Thanks, that's good to know.

Any idea whether applying for a M (Business) visa directly in HK is possible/fast these days?
In the past I always did it at my local consulate, but these days they say that it will take "weeks", and I can't let go of my passport for that long.

Don't confuse "visa on arrival" (which is indeed hard to arrange) with the five-day Shenzhen-only visit pass (which reportedly is available again).

Looks like I won't be able to accompany my dad to China. In which case, he won't be able to go either since he needs assistance to move. I guess he'll have to wait for China to further relax its entry rules.

This is not the case if you are applying in the USA. All Chinese missions in the USA have reverted to pre-pandemic policies on most visas including the Q2 category. That means there are no restrictions on who is eligible.

Canada on the other hand is officially still applying the pandemic policy on visas. However, some consulates in Canada (Toronto in particular) have already relaxed Q2 requirements on par with the USA.

I suggest that you check with the consulate that you are actually applying with. The policy on Q2 visas are not currently uniform. In most countries they have reverted to pre-pandemic policy, but a few are still going along with pandemic restrictions (Canada in particular).

What does this mean in specific? You can get your friend to invite you on a Q2?

I have already inquired with a travel agency, and was told there are no guarantees on being granted visa even if theres an invitation from a China relative.

My understanding:

For Q2 you need a relative to invite you since it's a family visit visa. For Q1 it must be from a closer relative.

A family member applied and received 10-year Q2 visa. The fee was $140.

Old 10-year visa on the passport (still valid for 5 years at the time of application) was canceled.

There are long lines outside of SFO Consulate. They only process 150 applications per day. Normal processing time for Q2 is 10 days.

However, for humanitarian reasons (such as some immediate family member passed away or in critical condition in China), Q2 visas can be granted in 3 days with a fee.

The only requirement is that it has to be a relative. As was the case before 2019, there is no definition on exactly what this entails. There is also no requirement to provide proof that the said person is related to you in the way that they have claimed.

Yes you are quite right.

To add to what you've said, Q2 does not specify a list of what relatives are eligible, nor does it require any proof of how you are related to the inviter.

Q1 (and S2) on the other hand requires documentary proof, as well as restricting the list of relatives to the listed categories:

"Family members" refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers,sisters,grandparents,grandsons, granddaug hters and parents-in-law.

Notice on the Reopening of the Visa Office & Visa Application Requirements

I saw a VISA ON ARRIVAL counter at PVG.
There were some people lined up for it. Didn't know that was a thing in Shanghai?

https://gaj.sh.gov.cn/crj/qyfw/ka/gq

Companies may apply for VOA in advance for business purposes.
Individuals may apply for VOA for humanitarian reasons, domestic helpers or to study in K-12.

Report from returning to China from USA (AA127) on February 23rd:

I used the Rapit-NAAT test from Walgreens (free if you have literally any precondition or have sneezed in the last 3 weeks, and the results come back in 2 hours) and it worked fine. It was only checked at the check-in desk in DFW, no one else looked at either at the gate or at the border. I did have to show a printed copy however. The NAAT (Nucleic acid amplification test) is in fact a nucleic acid test which is ok per the Chinese embassy.

I had poor flight timing coming into PVG, as Lufthansa just dropped off a bunch of Europeans just prior to AA unloading - so immigration took a good two hours.

If you haven't left China, or returned to China in some time, you need more information on your arrivals card than you used to, and they don't hand them out on the plane any more. You'll need the name and local telephone number of someone in China. This was a good part of why immigration took 2 hours, and many people didn't realize you needed to fill that thing out, leading to some confusion in the front of the line.

The self declation "black" QR code is all that remains of the old covid flight controls.

I was wondering how this works. I am going to be flying out of (and therefore testing in) Boston. Apparently, there are no Walgreens in Massachusetts, so it looks like I'll be going to a CVS. I didn't realize that the survey answer questions were the key to getting the test for free, but that does seem to be the case (i.e. I floated a "coughing" and "sore throat" trial balloon). If any of you have done the drill at a CVS, I'm curious to hear your insights. I have a pretty full schedule on flight day so I don't want to screw up the test.

(bolding mine)

Wow, quite the different experience for me: I landed at PVG on the exact same day, with Arrival Cards being handed out during the flight, and immigration taking 10 minutes.

Same here, I entered on Feb 23. They didn't hand out entry cards voluntarily on the plane (because it was from Taiwan and most people didn't need one) but had one for me when I asked.

Breezed through the foreigner immigration line without a wait. The Chinese one had a long wait. So I guess it all depends on your arrival time.

Also, in other good news, seems like the PCR requirement is slowly being removed. Started with announcement from the Chinese embassy in New Zealand and now Thailand and South Africa.

Try this:
Walgreens in MA

Thanks. I'm not in Massachusetts at the moment. Their store locator rebuffed me when I queried the test.

Once Biden declares the pandemic over, they'll start charging even if you've got a cough :)

This would be the right URL for finding which Walgreens does which Covid testing:

https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing

Also might be worth contacting your airline to make sure it works, as the word "PCR" doesn't show up on the test (it shows as Rapid-NAAT, which I can easily see unsuspecting check-in agents confusing it with "Rapid-Antigen" which would not be allowed per the Chinese embassy).

