Getting a Chinese Visa as an American Citizen, NOT near an Embassy

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We Americans are spoiled when it comes to travel. In general, we are very catered to by other countries – English is usually the second language offered after the country’s native language. Also, our passports hold a lot of privilege. In fact, I didn’t even KNOW what visas were until my trip to Cuba a few years ago, and even then it was just a piece of paper I could buy online (or even pick up at the airport before departure!). But, as I soon learned, that is not standard procedure for all visas. It is ESPECIALLY not the case for China. Getting a Chinese visa as an American citizen is, well, frankly, ANNOYING.

And I realize I say that with a lot of privilege, but if you are heading to China as an American tourist, I just want to prepare you for the headache. Plus, if you do not live near an embassy, it’s going to be even worse. So uh, let’s just dive right in.

Getting a Chinese Visa: Which One??

As with any visa, getting a Chinese visa includes choosing from a list of categories to apply under. The large majority of you reading this will fall under the “tourist” visa category. If you do not fall under that category, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with any specifics of any other category.

So to visit China as a tourist requires the L-Visa, aka the Tourist Visa.

China is one of the best places to teach English abroad, but if you’re going there to teach, you’ll need a different visa. I unfortunately can’t help you with that today.

What documents are required?

There are a few required documents that you are going to need to apply for your tourist visa to China. I will go more in-depth on each of them in a bit, but just for reference, here is a quick checklist:

1. Passport (with 6+ months validity)
2. (2) Passport Photos (identical, and recently taken)
3. Proof of Travel (Transportation into/out of China)
4. Accommodation Reservations (for entire duration of stay) | or Invitation Letter
5. Copy of Driver’s License (or state issued I.D.)
6. Previous Chinese Visas (if applicable)
7. Previous Chinese/Taiwanese passport (if applicable)
8. Visa Application

I know. It sounds like a lot. And it is. So when you are ready to submit your visa application, do a quick glance over to make sure you have everything!

Getting a Chinese Visa: What to bring??

Before we get into actually turning in your visa application, I’m going to circle back real quick and cover each application requirement more in detail, because they aren’t all straightforward. That would just be too easy.

Passport

You’re going to want to make sure your passport has AT LEAST 2 empty pages. One entire page will be taken up by the visa. The second is needed for your entry and exit stamps. Your passport also needs to be valid for AT LEAST 6 months after your arrival date, even if you are only visiting for a week.

Passport Photos

You will also need 2 passport sized photos to submit. They need to be recently taken, identical, and no glasses or hats worn in the photo. You can easily get these taken at your local Walgreens or AAA. Basically anywhere that takes passport photos.

Proof of Travel

You will need to include your transportation into and out of China. Usually, this will be your flight confirmation from whichever booking site you used. It doesn’t have to be a round-trip flight into and out of the same city, but it does need to show your ticket into China, and your eventual departure. The confirmation will need to have your full name and info as stated on your passport.

If you are visiting China on a tour, or used a travel agent, have them send your full itinerary with tickets. Some agencies and tour companies MAY work with you in getting a Chinese visa, but either way it’s good to have all of the info yourself.

If you haven’t yet bought your tickets to China, but still want to apply for your visa, skip ahead to my “Changing Your Itinerary?” section!

Accommodation Reservations

For the application, you will also need to submit your hotel reservations for the ENTIRE duration of your trip. Every single night has to be accounted for. A simple hotel confirmation will suffice, but it NEEDS to show your full name as stated on your passport. If you are traveling with more than one person, then EVERY name has to be on the hotel confirmation.

“But hotel reservations only require/allow one name at booking!”

Yeah. I know. But it still has to state ALL names. If you are unable to put in all the guest names on the hotel reservation, then add the additional names in the “comments” or “special request” section of the hotel reservation. That way, on the confirmation page/email, their names will be shown! Pro tip!

If you haven’t yet reserved your accommodations in China, but still want to apply for your visa, skip ahead to my “Changing Your Itinerary?” section!

