China Visa

To resume people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries in an orderly way, starting from March 15, 2021, the Chinese Embassy in the United States will provide the following facilitation for visa applicants inoculated with Chinese COVID-19 vaccines (having taken either two doses of inactivated vaccines with the stipulated gap in between, or a single-dose vaccine at least 14 days prior to the application) and obtained the vaccination certificate:

1. Foreign nationals and their family members visiting the mainland of China for resuming work and production in various fields can prepare the application according to the requirement before the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. The eligibility criteria for visa application “out of emergency humanitarian needs” will be broadened as appropriate. Foreign family members of Chinese citizens or permanent residents, including spouse, parents, children and other close relatives living together (i.e. siblings, grandparents and grandchildren), may submit visa applications for the purposes of reuniting with family, taking care of the elderly, visiting relatives, attending funerals or visiting critically ill relatives.

3. Holders of valid APEC business travel cards may apply for the M visa by presenting the original valid APEC business travel card and the invitation letter issued by the inviting party in the mainland of China.

For the above-mentioned three categories of applicants, please first send an email to visaoffice.dc@gmail.com for information about application procedures. Applicants are kindly reminded not to mail application documents to the visa office without prior consent by email from the Embassy, otherwise, your documents may be returned directly by the post office.

Meanwhile, the airline boarding requirements by China for Certificates of Negative Nucleic Acid and Anti-Body Blood Tests Results remain unchanged. After entering China, please abide by China’s regulations on quarantine and observation.

Details are as follows:

1. In order to reduce cross-border transmission of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of passengers, starting from 0:00 on November 6, 2020 Pacific Time, all Chinese and foreign passengers bound for China will be required to take nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests and apply for a green health code with the "HS" mark or a certified health declaration form before boarding the flight. The specific requirements are as follows:

• I. Test Requirements

1. Passengers bound for China via direct flights must take nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests at a testing institution in the U.S. within 48 hours before boarding. Upon receiving the certificates of negative results of both tests, they need to submit them to the Chinese Embassy/Consulates (based on the consular district of the testing place) and apply for a green health code with the "HS" mark or a certified health declaration form.

2. Passengers bound for China via connecting flights must take nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests in the U.S. within 48 hours before boarding, and then take both tests a second time in their last transit country within 48 hours before boarding the plane to China. Passengers must apply from the Chinese Embassies/Consulates in BOTH countries (the U.S. and the last transit country) for green health codes with the "HS" mark or certified health declaration forms with their certificates of negative results of both tests.

3. For passengers transiting in the U.S. before flying to China, please note that currently tests are not available in most American airports. Passengers are recommended to use caution when choosing to transit in the U.S. If there is a need to do so, please check in advance about the U.S. entry restrictions for foreigners, apply for a U.S. visa if necessary, take the nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests a second time after entering the U.S., and present the certificates of negative results to the Chinese Embassy/Consulates in the U.S. to apply for a green health code with the "HS" mark or a certified health declaration form. If the requirement for boarding is not met, there will be a high risk of getting stranded at the airport or even being sent back to the point of departure.

• II. Chinese Passengers Applying for Green Health Code with the "HS" Mark

Chinese passengers must upload to the WeChat Health Code app the pictures of their negative nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests results, which will be examined and verified by the Chinese Embassy/Consulates in U.S. Then they will receive the green health code with the "HS" mark. Passengers must present the green code within its validity period to the airlines flying directly to China before boarding.

• III. Foreign Passengers Applying for Certified Health Declaration Form

Foreign passengers must email the scanned copies of their negative results of the nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests along with their passport information page and the signed health declaration form to the Chinese Embassy/Consulates (based on the consular district of the testing place), which will examine and verify the above information and email the certified health declaration form back to the passenger. Passengers are advised to print the form out and present it within its validity period to the airlines flying directly to China before boarding.

