China Visa Fees: Costs by Nationality, Location, and Processing

• $140any entry type, U.S. citizens
• +$25express, 2 to 3 business days
• $23 to $68most non-U.S. nationalities
• Card onlyVisa or MasterCard, paid at pickup

24 Hour Passport & Visas is a private expediter in Los Angeles. We are not the Chinese consulate. The consular fee goes to the consulate. Our service fee is separate and is quoted when you call 310-913-7804.

Last reviewed: October 2026. The fee schedule below is the Los Angeles consulate’s, in force from December 11, 2023 through December 31, 2026.

How much does a China visa cost by entry type?

The consulate charges U.S. citizens one flat rate. Entry count and validity do not change it.

*Fees for some non-U.S. nationalities differ from this table. The consulate says to check with the visa office.

So a 10-year multiple-entry tourist visa costs a U.S. citizen exactly what a single-entry visa costs: $140. Which one you get is the officer’s decision, not a price tier you buy. Read 10-year China visa in Los Angeles before you plan around the long one.

The $171 journalist fee applies to J1 and J2 only. It is a different visa class with its own document list. It is not a surcharge for long validity.

These are consular fees, collected by the consulate. They are not the total cost of applying. For what else goes into a China visa application, start with China visa requirements for U.S. travelers.

How do fees vary by nationality and application location?

Two things move the consular fee: the passport you hold and where you apply.

Nationality. China sets visa fees country by country, largely on reciprocity, which is why U.S. citizens pay $140 while most other nationalities pay far less. Most other nationalities applying in the United States pay the reduced schedule in the table: $23, $34, $45 or $68 by entry type. Those reduced rates are a temporary 25 percent cut that China has extended year by year, currently through December 31, 2026. Some nationalities are priced differently again. A green-card holder with a Mexican or Indian passport applying in Los Angeles should confirm the figure with the visa office before counting on $23.

Location. You cannot shop consulates. The Los Angeles consulate accepts applications only from people who live in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii or the Pacific Islands, and you prove that with a driver’s license, state ID, utility bill or bank statement. Northern California applies in San Francisco. Other states apply in New York, Chicago or at the embassy in Washington. The consular fee is the same across the U.S. posts. What differs is processing time, hours, and whether the post uses a visa center.

Outside the United States the picture changes. In most of Europe and Asia you apply through a Chinese Visa Application Service Center, which adds its own non-refundable service fee on top of the consular fee, priced in local currency and adjusted with the exchange rate. There are no such centers in the United States. In the U.S. you deal with the consulate directly and there is no center fee.

What charges can increase your total visa cost?

Think of the total as separate lines. Only the first one goes to China.

1. Consular fee. $140 for U.S. citizens. Paid at pickup, by Visa or MasterCard only. No cash, no personal checks, no online payment. Once the application is submitted, the fee is owed even if you never travel.
2. Express fee. $25 per visa if the consulate approves express processing. You pay it even if you do not come on the pickup date.
3. Expediter service fee. What a private service charges to review your COVA entry, check the documents, submit the passport, collect it and hand it back. This is where quotes diverge. National mail-in services commonly advertise service fees of about $170 to $300 per visa, some higher, plus shipping both ways and sometimes a card surcharge. Ours is quoted on the phone and depends on your timeline.
4. Shipping. Only if you mail your passport to a service. The Los Angeles consulate itself does not mail anything; it has no mail-back service at all. For a local client who drops the file at our Beverly Boulevard office and picks it up there, this line is zero.
5. Passport photo. One photo in the right format. If you get it taken at a pharmacy, expect about $17, and make sure it is the Chinese 33 by 48 mm size, not the U.S. 2 by 2 inch size. The China visa photo requirements page has the exact dimensions.
6. A passport, if yours will not do. If your passport has less than 6 months of validity or no blank visa page, you need a renewal before the visa, and that is its own State Department fee plus any expediting.

How do processing speed and collection affect your cost?

The consulate publishes two speeds.

• Regular: pickup on the 4th business day after the passport is physically submitted. Submit Monday, collect Thursday. No extra charge.
• Express: 2 to 3 business days, $25 extra, and only if the consulate approves it. Approval is not automatic and the fee does not buy a promise.

Both clocks start when the passport is in the consulate’s hands, not when you finish the online form. Before that, the consulate reviews your COVA upload, which can take several days, and only then changes your status to “Passport to be Submitted.” Some files are held for further review with no date on the pickup slip.

Private services often advertise a longer end-to-end figure, for example 7 to 10 business days for regular service. That number includes their own intake, shipping to and from them, and the consulate’s 4 days. It is not a slower consulate; it is the same consulate plus transit time. A local drop-off removes most of that transit time, which is the practical reason a Los Angeles applicant should not mail a passport across the country.

Collection is the other cost lever. The consulate hands the passport back only to someone holding the original pickup slip. Lose the slip and the applicant has to appear in person with photo ID. Fail to collect within a year and the consulate destroys the visa. There is no return shipping option from the consulate, so if you cannot come back on the pickup day, someone has to go for you. That is part of what an expediter is for.

How can you verify current fees before applying?

Four checks, in this order.

1. Open the fee page of the consulate that covers your state. For Los Angeles it is Processing Time, Visa Fees, Pickup & Payments. Confirm the dates printed on it still cover today.
2. Match your passport nationality to the right column. If you hold a non-U.S. passport, call the visa office and ask for your figure.
3. Add $25 only if you have been told express is approved.
4. Get any service fee in writing before you hand over a passport, and ask whether it includes collection and return. Then add the two numbers yourself.

The fee reduction notice has been extended each December since 2023. If you are reading this in 2027, assume the non-U.S. rates may have reverted to their full level, and check.

China visa fees FAQs

Cost questions come up on almost every call. These are the ones with clear answers from the consulate’s published rules.

Are China visa fees refundable after rejection?

No. The Los Angeles consulate states that once the application is submitted the visa fee must be paid, with no refund, even if you do not travel. In practice the fee is collected at pickup, so a file that fails review before issuance typically has nothing to refund. Expediter service fees have their own terms; ask before paying. Outside the U.S., visa center handling fees are non-refundable as a rule.

Do children pay China visa fees?

Yes, the same fee as an adult of the same nationality. There is no child rate in the consulate’s schedule. A U.S.-citizen child pays $140. A child under 16 applying for the first time does need extra documents: a birth certificate, and if a parent was born in China, both parents’ passports and permanent residence proof from the time of birth.

Are China visa fees charged per applicant?

Yes. Every passport is a separate application and a separate $140. A family of four pays $560 in consular fees. One COVA account can hold all four applications, but each one is reviewed, priced and collected individually. Express is also per visa.

Can you pay China visa fees by card?

At the Los Angeles consulate, card is the only option: Visa or MasterCard, at pickup. The consulate does not take cash, personal checks or online payment, and the passport is not released until the fee is paid in full. If an expediter collects for you, ask how the consular fee is handled so it is not charged twice.

Sources: Consulate General of China in Los Angeles, Processing Time, Visa Fees, Pickup & Payments; Consulate General of China in New York, Notice on Extension of Visa-Fee Reduction (December 2025); Apply for Ordinary Visas (September 2025).