How to fill out an application for a visa to China

In recent years, China has become an increasingly popular destination not only for tourists, but also for entrepreneurs, students, and those looking for profitable working conditions. One of the main documents that allows you to issue an entry permit is an application for a visa to China.

Chinese visas

The rules for entering the PRC for foreigners are quite strict, and to visit the country, citizens of other states must obtain a visa.

Chinese visas differ significantly from those used in Europe. Depending on the purpose of the trip, 12 categories of visas are issued: D, Z, X, F, L, M, G, C, J, Q, R, S.

• Z visa is issued to work in China, F - for short-term business visits or participation in exchange programs, X - for students and interns, M - for those who plan to open and conduct business in the Celestial Empire, L - for tourists.
• Category J visas (J-1 or J-2) are issued to foreign media workers for short-term or long-term work in China.
• G and C visas are transit visas, they are issued to those who cross the border of the PRC on business needs or during a tourist trip to other countries of Southeast Asia.
• Persons applying for permanent residence in China can apply for a D visa.
• Q and S visas are for those who want to visit relatives who are permanently residing in the PRC.
• R permission is granted to talented or highly sought-after specialists: renowned scientists, laureates of international awards.

What you need to get a visa

To apply for a visa to China, you must provide a package of documents. These include:

• International passport.
• Photo of a visa format, 3x4 cm.
• Completed Visa Application Form of the People's Republic of China.
• Bank statement, on which there must be an equivalent amount of at least $ 1,000.
• Certificate from work indicating the position and salary for the last six months. Entrepreneurs must provide a certificate of company registration, students - a certificate from an educational institution.

Depending on the category of the visa, additional documents may be required: various types of invitations, official letters, permits from various government services of the PRC, etc. But the application form is the same in each case.

Where to get a visa application form

If you apply for a visa to the PRC on your own, you will need an application form. You can get it in two ways. The first is to go to the Chinese embassy, ​​consulate or visa center and get an application there. The second is to download the form on the website of the authorized organization.

Citizens of the Russian Federation can apply for a questionnaire and for submitting documents for a visa to the Embassy and Consulate of the PRC in Moscow (Druzhba St., 6), as well as to the Consulates General in the following cities:

There are also PRC visa centers operating in Russia in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk.

If you want to download the application form online, you can do it on the following sites:

• for Russians;
• for Ukrainians;
• for Belarusians;
• for Kazakhs.

The visa application form at the Chinese Embassy is provided in Chinese and English in pdf or word.doc formats. The English-language profile on the websites of all states is the same.

You can also download the questionnaire in Russian on the Internet resources of the Russian and Belarusian representative offices. It is allowed to be used not only by Russians and Belarusians, but also by applicants from any post-Soviet states.

When choosing a questionnaire on the websites of Russia and Kazakhstan, you can see that there is a separate type of questionnaire for applicants who want to go to Hong Kong. But in 2021, the visa application forms for visiting mainland China (Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Guangzhou) and Hong Kong are the same: this is Form V. 2021.

General requirements for filling out the form

Due to the large number of people wishing to get to the PRC, waiting in queues for submitting documents at consulates often takes many hours, and in case of errors in the submitted documents, applicants have neither the time nor the opportunity to correct them. Therefore, it is important that the application is completed correctly.

An application for a visa to China in 2021 must meet certain criteria. Here are the main ones:

• When downloading the questionnaire, use only the websites of the embassies. In other sources, you may come across a previous version of the questionnaire, which will not be accepted in the package of visa documents.
• Application for a visa to China for Russians (Russian-speaking) can be filled in Chinese or in capital letters in Russian. The English-language questionnaire is filled in in capital letters in English.
• From 2021, only computer-filled questionnaires are accepted. You cannot download an empty form and fill it in by hand.
• All items must be completed. In the columns marked with squares, the selected items are marked with a tick. If there is no information to fill out, you need to write "no", N / A or None.
• All information provided must be accurate, complete and clear. Inaccurate data or an attempt to hide something will result in a refusal to issue a visa.
• The application must be accompanied by a 3x4 cm color photograph, which is glued into the upper right corner of the form.
• When printing a finished document, you cannot use duplex printing. Each page is printed separately.

