OT: Chinese Visa
 

Off to Shanghai at the end of this month and need to get a Visa.
I have an opointment booked tomorrow at the Chinese Embassy in London but cannot find the follwoing info. on their website:

Cost of a single and cost of a double entry visa?
How many photographs I need to take with me

thank you in advance of your kind help

Google'd your question and found this

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/en...dd/t514412.htm
and
http://www.chinese-embassy.org.uk/en...aa/t514391.htm

Apply for Tourist or Family Visit Visa
Tourist and family visit visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.

1. Checklist of documents required for application

(1) Original passport remaining to be valid for at least 6 months from the date of application and with sufficient blank visa pages.

(2) One completed visa application form with a recently-taken passport photo. All the items on the application form should be completed neatly with genuine information. If the applicant has a Chinese name, the Chinese name should be filled in. False or incomplete information and illegible characters may lead to refusal of a visa.

(3) When a child who is under the age of 6 and was born abroad and of Chinese origin applies for a Chinese visa for the first time, the child's birth certificate which must show the parent's name and the permanent residence permit or certificate of nationality of the resident country from one of his or her parent should be provided.

(4) An applicant holding a passport other than UK passport should provide the original and a copy of his or her permanent residence or work permit which should be valid for at least half a year (except for those who are visa or permit exempt for residing or working in the UK);

(5) Applicants planning to tour Tibet should contact the Tourism Administration of the Tibet Autonomous Region (Tel: 0086-891-6834313; Fax: 0086-891-6834632) and provide visa notification issued by it.

(6) Applicants applying for special tour to China should provide visa notification issued by China National Tourism Administration or the tourism administration of related province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government. Special tour includes self-driving, hiking, cycling, horse-riding, hot air balloon, or other expeditions.

2. Application procedure and processing time

(1) Application procedure

Book online appointment at the website of Chinese Visa Application Service Centre (CVASC) and then submit application to CVASC. Application without appointment will not be accepted. For more information, please visit www.visaforchina.org.uk . CVASC accepts postal application.

(2) Processing time

Regular visa processing time is normally 4 working days. For example, applicants lodging applications on Monday will collect the visas on Thursday. Express visa processing time is normally 3 working days. Applicants requesting the express service must lodge visa applications at the CVASC counter before 12:00 noon, Monday to Friday.

3. Important notes

(1) Consular officers may request an applicant to provide additional supporting documents. The applicant should provide this as soon as possible.

(2) Whether a visa is to be issued or not, and what type of visa to be issued shall be decided by Consular officers in the light of China's relevant laws and regulations. Application may be refused without detailed explanation.

(3) The applicant should check all the information of the issued visa upon collection and if necessary raise queries at the same time. If there is no immediate query relating to the issued visa, the applicant is held responsible under any circumstances thereafter.

(4) The visa application form should be fully completed and signed by the applicant upon completion (application for an applicant under 18 years of age should be signed by one of his or her parents). Items which are not applicable should be filled in with N/A.

(5) Please be advised to apply for a visa about one month in advance of the intended date of entry into China. The applicant is held responsible for any consequences resulting from the failure to submit visa application at an appropriate time, which may lead to either the issued visa becoming expired or it would be too late to get a visa before the intended entry date.

(6) Consular officers decide on the visa's period of validity, duration of stay and number of entry in the light of China's laws and regulations.

4. Fees

(1) Please pay on collection.

(2) Chinese Visa Application Service Centre accepts cash or debit card for payment.

(3)Schedule of visa Fees and Service Fees (Unit: British Pound):

I have used a company called Thames Consular (now CIBT??), they offer a very good service and fast too.

Are you going on Business? If so you will need a business visa which has a different criteria.

You will need one photo to be stapled onto the form, you can download the form from CIBT's website (google them) the website will also tell you all the supportings docs that you need.

double entrance is a little more money but it is worth it for the flexibility (say if you are heading to HKG).

You can also get 1 and 2 year multientrance Visas but you need 3 entry stamps in your passport (I think) before you will be able to apply for one of these.

Hope that this helps.

Posters have quite rightly detailed the procedures. I would only add a couple of additional points:

1) Even if you haven't applied for a visa before it isn't unknown to get a multi-entry if you apply. They will often say "no" when you go in person but if you explain to them nicely then sometimes they will relent. As mentioned, if you need to go to HK this is particularly useful as a quick trip there from mainland counts as an "exit" and a "re-entry"

2) If you're travelling on business then you do need a business visa but for that you need an invitation. If this is a problem, just go on a tourist visa. Last year the rules were very strict and I went in and out of China several times on a tourist multi entry visa

Loads of threads on this topic on the China forum

nickyboy

They opened up a specialist visa processing centre about a year ago....

all the info is here...

http://www.visaforchina.org.uk/visae...l?method=index

Steve.

The new Chines visa processing centre in Holborn is very efficient in my experience ... much more so than the Indian equivalent anyway !

The new Indian and Chinese visa processing centres and procedures seemed very similar to me?

Do you need an appointment for a business visa? When I got my tourist one I just dropped my passport in at Hogg Robinson (about 10 mins walk from my office, by Southwark Bridge) and they did it for me in a couple of days. Small fee but well worth it.

Maybe I was just unlucky but my experience of the new Indian Visa processing centre near Victoria was of pretty lengthy queues despite having an appointment ... whereas with the Chinese centre there was no lenghty hanging around at all

Difficult to judge from a sample of 2, but I only had 5-10 min wait at each.

A vast improvement (at a price) on both previous arrangements!

I notice mention of the mythical Chinese multiple entry visa in this thread - anybody know if they are coming back again or are we all still using double entry visas?

China Z visa - multiple entrance 1 year
 

AFAIK no more Z visas 1 year multiple no time limit entry since the Olympics.

Most you can get now is L visa 6 months, multiple, with 30 day stay limit. This should apply to biz visas with invitation from Chinese company. Might be worth to contact CTS in HK to check if they are more flexible now.

http://www.ctshk.com/english/useful/chinesevisa.htm

A big thumbs up from me for the Holborn processing centre. I booked an appointment online and was seen within four minutes of arriving at the centre. However, they can only issue visas in three days. If you need one the same day, you still have to go to the Embassy. I ended up having it posted, and was given the tracking number for the courier, when I handed my forms over.

Not correct

I got an F (business) 1 year multi-entry 30 day maximum stay visa April 2009 - from the Manchester consulate

The willingness of the embassy (or in my case consulate) to grant it will depend, to some extent, on your record of previous visas

Z is for non Chinese nationals who have a job in China, not just for business trips (where the F visa is appropriate)

nickyboy