Visa for China

rebeccak

I'm a UK citizen with a holiday to mainland China booked for the beginning of April. It was recently announced that visas will no longer be required for UK citizens to visit China but with no date confirmed for when this will start. The China visa website suggests that the turnaround for visa applications is a matter of days but elsewhere I've seen it suggested that you should apply a month or two in advance to be on the safe side.

If possible, I'd prefer to avoid both the costs and the admin if visas will no longer be required when I travel but I also don't want to risk not being able to go if the new rules haven't come into force by then and getting a visa takes longer than I anticipated. Does anyone have any insights - either on when the change is likely to come in or how long the visa application process takes? Also any tips on or explanation of how the visa application process works as I don't find the website particularly clear? I have never been to China before and I will be applying to the Manchester office, if that makes a difference.

Ms_Chocaholic

This website https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china/entry-requirements

states

Announcement of Visa-free travel to China

You must have a visa to visit mainland China. Visa-free travel to China, while announced, has not yet been implemented. Until confirmed, you must apply for a visa to enter China.

Annemos

Good evening, rebeccak

I am also in the same position as you and I have been weighing up what to do.

There is no information at all about when this will definitely be changed to Visa-free for UK nationals.

Under these circumstances, I do prefer to have my Visa ready in advance, before paying my holiday balance….. which is due 10 weeks before my holiday starts.

So, I am going to apply for a Visa as usual.

I used the following agency last year and they turned the Visa around for me in one week. We fill in the Travcour Form, and then they do the rest for us.

(I was applying in London and no fingerprints were required, as it was only a Dual-Entry Tourist Entry.)

I am not sure if they would have a bit longer turn-around time for Manchester?

Of course, we do have to pay 150 pounds Service Fee for this service, but I am very happy to do this for peace of mind, and they are truly expert at applying for Chinese Visas and there are no mistakes or worries.

Also note that even for a Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa this year, no fingerprints are required any more, which means we do not have to go for an appointment.

Have a wonderful time in China. As you can see… I loved it last year!

Here is the Travcour Link and after that the Embassy Notification about the Fingerprints not being required.

https://travcour-vls.com/

https://gb.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/visa/qzxz/202512/t20251219_11776936.htm

Edit: documents required for the Visa Application last year was…..

1 Emergency Contacts List in China (My Travel Agency over there)

2 Flight E-ticket: Confirmed Booking

3 Complete List of Hotels being stayed in, addresses, phone numbers and Dates of Stay.

My Holiday Company sent me these.

NoodleDoodleMan

Back in 2011 we visited China as part of a cruise and stay itinerary - getting the visas (plural) involved a trip to the nearest consulate in Edinburgh to submit the application, followed by a second visit four days later to collect it.

Two separate visas were needed, the first for entering China by air, then leaving by sea to re-enter at Shanghai port for a visit there.

If you are booked with a tour operator they should advise on the relevant regulations reference the time of your visit.

The application paperwork was very detailed, 3 or 4 pages if memory serves………of course it may have changed since then.

enthusiasticsaver

We are off to China mid March so had the same issue. We had already gone through the online review procedure so once that is done you have to go up to the visa centre within three weeks and so we decided to go up last week to finalise the visa application as there is no date online when the 30 day visa free comes in. We live 250 miles away from the visa centre and had already booked trains and an overnight hotel so did it anyway. We had submitted the application online which was fairly detailed and then once the online bit was approved we went up to the visa centre about 2 weeks later with our passports. It cost us £150 approx each plus postal charges as we had to leave our passports. They say allow 2-3 weeks for the passport to be posted back although if you live close to the centre you could go back in about a week later. We have not got our passports back yet but it has only been 1 week. So I would allow about a month to 6 weeks to sort out the visa.