I am going to be a Hong Kong exchange student for the 2009-2010 academic year and I want to apply for a one year multiple-entry "L" (tourist) visa for China. I already have the student visa for Hong Kong but I have never visited China.

I want to send my application along with my passport, stamped envelope (so that the Chinese embassy can mail back my passport) and $135 cashier's check ($130 fee plus a $5 envelope charge for mail back service) to my friend who will deliver it to the Chinese Embassy-Consulate Visa Office in Washington DC.

What are the odds of me getting a one year multiple-entry Chinese "L" visa?

Also is it alright if the return envelope is just stamped (there is no tracking number, also my name/address as the sender, as the Chinese Embassy website states I should do)?

I appreciate the help, I am just a little confused/worried about the whole ordeal.

You should get a 1-year visa without problems. Also, I've used Priority Mail (without tracking) for mail back services in the past, but I wouldn't feel comfortable just providing a normal envelope.

I don't even feel comfortable with priority mail. The USPS makes no delivery guarantees and I have had at least one case where priority mail took three weeks -- no apologies, no refunds.

Is China accepting mailed applications? Last I knew they weren't.

PRC consulates in the US haven't accepted applications by mail since around 1997 iirc.

The poster was talking about using priority mail for the return of their passport, I thought.

When are you leaving? Note it has been reported that with the upcoming Oct celebration of their 60th Independence Day, visa restrictions might be tighter than last year's Olympics....if you can hold off until Oct, it might be better.

Btw, if your friend delivers the application, since he/she is given a receipt, they can also pick it up for you and mail back to you (if they're willing to make two trips).

Also, as far as I know, getting a one year in HK isn't possible, they only issue the standard 90 day, two entry types.

Enjoy HK -

My understanding is the same. However, China has been freely giving out 1-years since it raised the visa application to the same price for all of them.

Yea, I was talking about the envelope for the return of the passport.

The lady at the post office just put a stamp (I think it was a $.61 stamp) on my return envelope so I do not know if that is even priority mail.

Is it alright if the envelope just has a stamp on it?



I am leaving for Hong Kong on August 23rd and I will arrive at HK on August 25th (13.5 hour layover in Toronto...blah). I heard about the visa restrictions due to the 60th anniversary of the creation of the PRC but there I found little information on it and the information I did find said that the Chinese government said that the rumors were false...

I realized that my friend could pick up the passport for me however she is leaving for London on July 15th so if she receives my package either tomorrow or Thursday and she delivers it to the visa office sometime between Wednesday and Friday than she might be gone by the time my passport is ready. Also I already put $135 on a cashier's check and I do not think the Chinese Embassy gives out change, especially for a cashier's check

Yea, I read that getting a one year in HK is not possible so I decided to try to save my costs and get a one year multi-entry visa in the USA instead of getting several visas in Hong Kong.

Thanks! I hope I enjoy Hong Kong!

That is not priority mail. As your friend is going to send it back to you, I would use FedEx. It's traceable and far more reliable than the U.S. Mail.

The Chinese Consulate doesn't make change. I'm also not 100% certain that they accept cashiers checks. The last time I got a visa from them (here in Los Angeles last fall) I paid cash.

You will. It's one of the Great Cities of the world -- fascinating, diverse, lots to see and do (and eat). You should have a great time.

I read on the Chinese Embassy website that they offer a Mail Back Service
where if one provides a pre-paid self addressed envelope and $5 "handling fee" they will mail the passport back to you.

The details are on the Chinese Embassy website: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/t169582.htm

Hence the reason I made the cashier's check to $135 instead of the regular $130, so that the Chinese Embassy-Consulate could mail it back to me. The information regarding payment was conflicting on the visa page and on the mail back service page so I decided to use a Cashier's check because it was an acceptable form of payment on both pages of the website.


Out of curiosity when you applied for the visa in LA what type of visa did you get?

I've only ever applied for a visa in person (or had someone . . . well, my wife . . . go get it for me). I'm just very distrustful of the U.S. Mail. ("Newman!")

I got a one-year. I've been going back and forth to China fairly regularly, though I usually got a single- or double-entry visa. As I recall, this is my second one-year tourist visa.

That's all well and good, but considering the importance of the item being shipped, I would opt, at minimum, for Priority Mail, if not 2-day Fedex/UPS/DHL/etc (these don't cost much more than $10 and provide tracking). BTW, I've taken advantage of this service ~5 times (once involving the DC consulate) and never experienced any problems.

I just got renewal about 2 months ago and discovered they wouldn't give me same two year multiple entry - even though the last two in my passport were two yr multiples LOL

I tried to put a tracking number on my envelope but the person at the post office said that it was not possible and that it would be a "waste of money" since the staff at the Chinese Embassy-Consulate would just drop the envelope to the nearest drop box.

Would a stamped envelope be acceptable for the mail back service?

Also how long did it take for the passport to be mailed back to you?

What are the odds of me getting a one year multiple-entry "L" (tourist) visa?

I don't want to go through all of this trouble for nothing