Visa
- A passport, valid for at least six months, and a visa are necessary to enter the Republic of China. Visas are easily obtainable from most Western countries. Most tourists are issued with a single-entry visa for a 30-day stay.
Processing times and fees depend on where you're applying, but normally visas take three working days. Express services cost twice the normal fee. Fees are normally paid in cash at the time of application and you'll need two passport photos.
Note that a 30-day visa is activated on the date you enter China, and must be used within three months of the date of issue. Longer-stay visas often start from the day they are issued, not the day you enter the country, so you should double-check this.
When you check into a hotel, there is usually a question on the registration form asking what type of visa you have. The letter specifying your visa category is usually stamped on the visa itself. There are seven categories of visas, as follows:
| Type | Description |
| L | travel |
| F | business or student (less than 6 months) |
| D | resident |
| G | transit |
| X | long-term student |
| Z | working |
| C | flight attendant |
Useful Visa contacts
- 10F, Jinling Building, 28 Jin Ling Road(W) 200021
- TEL: 8621 63721888*1810; 63841133*4001
- Inbound Business
- 1. To assist the expatriates and residents from HK, Macau and Taiwan in applying for work visa,
work permit and residence permit - 2. To assist the expatriates in China to apply for visas to any other third country
- 3. To assist the expatriates in applying for medium and short term business as well as tourist visas to China
- 4. To assist the expatriates in applying for the China Permanent Residence (Green Card in China)
- 5. To assist the expatriates and residents from HK, Macau and Taiwan in applying for chief representative certificate/ normal representative certificate (required while working for a Shanghai representative office)
- 6. To assist in applying for the extension, expedite and alternation on the above applications
- 7. To arrange and accompany the expatriates to undertake the medical check-ups and apply for Chinese driver license
- 8.To provide the consultation and translation on China entry/ exit/ immigration related services
- 9. To assist the overseas companies in the establishment/ extension/ alternation of Shanghai representative office/ to provide the consultations on relevant policy and laws
- 10. To assist the overseas companies in the establishment/ extension/ alternation of Shanghai foreign enterprises/ to provide the consultations on relevant policy and laws
- Outbound Business
- 1. To assist the Chinese employees/ individuals in applying for the medium and short term business/ visitor/ work visas to various countries and HK, Macau and Taiwan. The countries include: The United states, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, 26 Schegen countries, Southeast Asia countries and South American countries, to name just a few.
- 2. To assist the Chinese individuals in immigrating to various countries (Business & Investor Immigration/ Skilled Immigration/ Family Reunion Immigration and Work-related Immigration)
- 3. To provide the consultation and translation on China entry/ exit/ immigration related services
- 4. To have visa and passport pictures taken on the spot