Chinese visas fall into the types of diplomatic visas, courtesy visas, public service visas and ordinary visas. Ordinary visas can be further classified as the following categories:
Visa Categories |
Description of Visa |
C |
Issued to foreign crew members of means of international transportation, including aircraft, trains and ships, or motor vehicle drivers engaged in cross-border transport activities, or to the accompanying family members of the crew members of the above-mentioned ships. |
D |
Issued to those who intend to reside in China permanently. |
F |
Issued to those who intend to go to China for exchanges, visits, study toursand other activities. |
G |
Issued to those who intend to transit through China. |
J1 |
Issued to resident foreign journalists of foreign news organizations stationed in China. The intended duration of stay in China exceeds 180 days. |
J2 |
Issued to foreign journalists who intend to go to China for short-term news coverage. The intended duration of stay in China is no more than 180 days. |
L |
Issued to those who intend to go to China as a tourist. |
M |
Issued to those who intend to go to China for commercial and trade activities. |
Q1 |
Issued to those who are family members of Chinese citizens or of foreigners with Chinese permanent residence and intend to go to China for family reunion, or to those who intend to go to China for the purpose of foster care. The intended duration of stay in China exceeds 180 days. "Family members" refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandsons, granddaughters and parents-in-law. |
Q2 |
Issued to those who intend to visit their relatives who are Chinese citizens residing in China or foreigners with permanent residence in China. The intended duration of stay in China is no more than 180 days. |
R |
Issued to those who are high-level talents or whose skills are urgently needed in China. |
S1 |
Issued to those who intend to go to China to visit the foreigners working or studying in China to whom they are spouses, parents, sons or daughters under the age of 18 or parents-in-law, or to those who intend to go to China for other private affairs. The intended duration of stay in China exceeds 180 days. |
S2 |
Issued to those who intend to visit their family members who are foreigners working or studying in China, or to those who intend to go to China for other private matters. The intended duration of stay in China is no more than 180 days. "family members" refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandsons, granddaughters and parents-in-law. |
X1 |
Issued to those who intend to study in China for a period of more than 180 days. |
X2 |
Issued to those who intend to study in China for a period of no more than 180 days. |
Z |
Issued to those who intend to work in China. |
Diplomatic, service and courtesy visas：Diplomatic or official visas shall be issued to foreigners who enter China for diplomatic or official reasons; and courtesy visas shall be issued to foreigners who are given courtesy due to their special status.
The scopes of issuance and methods for issuance of diplomatic, courtesy and service visas shall be determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Port visa：Foreigners, who need to enter China urgently for humanitarian reasons, who are invited to enter China for urgent business affairs or urgent engineering repair or who enter China as required for other urgencies and hold certifications on the consent of the relevant competent departments to application for visa at ports of entry, may, at the ports of entry approved by the State Council to issue port visas, apply for a port visa to the port visa offices as authorized by the Ministry of Public Security. Travel agencies which organize inbound tourism according to the relevant state provisions may apply for a group tourist visa to the port visa issuers.
