out (and pay for) an entire trip to have the same result (consider I'm in their database as declined entry). Applying for a tourist visa seems a complicated, lengthy & costly process. Can one do this 6 months out from travel dates? Anyone done this to avoid risk of denied entry?

EdIt: out 2018 trip was based on the old 144 hour TWOV. Our itinerary met all the requirements of that scheme, it wasn't at all about our route (fly in from one country, fly out to another). We were sent back to Canada on the same plane we landed on purely based on place of birth. They forced the airline (Air Canada) to take us back (managed to find seats for us). I did not have two passports then - it was the fact my Canadian passport showed a place of birth the authorities were concerned with.

Has anyone heard of people applying for visa even though they meet the current 30-day TWOV requirements?

I'm going to have X1 visa and I'm wondering about a few things:

-When should I come to China? (I've understood that X1 visa lasts for 30 days since arrival, but do you start that timer even if you can enter the country visa-free (as a tourist) and then exchange the X1 visa for the residence permit after registration at the university?)

Basically, I was planning to come August 4th and my university registration is at 7th, would this be TOO early, would the X1 visa expire?

-What should I fill in "time of departure", as in time of leaving China, right? My program is 1 year but I plan to continue my studying as an undergraduate student after the 1 year, should I still put the time after the program's end as the "departure" time? Since how can I possibly know when I'll depart next year?

-For COVA and the Visa application in person (for this 1 year of study), do I need a financial guarantee statement and how much?

(I saw that the other application system shows, which isn't mine, but mine (COVA) doesn't mention financial guarantee statement as a required document. )

Thank you all.

They've told me my picture wasn't submitted because the background isn't white (it is completely white). Now I don't know what to do. Has this happened to anyone else? What happens next?

Hi just have a quick question regarding visa renewal. I currently have a 10 multi-visit year visa that’s going to expire in 2029 in my expired US passport. Will I still be able to reuse that old unexpired visa in my old passport and just bring it along with my new passport?

Planning to fly from SFO to Pek for 5 days. Then take the train to Guangzhou for 4 days. Either ferry or fly from Guangzhou to Hong Kong for 1 day and then fly back home to Sfo. Will this work for a visa free travel?

I am staying in Karnataka and I'm applying for M - Business VISA at Mumbai Consulate of China.

I have applied twice and got rejected both the times. I am applying through IVS (VISA agent my Company has affiliation with).

My documents are OK but I'm not sure why they're rejecting my VISA.

I applied at 11th June and my travel was for 4th July.

Can anybody help me here?

I asked the agency and they say that they don't know the reason.

Documents that I have provided-

1. Invitation letter
2. Covering letter
3. Chinese entity business license
4. Inviter ID images
5. Passport front and back
6. 80% coverage passport size photo
7. Authority letter for submission and pickup of my passport - agent submits and picks up the passport. I don't have to go.
8. My application was filled by agent on my behalf

Hi guys,

I’ve got an appointment next week to go to China visa centre in Manchester, as initial online application was accepted.

I’m getting some mixed answers from others online, and friends who done it before, on what to take to appointment, although the email itself states:

1.This email
2.Original passport
3.A passport-sized photo if the uploaded one is indicated as unqualified
4.Original of a previous Chinese passport (if you were previously a Chinese national and are applying for a Chinese visa for the first time)

There’s an application certificate attached with barcode, which I am going to print to be on safe side.

It’s not specified, but should I also print out entire PDF application form, and sign it too?

Any help would be appreciated as just want it to go smoothly.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice about long-term visa options for China because I’m a bit stuck.
My boyfriend (he is not Chinese) currently lives and works in China. I’m French, so as far as I understand, I can stay in China for up to one month without too many complications.
The problem is that I would like to live there with him for a longer period of time, but I’m not sure what options I have.
We already looked into the possibility of marriage, but from what we understood, even if we got married, I wouldn’t be able to get a family reunion visa because he does not have permanent residency in China.
As for work, I honestly don’t think finding a job there would be realistic for me. My background is in literary studies, I don’t speak Chinese, and I don’t really have qualifications that seem likely to get me a work visa.
So far, I’ve already spent around 4 months in China by leaving the country and re-entering every month to reset my stay, but I’m starting to worry about how many times I can keep doing this before immigration officers start seeing it as suspicious.
Does anyone know if there are any visa options I might not be aware of, or if anyone has been in a similar situation?
I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you.

To cut a long story short, I am a foreigner who works (legally) in China with a hobby.

Over the years of doing that hobby and attending trade shows I've been able to meet a lot of people and companies in this hobby space and have become an expert in the space.

I think now I'm ready to be able to offer my services as a consultant in the space. But I don't want to quit my day job.

The question is how to do it legally. I hit up Deepseek, and it suggested something I've never seen before, it suggested a foreigner can hold two work permits simultaneously.

One permit for a day job. And one permit the foreigner issues themselves via their own WFOE.

Firstly is this just bullshit AI hallucination?

Has anyone here set up a consultancy?

I've got the capital requirements, but do I need to rent an office? Consulting doesn't require an office, so it's a waste of money.

There was also a mention of two years work experience needed for the permit. But as I would be a new company, how would I get that?

I've seen quotes of $15k for agencies to help set up a WFOE. Is this just the "scam the laowai" price?

Does anyone have the full steps on how to renew a Chinese travel document? I went through a travel agent 2 years ago and they filed one through the app.

I thought of going through the agent again, but it's really expensive, so I downloaded the app.

Problem is, I can't read Chinese so I'm not sure what the steps are.

Details:

- I'm a US citizen, but due to my parents citizenship issues, I wasn't qualified for a Chinese visa, so I had to apply for a travel document.

- I'm over 18 years old

- I have the Chinese consular app instead and created an account

- looking for a video or detailed steps to renew my travel document.

If there are any questions, I'll edit and update the post.

Thank you.

I am of Chinese descent. Both my parents hold Chinese citizenship, but they live in Europe. In China I have some aunts and uncles. Can I apply for a visa through them? They are all from Qingtian, and from what I know, that makes it easier.

I submitted my application on 18 June 2026 via the visaforchina website (New Delhi centre) with all the required documents. I've travelled to China multiple times before on M visas and have never experienced delays like this.

Today is 3 July, and my application status is still showing "Under Review."

I've tried calling the VFS helpline countless times, but it's almost impossible to get through. On the few occasions I did reach someone, they said there is no separate review queue for Express applications. According to them, Express service only means the passport is returned on the 4th working day instead of the 6th after the review is completed. The review itself is in a single common queue and can apparently take anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, depending on the queue.

Is this normal these days at the New Delhi centre? How long did your application stay in the "Under Review" stage before it was approved? Any recent experiences or timelines would be really helpful.

Hi I recieved my online approval but can't submit my passport within 15 days as i have another trip and need my passport. I can submit on day 18

Does anyone have experience submitting after 15 days and did VFS accept it