Invitation Letter

What is an invitation letter? Well if you know someone in China, they can “vouch” for you, so to speak, and offer you a literal invitation letter. This invitation letter would be submitted with your application in lieu of presenting round trip flight confirmation and hotel reservations. Along with the invitation letter, you will also need to submit a copy of the inviter’s Chinese ID (for Chinese citizens), or a copy of the inviter’s foreign passport and residence permit (for foreign residents in China).

The invitation letter MUST include:

• Information of the applicant (you): Name, gender, date of birth, passport number.
• Details of planned visit: arrival & departure date, tourism destination, expenditure arrangement (a breakdown of costs).
• Information of inviter (them): Inviter’s name, contact number, address, inviter’s signature

There is no standard format or size for this invitation letter. That would be entirely too easy.. BUT, the letter must be paper form. It could be computer print-out, handwritten letter, or in scanned copy or fax – as long as it is on paper when submitted.

For your reference, here is a template for an invitation letter!

Copy of Driver’s License

You must submit a color copy of your driver’s license or state issued ID.

Previous China Visa Holders

If you have previously held a Chinese visa, the embassy and consulates may request copies of your previous visas. SO, might as well include them to begin with to save time. If your old visa is in your current passport, then you don’t need to do anything. But if it was in an old passport, either submit your old passport as well or color copies of the old visas.

If you don’t have your old passport, then you can write a letter addressed to the Chinese embassy/consulate explaining why you cannot provide a copy of older visas, then sign and date the letter.

Former Chinese and Taiwanese Citizens

If you are formerly a Chinese or Taiwanese citizen, you must submit your previous Chinese passport or proof of previously issued Chinese visa.

Visa Application

And of course, you have to submit the actual APPLICATION. Here is a link to the Chinese Visa application from the official China Embassy in Washington D.C. You MUST type your answers and THEN print it out to submit. You cannot hand write your answers in the boxes.

If you need help filling out the visa application form, check out this super simple guide explaining all of the boxes. It might be helpful to have the how-to guide printed or within sight as you fill out your application. In fact, I HIGHLY recommend doing that.

**What if you are unsure about travel details??**

The great thing about having a Chinese visa is that once you have it – YOU HAVE IT.

Soooo when you are getting your documents ready to submit and you coincidentally book refundable flights and hotels…and then you print out the confirmation emails for the flights and hotels and then have to cancel the reservations within the cancellation window and get all of your money back….

THEN I MEAN….you could turn in those confirmations with your application and get your visa approved that way. Even if you don’t end up going to China immediately.

Are you picking up what I’m throwing down?

Basically, if you have to change your itinerary, don’t worry about it. As long as you have turned in some sort of proof of flights and accommodations that were once valid, you’re gucci. Feel free to change it after you print out your confirmation and send it in.

Hypothetically….I’ve even heard of people that plan a trip to an embassy/consulate city, then book flights and hotels to China to turn in their application while they are in the city. THEN once it’s turned in, they cancel their refundable bookings with no penalty charge, get their 10-year visa, and then they’re SET for whenever they actually plan a trip to China. You know. Hypothetically.

Getting a Chinese visa: Which Embassy??

BOOM! And that’s all the documents you need! Got all your ducks in order? Now you’re ready to turn it in. But before you get approved, you’re going to need to know WHERE to send it first. Why? Because you cannot apply for a Chinese visa online as an American. It MUST be dropped off at a Chinese embassy, either by you or someone you trust (or pay).

That said, where are the embassies? Well. Would you like the good news or the bad news first?

Good news, if you live close to one, it makes this process a lot easier!

Bad news, there are only 6 Chinese embassies/consulates in the United States of America.

Locations of the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in the US

• Washington D.C. – Embassy
• New York City, NY
• Chicago, IL
• San Francisco, CA
• Los Angeles, CA
• Houston, TX

Sooo…what does that mean if you DON’T live in one of those cities? Well, you either have to go there in person to drop off and pick up your application OR have someone else do it for you. But before we get into that, let me get one crucial point across.

YOU MUST GO TO THE EMBASSY OR CONSULATE THAT HOLDS JURISDICTION OVER YOUR AREA OF RESIDENCE.

