The handbook
Three pages, written to be read in order. Each one assumes the previous one and links to the official text it is built on. Volatile figures carry the date they were checked.
Figures on these pages retrieved 2026-10-01.
- 01
Entry routes
Which way in? Visa-free, transit, port visa, or a visa you apply for abroad
Every route into mainland China rests on one test: what is your nationality and passport, and why are you coming. Start here before you look at any visa class.
- 02
Visa classes
The visa classes: L, M, F, Z, X, Q, S and R, and which reason puts you in which one
Chinese visas are grouped by what you are coming to do. The class letter follows your purpose, and each class carries its own document requirements.
- 03
After arrival
After you land: the 30-day residence permit, visa extensions, and what a port visa does not do
Landing is the start of an obligation, not the end of the process. Two deadlines exist and they belong to different people: a 30-day residence permit for the long-stay classes, and an extension applied for before your stay expires for short stays.
What this handbook will not do
- It will not tell you whether your own application will be approved. Only the issuing authority decides that.
- It will not quote fees or processing times, because those vary by mission and are not published as one national figure.
- It will not recommend an agent, a lawyer or a consultancy. There are no affiliate links and no lead forms on this site.
No commercial relationship affects anything on this site. Official text is at nia.gov.cn.