How to fill out a questionnaire

China Visa Application Form has been created to obtain detailed information about the applicant. It includes 4 sections that address various aspects of the identity of the visa applicant.

Unlike applications for Schengen and European visas, more information is required in the Chinese form: from personal data and close relatives to existing diseases.

Sample application form for a Chinese visa (Russian version):

An example of filling out an application for a visa to China for Ukrainians, Belarusians or Kazakhstanis looks similar.

Let us consider in more detail what are the features of filling out individual sections of the form, and what you need to pay attention to in order to avoid mistakes.

Applicant details

Please note: even if you fill out the form in Russian, the name and surname are indicated in Latin letters. Their spelling must exactly match the Latin transliteration in the foreign passport. Patronymic is not required.

The rest of the columns can be filled in with Russian letters. All dates must be recorded in year / month / day format.

Those who were born in the USSR (before 1991) should write USSR in the “Place of birth” column.

In the column "Type of passport", ordinary travelers put a tick in the option "general civil". Diplomatic or official documents for identification are marked only with the appropriate status.

Above the column "type of passport" is the number of the general civil passport, and below - the number and data on the foreign passport.

In the column "Place of work" you must indicate all the data about the company in which the applicant works, and for students - information about the educational institution.

Phone numbers must be entered along with the country code.

In the paragraph "Main family members" you need to indicate close relatives - parents, spouses, children, even if they do not travel to the PRC with you. If the family includes more than 4 people, you can give information about it on a separate sheet.

The next column contains the name and contacts of the person who can be contacted in case of any emergency. This can be a family member or a work colleague.

If an application for a visa is submitted not in the country of citizenship, it is necessary to indicate the type and details of the document on the basis of which the applicant legally resides in this state: temporary residence permit, residence permit or others.

Travel info

The column "Purpose of travel" determines what type of visa the applicant can apply for. Therefore, you need to choose the most accurate from the proposed options.

In the following columns, you need to determine the number of entries into the country (single, double or multiple), the duration of the visa, the date of entry into the PRC and the length of stay in the country. You can also request an urgent visa service; there is an additional charge for this.

Next, you need to outline the planned route of the trip. If there are a lot of items that you want to visit, it is allowed to make a list of them on a separate sheet.

Further information concerns the payment of the trip. If the traveler pays for the trip on his own, then he must write in this section "The applicant himself" and attach a bank statement to the package of documents. If the trip is funded by a sponsor, this should be noted.

Most types of visas to the PRC cannot be obtained without an invitation, therefore the column "Information about the inviting party to the PRC" is also very important:

• To apply for a journalist visa, business trip or work visa, you will need information about the employer or the company that invited the applicant to the country and entered into an employment contract or other types of cooperation agreements with him.
• A student visa for studying in the PRC is issued with an official letter from a Chinese university for a period of 6 months.

In the future, it is possible to extend visas for work and student visas without leaving the PRC.

Other information

Additional information includes information about offenses in China or other countries, the presence of dangerous or contagious diseases, stay in countries with an unfavorable epidemic situation.

If you are traveling with children who are included in your passport, you need to indicate their personal data and paste photographs into the application form.

Applicant's signature

The signature confirms that the applicant has provided true and accurate information about himself. The Minors' Questionnaire is completed and signed by parents or guardians.

If, for any valid reasons, the personal participation of the applicant in filling out and submitting the questionnaire is impossible, and the filling is carried out by an authorized person, this is indicated in the final section.

The Chinese missions do not provide explanations about the reasons for the refusal to issue a visa.

Conclusion

The application form is the most important document for obtaining a visa to the PRC. A lot of data has to be entered into it, since the Chinese side requires various and detailed information about the applicant. We hope that the tips for filling out a visa application will help you avoid mistakes and successfully obtain a visa to China.