A PCR is actually just one type of nucleic acid (NAAT) test; whereas this is another:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...lab/naats.html

All this is ok per the Chinese embassy, as there is no mention of it needing to be PCR, just nucleic acid:

"All China-bound travelers will need to take nucleic acid test for COVID-19 within 48 hours before boarding, and can only travel to China when your test result is negative or after it turns from positive to negative. Please always bring the proof of your negative COVID-19 test result with you for inspection."

Consular Services_Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America

I was worried about it since "Nucleic acid" = "PCR" and "Rapid = antigen" for the past few years it seemed.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8b185be398.png

When I click on your link, Walgreens wants me to visit these places (note the fact that they coddle the MA border).

Looks like someone just made a "Walgreens in MA just doesn't do Covid tests" declaration at some point in time. Hopefully CVS can help or there's a convenient (fast returning) Covid test available from somewhere. When I was looking in Louisiana, there was a lot of "tests usually come back withing 24-48 hours language" which was not going to cut it for my needs.

More embassies are putting language on removing the PCR test requirement on their websites. Tends to be an early indicator of policy changes, so expect a universal announcement to that effect soon.

Now only an antigen test is required and airlines will no longer ask to see any results before check-in, so it'll be entirely down to the honor system via the customs form.

One can hope. I flew from China to USA in January and parts of it were a bit of a nightmare. I was originally booked on AA128 heading from PVG to DFW. However, that was cancelled. I got auto-rebooked on Finnair connecting through HEL and CDG due to the cancellation. All good right?

NOT IN THE LEAST: I needed to figure out if I met the Covid requirements of my new itinerary. Of course, since I didn't know what requirements Helsinki had on flights connecting through to the USA (eventually) I had to Google on US based phone what the requirements were while on hold on my Chinese phone with Finnair....all while just chilling outside security at PVG. Eventually get through to Finnair and they tell me I need a 24 hour PCR with printed results in English to board the plane (even if I was connecting through). I only had a 24 hour code that would have turned to 48 by the time I got in the check in line for Finnair (beside: the health code and Covid result on the phone wouldn't have worked anyway), so I was SOL unless I could find a English language Covid test with printed results in Shanghai very short notice.

Another person in line got booked on a United flight (PVG->SFO) leaving the next day, so at that point in time I figured I'd have American rebook me again, to put me on the United flight - since I knew I could meet the covid requirements. All in all, so much time wasted on silly administrative Covid requirements. This just seems like an easy out that politicians use as an easy way to appease a general population not engaged in international business. Meanwhile, those of us playing this game get stuck dealing with nuts and bolts of actually figuring out how to meet these requirements in a world that largely forgot about Covid, and relative to us, removed their Covid infrastructure.

One also hopes that after China drops its 48-hour test requirement the stragglers who have yet to cancel their own test mandates for travelers from China will respond in kind. Not holding my breath, though.

Although annoying, the outbound (from China) PCR test requirement is less important for me. Though decreased, PCR testing availability is still widely available, and cheap (RMB16).

No real source unfortunately, but:

1) supposedly 17 countries dropped the PCR Test for China Entry requirement as of March 1. Antigen test, including a self-administered one, that is NOT even checked is sufficient.
Countries are: Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, UAE, New Zealand, Maldives, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Switzerland, Hungary, Kenya, and Egypt.

2) Tourist Visas said to be starting to get issued within a month or so.

Good points.

If tourist visas will be issued again next month, I hope that previously issued 10 year Q2 visas (not expired) should be allowed for entry.

If you obtained your 10 year entry visa before March 2020, you will need to apply a new entry visa from Chinese Embassy as they voided all visas issued before. Once you obtained the new visa, you could fly to China with a negative PCR test report (paper report) within 48 hours of departure time of your flight （departure time of the flight into China, if you transiting in somewhere, the first segment(s) does not count).

This is NOT really correct, although does apply to anyone wanting to visit China right now on certain Visa types.
They temporarily SUSPENDED visas back in March 2020, not voided them.
And since RPs were un-suspended only a few months after being suspended, it's generally believed/hoped that this could also occur for L and Q2 visas issued prior to March 2020 at some point in the future.

I suspect that once China does re-open for tourism, a lot of intending tourists are going to be put off by the exhaustiveness of the new online visa application.

That is an unduly pessimistic and negative opinion that vastly underestimates the global attraction of a week in gorgeous, beautiful, vibrant Sanya. Clearly, Thailand in Asia and Hawaii in the Americas will be the massive losers as China's slick tourism industry gears up for global domination. Again.

Or perhaps it will prove to be a boon for visa agents everywhere?

Even if you use an agent you're still required to fill out COVA. Indeed, the centralized online form may be intended to keep consular officials in line.

Does anyone know if this applies only to nationals from these countries (departing their respective country) or anyone (regardless of the nationality) departing from these countries ?

​​​I hope so because I really don't want to apply for a new visa. I still have like three years left before my visa expires!​​​​

It would be the latter -- anyone departing from those countries. However, I don't think you can do an airside transfer (say, USA-Thailand-China), but would have to enter Thailand.

Why couldn't an agent fill it out for you? Filling out forms is one of the main tasks for a visa agent.

I'm sure agents could fill it out, but none of the questions are difficult, and adding an interview layer to the process seems silly to me.

Agents don't know your life-long work history or what high school you attended or what social clubs you belong to, etc.

Look at the Oasis site for how they're handling this.

https://www.oasischinavisa.com/