Sending your visa application or document(s) to the incorrect office may result in complication or delay in processing or even denial of application.

So you can’t just pop up to whichever embassy is most convenient for you, or make your parents do it from across the country to the one closest to them. Here are the embassies and their jurisdiction states.

Getting a Chinese Visa: Where??

Washington D.C.: Washington DC, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming

New York City: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Chicago: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin

San Francisco: Alaska, Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington

Los Angeles: Arizona, Southern California, Hawai’i, New Mexico, Pacific Islands

Houston: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas

Yeahhh…if you don’t live close to one of the consulates…then getting a chinese visa is NOT fun (or cheap or easy). I’m from Oregon, and getting my visa processed in San Francisco was annoying enough. I can’t imagine trying to do it from GUAM. And what’s up with the whole Northern/Southern California divide? WHAT IS THE REASON??

Despite how messy and annoying it is, you have to follow it. Or you won’t get your visa approved. It’s as simple as that. SO, Californians, here is the Northern+Central California divide as defined by…well, the Japanese consulate, but I called the Los Angeles and SF consulates to confirm. Unfortunately, THEY DIDNT PICK UP. So I don’t know, but generally this is how most people divide North/Central from Southern California. It would be A LOT easier if the Chinese consulates also made a handy lil map, but alas.

Getting a Chinese Visa: In person

If you DO live near the embassy or consulate, again, congratulations. You have won the visa lottery and this process will go a lot smoother for you.

Plan to apply about 1 or 2 months before your planned date. You know, just in case you fill out something wrong and have to redo something. If you apply for the 10 year visa (WHICH YOU SHOULD BECAUSE IT IS THE SAME COST), then it doesn’t really matter how early you apply in advance. At the VERY least, allow for 2 weeks minimum before your departure date. A sure-fire way to ruin your China trip is to not actually get your visa on time.

In general, your Chinese visa application will take 4 days to process. Though, there CAN be hiccups, especially if there is an error or missing information with your application. So drop off your application, then baddabing baddaboom, come back on the fourth day to pay and pick it up. If you are unable to pick up/drop off your application yourself, skip ahead to my “Getting a Chinese Visa: Remote” section.

You do NOT need to schedule an appointment to drop off or pick up your visa application. Simply walk to the correct booth, go through the security check (no oversized or hazardous objects), take a number, wait your turn, then submit your application at the window that calls you.

When you finished submitting your application and payment, you will get a pick-up slip. You will use the pick up slip to…well, PICK UP your passport (and hopefully visa if you were approved!) on or after the date printed on the slip. Then you pay for your visa on pick-up day!

Fees for a Chinese Visa

I mentioned earlier that the cost for the visa is the same no matter if you apply for a single entry or multiple entries valid for 10 years. SO APPLY FOR THE 10-YEAR VISA. Get it, and have it. You do not want to go through this again unnecessarily.

Regular Visa Processing: $140 USD per person/visa

If you want expedited processing, the cost for 2-3 day processing is an additional $25 USD pp ($165). Same day rush processing is only available if submitted before 12:00pm is an additional $37 USD pp ($177).

You can pay by credit card (Visa or Mastercard only), cashier’s check, or money order. Make money orders and cashier’s checks payable to “Chinese Embassy.” You CANNOT pay in cash or with a personal/company check.

Getting a Chinese Visa: Remote

Unfortunately, you cannot apply for your Chinese visa online. SO. If you don’t live near the embassy or one of the consulates…I’m sorry. This process just got more difficult. Well. Either more difficult, or A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE. Probably both.

Option 1: Make the Trek

One option you have is to make a trip down to the consulate city and take care of it that way. If you want to visit that city anyway, then it’s a great opportunity to do drink two beers with one stone, or however that phrase goes. However if you JUST need to visit for the visa, you should weigh out your costs. Do you want to drive there, drop it off, then drive home and return at a later date? Or do you want to do it all in one 4-day trip? You have the visa fee + transportation (either roadtrip or plane or whatever) + housing + food + souvenir starbucks mug. It adds up. QUICK.

