You will need to apply for a new/temporary China visa in order to enter China during the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to travel restrictions, all China visa issue prior to 03/27/2020 are suspended until further notice. At the current time, you cannot use your visa to enter China even if your China visa has not expired. According to China Ministry of Foreign Affairs , “Entry with diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visas” will not be affected by this suspension implemented on 03/28/2020.
Before applying for a China visa, please double check which Embassy/consulate/consulate general office is responsible for issuing China visas to applicants from your state of residency. For details, please use this page from the China Embassy to figure out which consulate office to use for your application: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zmzlljs/t84229.htm .
Currently, only a limited group of people are eligible to apply for a new or temporary visa to enter/return to China. Generally, 6 groups of people are eligible to apply for a China visa during the covid 19 virus pandemic:
- Education professionals (Professors/Teachers) and their family entering China for the first time or returning for the new school year. (F China visa)
- Parent/Spouse/Children of people that are living or working in China, family reunion. (S2 China visa)
- Business owners/employees that has major contribution to local business economy.(F/M China visa)
- People with family emergency, circumstance such as family member in China being hospitalized, in critical condition, or passed away. (Humanitarian China visa)
- Crew member from all major airline or maritime shipping company (Crew Visa)
- Diplomats and their family members (W visa)
To be eligible for a China visa during the COVID-19 pandemic, applicant in groups 1-3 must first obtain a PU invitation letter from China. This PU invitation letter is issued by a city or provincial’s Foreign Affair’s office in China. For education professionals, business owner and business employees, please ask your employer in China to facilitate the issuance of the PU invitation letter by the Foreign affair’s office. For family members of people working or living in China, please have your family member’s China employer apply for the PU letter as well.
For humanitarian China visa applicant, you will need to contact the visa office in person to schedule for an appointment or application by mail arrangement. Please be sure to have the following 2 documents ready:
- Proof of relationship between applicant and family member in China
- Documentation/report from hospital in China justifying the urgency
Crew and diplomat visa documentation remain unchanged, no special documents required.
