China Visa for U.S. Travelers: Requirements and How to Apply

• $140consular fee for U.S. citizens
• 4 business daysregular processing once the passport is submitted
• 30 daysto hand in the passport after COVA approval
• No appointmentand no fingerprints in Los Angeles

24 Hour Passport & Visas is a private expediter in Los Angeles. We are not the Chinese consulate and we are not a U.S. Passport Agency. The consulate decides who gets a visa, what kind, and when. We prepare the file and hand-carry it. Call 310-913-7804.

Last reviewed: October 2026. Rules change. Check the consulate’s own page before you book.

Do U.S. citizens need a visa for China?

For a normal trip, yes. China runs a 30-day visa-free program for ordinary passport holders from roughly 50 countries. That program runs through December 31, 2026. U.S. citizens are not in it. An American flying to Beijing or Shanghai for a vacation, a trade show or a client meeting needs a visa in the passport before departure. Airlines check at the gate. Chinese immigration makes the final call at the border.

There are four narrow cases where a U.S. citizen can enter without a visa. None of them covers an ordinary round trip from the United States.

• 240-hour visa-free transit. You arrive from one country or region and leave for a different one within 240 hours (10 days), through a designated port. A ticket back to the United States does not qualify. Los Angeles to Shanghai to Tokyo qualifies. Los Angeles to Shanghai to Los Angeles does not. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as separate regions for this rule. U.S. passport holders are eligible.
• 24-hour direct transit. You connect through a Chinese airport to a third country and stay inside the port area for less than 24 hours.
• Hainan. Citizens of 59 countries, including the United States, can visit Hainan Island for up to 30 days without a visa. This covers Hainan only. You cannot continue to the mainland on it.
• Cruise groups. Foreign tour groups arriving by cruise ship through designated ports can stay up to 15 days without a visa, under conditions set by the National Immigration Administration.

If your trip does not clearly fit one of these, treat the visa as required. Do not rely on a forum post or a friend’s experience from last year. Check the National Immigration Administration site and the consulate page linked above, then check again the week you travel.

The arrival card is not a visa

Since November 20, 2025, foreign nationals entering China fill in an online arrival card through the National Immigration Administration site or the NIA 12367 app. It is free. Paper cards remain only for travelers who cannot complete it online. It does not replace a visa. If you need a visa, get it first. You can fill in the card before you fly or at the airport on arrival. Holders of a Chinese permanent resident card, 24-hour direct transit passengers who stay in the port area, and a few other groups are exempt. You can find the form here.

Which China visa fits your trip?

Pick the category by what you will do in China, not by how long you stay. The consulate decides the final type, the number of entries and the length of each stay. Applying for one type does not guarantee you get it.

On validity: the Los Angeles consulate can issue multiple-entry L, M, Q2 and S2 visas valid for up to 10 years to U.S. citizens, and 5-year X1 visas. “Can” is the operative word. The officer sets validity, entries and stay per entry. A 10-year visa is not a 10-year stay. Read 10-year China visa in Los Angeles before you plan around it.

What documents do you need?

Every applicant uploads a basic file. Some applicants add documents for their visa type or their personal history. This is the Los Angeles consulate’s list as of September 2025. The online system and the officer’s review comments are the final word.

Everyone

• Passport. Signed, with more than 6 months of validity left and at least 1 blank visa page. You upload the bio page and later hand in the original. If you want a 10-year visa, the consulate has historically wanted more than 1 year of validity remaining.
• Photo. One color photo taken within the last 6 months, white background, 48 mm high by 33 mm wide if printed, uploaded as a JPEG. In Los Angeles, a successfully uploaded photo means you do not need to hand in a print. The full spec is on our China visa photo requirements page.
• Proof that you live in the consulate’s jurisdiction. Any one of: driver’s license, state ID, a water, electricity, gas or internet bill, or a bank statement. For a minor who has none of these, upload a parent’s document.
• Your last Chinese visa or residence permit and the passport it was in, if you ever had one. If you cannot find it, upload the consulate’s Visa Loss Declaration Form.

Some applicants

• Non-U.S. passport holders living in the United States: proof of legal status, such as a green card, U.S. visa, EAD card, I-20 or I-94.
• Former Chinese citizens applying for the first time after naturalization: naturalization certificate and the last Chinese passport. The original Chinese passport is handed in at submission. If it is lost or has been expired for more than five years, use the Chinese Passport Loss Declaration Form.
• Name changed since your last Chinese passport or visa: court order or marriage certificate.
• Children under 16 applying for the first time: birth certificate. If a parent named on the certificate was born in China, add the passport and permanent residence proof (green card) each parent held when the child was born, and a naturalization certificate for any parent who later became a U.S. citizen.

How do you apply for a Chinese visa?

There are no Chinese Visa Application Service Centers in the United States. Pages that tell you to find your local CVASC are written for Europe or Asia. In the U.S. you deal directly with the Chinese Embassy in Washington or one of the consulates in New York, Chicago, San Francisco or Los Angeles, and only the one that covers your state. The Los Angeles consulate covers Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Northern California goes to San Francisco. If you are not physically in the United States, you cannot apply at a U.S. consulate at all.

The Los Angeles consulate moved to the China Online Visa Application system (COVA) on September 30, 2025. The process has four steps.