Option 2: Make someone else do it

If you have family or friends that live IN the city, you can ask them to drop off and pick up your visa and passport for you! Have them follow the instructions under my “Getting a Chinese Visa: In Person” section. Anyone can drop off your application and passport for you, and then pick it up and pay when it’s done (as long as they have the pick-up slip!). Then they can mail everything back to you!

Option 3: Pay for a Chinese visa agent

I live in Portland, Oregon and I did not want to use up my precious PTO to drive 10 hours to expensive San Francisco for four days to get my visa. I also didn’t have any friends or family (that I could guilt-free bother) available to do it for me. SO. I used a China Visa Service. There are a couple of them out there, and they probablyyyy all get the job done well enough, but I used Travel Visa Pro.

I ultimately decided on Travel Visa Pro because they were highly rated and their website was clean and easy to navigate. There was one company that I found that was cheaper….but their website had poor English grammar and I didn’t want anything lost in translation between us.

Travel Visa Pro Fees

Below I will list all of the fees for services offered by Travel Visa Pro! Note, these are IN ADDITION to the base $140 USD for the Chinese visa application fee.

Service Fee: The cost to use the company to turn in your passport application for you.

Money Order Fee: YEAH. They are going to charge you for the money order to pay the embassy/consulate.

Shipping Fee: AND YEAH, you have to pay for them to ship your documents back to you. You can also pay for pre-paid postage…but why? Just pay for it at the post office yourself for no additional charge.

Form Fill Service: You turn in all of the required documents and Travel Visa Pro will fill out the application FOR YOU. It’s not necessary, but if you are particularly worried about filling out the application wrong, then this could be useful.

Concierge Service: In my option, this service isn’t needed if you just pay for the form fill service. BUT HERE YOU GO. “Concierge Service partners you with a dedicated Specialist who will manage your request from start to finish, complete applications forms, review all materials during the process, ensure priority submission and keep you updated the whole time – beginning within two business hours of your request. Concierge Team members have years of experience and can make the complex easy for you.”

All prices are in USD

• 9 Day Processing Service Fee: $99
• 7 Day Processing Service Fee: $179
• 5 Day Processing Service Fee: $249
• 2 Day Processing Service Fee: $349
• Money Order Fee: $15
• Shipping Fee (one-way, standard overnight): $25
• Form Fill Service: $39.00
• Concierge Service: $199

I chose the 9 day processing fee and the form fill service (cuz y’all already know I would’ve messed something up), plus the money order and one-way shipping (for them to send my documents back). In total, for 2 people, I spent $596 USD. For 2 visas. BUT honestly it would have cost more for me to go to San Francisco for 4 days so…#rockandahardplace

I’ll do a more in-depth review of their services, but overall I was extremely happy with Travel Visa Pro and their communication (very fast). I got my visa and passport back in under 2 weeks! So yay!

TLDR; Easy Tips for Getting Your Visa

Okay, that was literally like A LOT of info. Don’t have time to read? Boom, I got chu fam.

1. Find out which embassy/consulate you need to apply to. You MUST apply at your designated embassy/consulate.
2. Gather all documents (passport, extra passport photos, driver’s license, flight confirmation, hotel confirmation, previous Chinese visa/passports if applicable, application)
3. Fill out the application with this PDF. Application MUST be typed and printed.
4. Turn in visa application and documents at designated consulate. Either in person or have someone drop it off/pick it up for you. You can also pay a visa service company to do it for you. I recommend Travel Visa Pro.
5. If you want to get your Chinese visa in advance and have no immediate plans to visit, look here.

Getting a Chinese Visa: Conclusion

Hopefully that has answered most, if not all, of your questions about getting a Chinese tourist visa as an American citizen! Please note: having a visa does NOT guarantee your entry into China. As with any country, they have the right to deny your entry at immigration. Because the world isn’t fair.

BUTTTT in theory, you should be good to go! And now that I have a visa good for 10 years, I guess I should start seeing more of China!

Good luck and have fun on your own China adventures! Have you already been to China? Tell me about your visa process in the comments below!

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