What it takes to apply for Chinese visa

Ordinary visas are offered to foreigners who enter China for non-diplomatic or official reasons, including work, study, family visit, travel, business activities and talent introduction.

“We are seeing an increasing number of people coming to China after Covid-19. Before Covid-19, more than 40,000 Ugandans were visiting China annually and last year we have seen a recovery and the embassy received 12,000 applicants,” he said.

Currently, it takes between three and four days for a Ugandan to complete their visa application. Mr Lizhong said this delay would be eliminated by the centre, which has highly trained local staff.

He, however, said diplomatic, courtesy, and official visa applicants, holding diplomatic or service passports, will continue to liaise directly with the embassy in Kampala.

Mr Lizhong said the establishment of a special visa centre was implemented after the Chinese government implemented “category B and B control” in response to the Covid-9 pandemic in January last year. He said the number of visa applications to China has sharply increased.

 The embassy, he said, finds it difficult to satisfy the needs of applicants since they are handling multiple clients with limited human resource.

“This visa centre is the only entity entrusted by the embassy to provide services related to Chinese ordinary visas and consular legalisation applications. It is operated independently and is responsible for its own profits and losses, which is not an extension of the embassy,” Mr Lizhong said.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Godfrey Kambere, the Commissioner of Immigration Control, said the centre would mitigate financial losses incurred by individuals who fall victim to fraudulent agents promising expedited visa services for China.

“Most Ugandans fear to walk to embassies because of security checks and fear long queues and they end up using agents who are over charging them,” Mr Kambere said.

“The office will help Ugandans to get right information, ensure smooth movement of Ugandans and also strengthen the bilateral relations between Uganda and China,” he said.

The Internal Affairs ministry said last year, it issued 15,000 work permits, with 5,000 of them issued to Chinese investors.

Requirements for the visa

The website of the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Uganda indicates that any applicant for a Chinese Visa must have six basic requirements. These include identification, a valid passport with at least six months of validity and two blank visa pages, and a photocopy of the passport’s data page and the photo page if it is separate, a visa application form and a recently taken colour passport photo.

Other requirements are a reference letter from the company or organisations, where the applicants are working; a bank account document statement; proof of legal stay or residence status (applicable to those not applying for the visa in their country of citizenship); a diplomatic note from the government, consulate general, or the United Nations is required for the holder of diplomatic passport and service passport, and a photocopy of passport information page.

Charges

The China Visa Application Service Centre indicates that charges for the visas vary depending on the category one is applying for, Regular, Express level (2) and Express level (1), and is also determined by the entry times of the applicant.

A citizen from a third world country like Uganda, who is applying under the category of regular and under single-entry, where they won’t stay beyond 90 days is supposed to pay $102.5. They will pay $168.7 for Express level (2) and $214 for Express level (1) under the same single-entry category.

For double-entry, where the applicant is allowed to enter China twice within a specific period of time, a third world citizen will pay $122.1 under Regular, $188.7 under Express (2) and $234.3 under Express (1).

Under six-month/multiple-entry, where the applicant can stay in China for more than 24 months, will pay $137.1 under Regular, $203.7 under Express (2) and $249.3 under Express (1). And lastly under 12 months/multiple entries will pay $172.1 for regular, $238.7 for express (2) and $284.3 for express (1)

The website says all applicants will pay an additional $31.6 for mail service fee and these rates run between December 2023 and December 2024. It also states that applicants who apply for both Chinese (mainland) and China Hong Kong/Macao visas will only charge a one-time service fee.

For Ugandans, the Chinese embassy guides that all payments should be made through a Stanbic Bank Acacia Mall Branch in Kampala.

Categories of Chinese Visa

The website of the China Visa Application Service Centre (CVASC) groups Chinese visas into four categories of diplomatic visa issued to diplomats, courtesy visa, service visa, and ordinary visa.

Diplomatic and courtesy visas are issued to diplomatic, official and service passport holders entering China on official business or duties, while the service visas are issued to foreign citizens bearing service or United Nations passport, entering China to conduct non-diplomatic duties and ordinary visa issued to non-diplomats.

The ordinary visas are further divided into 14 categories, including (C), which is given to foreign crew members of international means, (D) for foreigners intending to permanently stay in China, (F) for those that are only visiting, (G) for those who intend to transit through China. (J1) is issued to foreign journalists of news organisations stationed in China, while (J2) given to journalists who intend to go to China for short-term news coverage for not more than 180 days, and (L) given to foreigners who intend to go to China as a tourists.

Others are category (M) for foreigners, who intend to go to China for commercial and trade activities, (Q1) for foreigners who are family members of Chinese citizens or of foreigners with Chinese permanent residence. (Q2) is issued to foreigners who intend to visit their relatives who are Chinese citizens for not more than 180 days, while (R) is issued for foreigners, who are high-level talents or whose skills are urgently needed in China, and (S1) issued for foreigners who intend to go to China to visit foreigners working or studying in China, among others.