1. Fill in COVA online. Go to consular.mfa.gov.cn/VISA, register with your email, click “Start My Application” and select Los Angeles. Use a computer, not a phone. Enter your details exactly as they appear in your passport, upload your documents and submit for initial review. One account can hold applications for a whole family.
2. Watch the status. The consulate reviews the upload. If something is missing you will see “Supplementary Materials to be provided” or “Rejected and to be modified.” Fix it in the system. Do not email documents; the consulate ignores them.
3. Submit the passport in person. When the status reads “Passport to be Submitted,” you have 30 days to get the physical file to the consulate. Print the page showing the barcode and that status, add the original passport and any originals the list requires, and submit. No appointment is needed in Los Angeles. No fingerprints are taken. You can go yourself, send someone, or use an agency. This is the step we handle: drop the file at our office at 8170 Beverly Blvd and we hand-carry it to the consulate at 500 Shatto Place. Details are on China visa service in Los Angeles.
4. Collect and pay. When the status changes to “Passport to be Collected,” the pickup slip issued at submission is the only proof to collect. The consulate takes payment by Visa or MasterCard at pickup. No cash, no checks, no mail-back. If the status reads “Review Failed,” you collect the passport the same way.

How much does a China visa cost, and how long does it take?

There are three separate numbers, and most websites blend them.

• Consular fee. For U.S. citizens, $140 for any entry count, single through 10-year multiple. Journalist J1 and J2 visas are $171. Non-U.S. citizens pay $23 (single), $34 (double), $45 (6-month multiple) or $68 (12-month-plus multiple), with exceptions by nationality. These rates are in force from December 11, 2023 through December 31, 2026. Express adds $25 per visa. Once the application is in, the fee is owed, even if you never travel.
• Consular processing time. Regular: pickup on the 4th business day after the passport is submitted. Submit Monday, collect Thursday. Express: 2 to 3 business days, if the consulate approves it. Some files take longer with no date given on the slip.
• Service fee. If you use an expediter, that fee is separate from the consular fee. Ours is quoted when you call. There is no shipping line in our quote for Los Angeles clients because the consulate does not mail passports; we collect in person.

The consular clock starts when the passport is physically submitted, not when you finish COVA. Online review before that step can take days. Plan backward from your flight: COVA review, then 30-day submission window, then 4 business days, then pickup. The China visa fees page breaks every line item down.

What if your passport is missing or expiring?

The visa is a sticker in your passport, so the passport comes first. Check three things before you open COVA.

• Validity. More than 6 months left on the day you apply. If you want a 10-year visa, more than 1 year. A passport with 7 months left can still get a visa, but expect a shorter one.
• Blank visa pages. At least 1. Count pages marked “Visas,” not the amendment pages at the back.
• Condition. Water damage, a torn bio page or a loose cover will get the file refused.

If any of these fail, renew first. A new passport means a new passport number, and your COVA application must match the passport you hand in. Do not start COVA with the old number and hope to swap.

If the passport is lost, report it and replace it before anything else. If it is expired or expiring, renew it. If this is a first passport, apply for it. Standard State Department processing runs weeks. We expedite renewals, lost or stolen replacements and first-time passports, in some cases in as little as 72 hours. Once the new passport is in hand, the China visa process starts from step one.

If you already hold a valid Chinese visa in an old passport and only the passport was renewed, you may not need a new visa. The consulate’s rule is that an old visa with the same personal details can be used alongside the new passport, and it will not issue a new visa while the old one has more than 6 months of validity left. Carry both passports.

China visa FAQs

These are the questions we get on the phone most often. Each answer reflects the Los Angeles consulate’s current practice.

What is a China visa invitation letter?

A letter from a company, organization or person in China that states who you are, why you are coming, when, where, who pays, and who is inviting you. It supports an M, F, Q or S application. It does not guarantee approval. Tourists applying for L have not needed one since January 1, 2024. Business applicants (M) do. The consulate publishes the required contents: for M and F, the invitee’s personal details, the trip details, and the inviting party’s name, address and phone number.

Can you extend a China visa?

You can apply to extend your stay at the Exit-Entry Administration of the local Public Security Bureau in China, before your permitted stay runs out. Approval is not automatic. The stay printed on your visa, not the visa’s validity date, is what you must not exceed. Overstaying brings fines and can block future visas.

Does Chinese heritage affect China visa eligibility?

It changes the paperwork, not the right to apply. Former Chinese citizens applying for the first time after naturalization must upload the naturalization certificate and hand in the old Chinese passport. U.S.-born children with a China-born parent must add the parents’ passports and green cards from the time of birth. If your name changed since your last Chinese document, add the court order or marriage certificate. Birth in Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan can trigger its own questions in review. Expect the file to take a closer look, and get the originals together before you start.

Is China visa-free for U.S. travelers in 2026?

No, not for an ordinary visit. The 30-day visa-free program that covers Canada, the UK, most of Europe, Australia and Japan does not include the United States as of October 2026. A U.S. citizen can use the 240-hour transit exemption only when continuing to a third country, can visit Hainan Island for up to 30 days, or can join a cruise group under the 15-day rule. For anything else, apply for a visa before you fly, then fill in the free arrival card.

Sources: Consulate General of China in Los Angeles, Apply for Ordinary Visas (September 2025); Processing Time, Visa Fees, Pickup & Payments; Visa Exemption (June 2025); Chinese Embassy, Online Arrival Card (December 2025).