Since I haven’t had the time to explore the city of Xi’an just yet, I’m going to start off with something a few of you might be interested in knowing about. This is especially for those of you who are my friends or family and plan to come and visit me soon.
Now you may not plan to visit China for the next ten years in a row, but I’m going to tell you why you might as well just get a 10-year China tourist visa if you’re looking to visit.
All visas cost the same amount. $140 per visa. Whether that be one entry, multiple entries for three months, or multiple entries for the next ten years. All of them are $140 once you pick up your passport. So, you might as well just get a 10-year visa.
Getting a China tourist visa is much easier than getting a work visa, by a long shot. There is less paperwork to run through, and if you have all your shit together properly, you will be granted a visa with no questions asked.
Here are a few other things you should know about getting a visa before I give actual steps:
- There are only 5 Chinese consulates in the US: Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, New York City, NY, and Chicago, IL.
- You MUST hand deliver your application or arrange for someone to hand-deliver your application for you.
- You cannot have the passports mailed to you from the consulate. You either have to pick it up in person or have someone pick it up for you and send it back (if you live out of state).
- When you pay, they DO NOT accept cash. They only accept money orders, cashier’s checks, Mastercard, or Visa.
- Have all your paperwork together before you get there or you will piss the staff off.
OK! Now that we’re cleared up those few things, here are the steps for getting your 10-year tourist visa for visiting China.
Step 1: Plan Your Trip
Really steps 1 and 2 can be changed around but knowing when you plan to visit China is going to help you when filling out your application. For tourist visas, they need to know your itinerary, including where you plan to stay when you visit China.
There are two ways to ensure you get a visa:
- Get an invitation from a native of China
- Book all airline tickets or accommodations in advanced.
If you don’t know of anyone living in China, then you will likely have to purchase your round trip airline tickets and your hotel accommodations to show when you are leaving, when you are coming back, and where you will be staying.
For booking hotels, you can use CTrip.com – you can reserve hotels without paying anything upfront. Unfortunately, you will not likely be able to refund an airline ticket unless that’s a stipulation with your airline.
If that’s the case, make sure you purchase flight insurance should your plans change, or you don’t get a visa from the consulate.
After you book your hotels and flights, print out all receipts and reservations to prove you have return flights home and places to stay. This is what is going to get you a visa.
Step 2: Fill Out Your Paperwork
Filling out your paperwork is super easy. The one thing I will add that needs to be clarified is regarding section 2.2 of the application, which asks your intended number of entries. This is really important for applying for a 10 years visa.
You want to mark the box “Other” and then write this in the box next to it: “Multiple entries valid for 10 years from date of issue”. This is what is going to get you a 10-year visa, rather than a regular visa.
The rest of the application is self-explanatory.
Step 3: Get Passport Photos Taken
You will need to affix a passport-style photo of yourself to your application. If you already have a passport, then you already know the drill. If, however, you forgot, you can go get your passport photos taken at a Walgreens for about $16.
Once you have your passport photos, glue the photo in the top right corner of your application as instructed.
Super easy.
Step 4: Passport
First, make sure you have a passport. You can’t apply for a visa without a passport. I know this is a given, but I’m just here to remind you.
Make sure your passport has at least 6 months validity and enough pages to stick a visa on. If you don’t meet those requirements, they might refuse your application.
Make sure you make a copy of your passport as well.
Step 5: Deliver Your Application
I cannot stress this enough, have your China tourist visa paperwork together before you get to the consulate. They see a lot of people daily and like people who are organized. You can download the application here. If you need help with organizing your paperwork, here is a checklist for you below.
- Include Passport (with 6 months validity)
- A copy of your passport photo page
- Have all flights and reservations printed out and ready (or invitation letter)
- Have your application with the affixed photo
When they take your application and give you a pink receipt, DO NOT LOSE IT. That is your ticket to get your passport back.
Step 6: Receiving Your Visa
The consulate will take your passport until they process your visa application. Don’t panic. This is normal.
It may take up to 5 days to get your passport with the visa back from the consulate. But if you want it sooner, that is an option. There is no fee for getting your passport within a 4-5 day period. There is a fee for express service, and it is $25.
In section 2.3 of your application, you will be able to indicate if you would like express service or not.
When you arrive at the consulate, you will go to the pickup line with your receipt and pick up your passport which will have your China tourist visa inside. A human has to pick up the actual passport. I repeat, they cannot send it. So if you are having someone hand-deliver your application, they have to also pick up the passport up from the consulate.
Be sure to check if the passport is yours and that the dates are for a 10-year period. After that, you’re done, and you can go visit China!
Now that you have your passport and visa, it’s time to visit China.
Do you have any tips for getting a visa? Leave them in the comments below! If you are looking for information on getting a work visa, go here!
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