As soon as vacationers have booked their China trip itinerary, they should apply to the Chinese Embassy or consulate for a tourist visa. Airline staff check that passengers traveling to China are carrying a valid passport and visa before they allow them to board the flight. The documents required to apply for a tourist visa are.

a Step-by-Step Guide

1 Actual passport, plus a photocopy of the name page

Please submit your actual passport. Visa will be issued in the passport.

Passport should have at least 12 months validity left. Otherwise, you must renew your passport first. If you need passport services, please visit our expedited passport services section.

Passport should have at least 2 blank visa pages. The last 3 pages in US passports are not visa pages. These are amendment pages, reserved by the US Department of State for amendment to the passport. They won't be acceptable for visas. If your passport has no blank visa pages left, you may add additional visa pages. If you need passport services, please visit our expedited passport services section. 

If you have a valid China visa in another passport, you will need to submit that passport together with the new passport when applying for a new visa.

Non-US passport holders must provide a photocopy of the US Green Card (Exception: notarized copy is required, if you reside in CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, WI. Origin US Green Card is required, if you reside in AZ, Southern CA, HI, NM, Pacific Islands) or a valid long term US residence visa such as: L, H, F, TN. Please note B1/B2 visa doesn't count.

Some non-US passport holders (holding passport from countries on the attached list ) are required to apply in person.

2 One Visa Application Form V.2013 per person

Please fill out the application form on your computer, print a hard copy and sign it.

Hand written form is not acceptable.

All fields are mandatory. If a section doesn't apply, please type in "None" or "N/A'. Incomplete form will be rejected.

Please check for omission and error before you print the form. Change or correction is not allowed on the printed form. You must print a new form in case of any change or correction.

Please print out and submit only single-sided pages of the application, not back to back.

Please do not use staple. Paper clip is fine.

3 One recent passport-type photograph

Full face, frontal with a plain white or off-white background, 33mm (wide) x 48mm (tall) in size.

Photo printed on regular paper or photo of poor quality is not acceptable.

Photo needs to be taken within 6 months.

Please use paper clip to attach the photo face-down (avoid scratching) to the form. Do not staple or glue the photo.

Please refer to the link for China visa photo specific requirement.

4 Round-trip flight and hotel confirmation OR invitation letter

Photocopy of round-trip flight confirmation. Please highlight your name.

Hotel confirmation with applicant name as guest. Please highlight your name.

Do not staple them together. Paper clip is fine.

OR

If you are visiting someone in China and don't have hotel reservation, please provide an invitation letter.

Invitation letter must include the following items: 
(a) Personal information of the application: name, gender, date of birth, passport number, etc. 
(b) Information concerning the applicant's visit to China: purpose of the visit, date of arrival and leaving, places to visit, relationship between the applicant and the inviter, and who will bear the cost of the applicant's accommodations in China. 
(c) Information of the inviter: name of the individual, phone number, address and signature of the inviter.

If an invitation letter is provided, a photocopy of inviting person's Chinese Identity card's (Shenfengzhen) both sides is required. If the inviter is not a Chinese citizen, a photocopy of the inviter's passport, together with a photocopy of inviter's China residence permit is required.

 What kind of flight and hotel confirmation is acceptable? 
 Click for a sample invitation letter.
 Please refer to the link below for samples and hints and guideline on how to comply with the new requirement: 
http://www.visarite.com/China_Visa_New_Policy_FAQ.htm

5 Submit the online Visa Service Request Form

Specify your return address by submitting the service request form online. It's OK that your mailing address is different from your home address.

Specify your email address so that confirmation and status update can be sent to you via email during the process.

Multiple applicants can be entered using one service request form.

Please print two copies of the confirmation page.

Please include one copy with the documents you ship to us and keep one copy for your record.

6 Payment for visa processing, service and shipping

Chose        A        Service Level	Time        needed			All        Fees
	Review	Processing	Shipping	Embassy        Fee	Service        Fee	Shipping	Total
Regular Service	1 day	7-15 days	1 day	$140	$89	$29	$258
Express Service	1 day	5-6 days	1 day	$140	$149	$29	$318
Express Plus Service	1 day	2-3 days	1 day	$165	$179	$29	$373

Express Plus is not available for all states, please click here or call for details.

Time needed shown is based on business days.

Processing time means the time Chinese Consulate needs to process visa application. It doesn't include the return shipping time. Day of receiving is not processing day.

Remarks:

We accept money order, cashiers check, certified check or cash. Please make check or money order payable to VisaRite Service. and write your service request confirmation number in the memo.

You can write the total amount on one check or money order, no need to send separate checks or money order.

Personal check or starter check is not acceptable.

You may also pay by credit card. If you select this option, please fill out and sign one credit card charge authorization form and enclose it in your application package. Credit card payment is subject to 3% surcharge.

If you have paid online, please include a copy of payment confirmation email with your application. Do not send in the credit card payment authorization form if you have paid online.

Return shipping fee listed is for return addresses within the continental U.S. If your return address is in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Canada, please include an extra extended delivery area fee of $10.00 per order. If you need to ship back to other international address, additional fee and time is needed, please call for detail.

7 Additional requirement based on jurisdiction

Although the requirement for Chinese visa largely remains the same across different Chinese Consulates, there are some special rules pertaining to each different Consulate. Click here to see if there is additional requirement for your jurisdiction.

8 Additional requirement for minor

Applicants of age 18 and under need to provide a photocopy of their birth certificate and both parents' passport name page.

One of the parents must sign the application form using parent's name in both section 4 and 5.

Minor applicant may be required to provide a notarized letter of consent from the parent, if that parent is not applying for the visa at the same time.

9 Additional requirement for Chinese descendants

Click for additional requirement for Chinese descendants. Skip it, if you are not.