The growing importance of China is reflected not only in the large number of Chinese companies making big investments overseas but also in the influx of foreign nationals into China. If you do business in China and plan to go on a business trip, or want to visit China as a tourist or to study, you need to know basic Chinese visa regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Update: Some nationalities do not need a visa to visit China for up to 30 days until the end of 2026. Check the details here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Previously, there were fewer types of visas: L was for tourists, F for business people, Z for working personnel, and X for students. There were many requirements to get the Z and X visas compared to the F and L visas. Over the years, the list grew longer. Let’s introduce ordinary Chinese visa types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note! The following ordinary Chinese visas are valid for Mainland China. If you have a single-entry China visa and plan to travel to Hong Kong\/Macao and then return to the mainland, you have to apply for a multiple-entry visa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, check if you need a Chinese visa<\/a>. If you do, apply for a chosen type:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visa L is granted and independent travelers and travel group members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A crew member can apply for a C visa is she\/he provide a letter of guarantee issued by a foreign transport company or an invitation letter issued by a relevant entity in China. Chinese crew visa is for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person coming to China to take up permanent residence has to apply for a Chinese D visa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visit Visa F is for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting documents for S visa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the applicant is a family member of foreigner(s) staying or residing in China or a person who needs to come to China for personal matters, such a person can apply for an S1 Visa. The family member can be a spouse, parent, child under the age of 18, or parent-in-law of foreigner(s) residing in China for work, study, or other purposes who visit China for 180 days or more, or a person who needs to reside in China for other personal matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The identity of the person applying for S2 is the same as for S1. The difference is that S2 enables one to stay in China for less than 180 days. You should apply for this visa if you stay in China for other personal matters, such as handling litigation, inheritance, real estate, or medical treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J1 visa is for a resident foreign journalist of a permanent office of a foreign news agency in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n J2 visa is granted for a foreign journalist visiting China for short-term news coverage (no more than 180 days).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talent Visa R is for a foreigner of high talent or a specialist needed by the State. For the application, a “Confirmation Letter of High-Level Foreign Talents” is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Visa M is for everyone who engages in commercial activities, trade, or takes part in a competition in China. It requires an invitation letter (for purposes like business meetings, trade fairs, courses, training, and internships).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working Visa Z requires an invitation letter\/notification letter from a company interested in hiring the applicant. Types of applicants:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting documents for Q visa:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get a Chinese visa Q1, the applicant has to be a family member or relative of a Chinese citizen(s) or foreigner(s) with permanent residence status in China. It is also a residence visa for a child who will be fostered in China. “Family member” refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandsons, granddaughters, and parents-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The applicant status is the same as for the Q1 visa, but the Q2 visa allows the person to stay in China for less than 180 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n S2 is for students who plan to study in China for no more than 180 days. A short-term student visa to China requires a visa application and an enrollment certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A long-term student visa is for those who intend to study in China for more than 180 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you transit through China, you need a G visa. To get a transit visa G, you need to provide a valid visa to the target country and a valid ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional resources: Chinese Visa Application Center website: visaforchina.cn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The growing importance of China is reflected not only in the large number of Chinese companies making big investments overseas but also in the influx of foreign nationals into China. If you do business in China and plan to go … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[80,515,74,514,29],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-china","tag-chinese-visa","tag-travel-to-china","tag-visa","tag-visa-regulations","tag-visa-to-china","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9576,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/9576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.examinechina.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tourist visa L (\u65c5\u6e38\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Crew Visa C (\u4e58\u52a1\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Permanent Residence Visa D (\u5b9a\u5c45\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Visit Visa F (\u8bbf\u95ee\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Private Visit Visa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Long-term Private Visit Visa S1 (\u957f\u671f\u79c1\u4eba\u4e8b\u52a1\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Short-term Private Visit Visa S2 (\u77ed\u671f\u79c1\u4eba\u4e8b\u52a1\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Journalist Visa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Long-term Journalist Visa J1 (\u5e38\u9a7b\u8bb0\u8005\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Short-term Journalist Visa J2 (\u4e34\u65f6\u8bb0\u8005\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Talent Visa R (\u4eba\u624d\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Business Visa M (\u5546\u8d38\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Working Visa Z (\u5de5\u4f5c\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Family Visa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Family Reunion Visa Q1 (\u5bb6\u5ead\u56e2\u805a\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Family Visit Visa Q2 (\u63a2\u4eb2\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Study Visa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Short-term Study Visa, Student Visa X2 (\u77ed\u671f\u5b66\u4e60\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Long-term Study Visa, Student Visa X1 (\u957f\u671f\u5b66\u4e60\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Transit Visa G (\u8fc7\u5883\u7b7e\u8bc1)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Documents required for a Chinese Visa Application<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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