Where to submit (for foreign passengers):

• Embassy in the United States (temporarily in charge of the consular district of the Consulate General in Houston): embchn@gmail.com

• Consulate General in New York: cnnyhdf@gmail.com

• Consulate General in San Francisco: health.sfconsulate@gmail.com

• Consulate General in Los Angeles: Please click here to submit online

• Consulate General in Chicago: 12308chicago@gmail.com

• IV. Reminders

Please read the requirements carefully and follow them accordingly. Failure to obtain the green health code with the "HS" mark or a certified health declaration form with negative nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests results means you do not qualify for boarding the flight to China and will have to change your itinerary.

For the convenience of getting tested, the Chinese Embassy/Consulates in the U.S. have not designated or authorized testing institutions. Please inquire of the testing institutions about the testing methods, report content, average time to deliver results and test prices.

If you choose to go to China via connecting flights, you need to test twice. As tests are not available in the transit zones of major airports in transit countries, please use caution when choosing to fly to China via connecting flights. Passengers are advised to consult the Chinese Embassy or Consulate in the transit country about the latest policies on nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests and entry requirements, and apply for a visa if necessary, to avoid getting stranded in the transit countries due to denial of entry or failure to get valid health code or health declaration form.

International airports in the U.S. seldom have rapid testing capabilities. The testing institutions in U.S. the are scattered, and the time needed to deliver results is not guaranteed. Please use caution if considering transiting in the U.S.

This Notice will take effect on 0:00 on November 6, 2020 Pacific Time. Applications submitted before that will be reviewed according to the requirements of the Notice on September 4. In case of any inconsistency between this Notice and the previous ones on health code, nucleic acid tests or other requirements, this Notice shall prevail.

The Chinese Embassy/Consulates in the U.S. once again recommend travelers avoid all nonessential travels considering the infection risks and travel costs of international travels at this time. Please minimize visits to public spaces and facilities after testing, and take good personal protection to avoid infection.

There has recently been a sharp increase of imported COVID-19 cases from the United States in China. Most of them can be traced to infection in transit, while a few are related to faulty operations of intermediary agencies and laboratories or to passengers' nonobservance of home quarantine requirements after testing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) counted a total of nearly 17 million confirmed cases in the United States by December 18, and another 1.2 million to 2.3 million new cases are expected to be reported every week in early January 2021. To protect the health and safety of passengers and aircrew, and prevent a resurgence of COVID-19 in China, the Chinese embassy and consulates in the United States once again recommend travelers avoid all nonessential and non-urgent travels. Passengers who have urgent need of travel please follow the test guidelines and requirements listed below:

I. Starting from 0:00 on December 23, 2020 Pacific Time, IgM serum antibody test must be performed by medical professionals through venous blood sampling, and the test report should include the following terms: Serum, IgM, Venous, etc. Finger-prick blood testing is no longer accepted. The report also needs to clearly state testing methods, including: (1) Colloidal gold; (2) Chemiluminescence; (3) Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; (4) Others, please specify.

II. Starting from 0:00 on December 23, 2020 Pacific Time, nucleic acid rt-PCR test report should include such terms as NAAT, RT-PCR, and specify sampling method, including: (1) Pharyngeal swab; (2) Nasopharyngeal swab; (3). Others, please specify.

III. In order to prevent infection from long-distance travel after testing, passengers traveling to China must get their samples for the nucleic acid rt-PCR and IgM serum antibody tests collected at the departure city and vicinity of their direct flight to China. The specific arrangements are as follows.

• 1. At present, direct flights from the United States to China fly from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Detroit and Dallas.

• 2. Passengers must allow for the time to take pharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swabs, venous blood and other sampling in the departure city and vicinity of their flight and wait in place for the test results before the flight. Upon receiving the reports, passengers should upload them immediately to apply for the health code for boarding.

• 3. Collected samples must be tested at a laboratory institution that is on the list released by the Chinese embassy and consulates. Please have prior confirmation with your sample collecting institution whether the samples are tested in such a laboratory. The list of laboratories will be announced soon and it will be adjusted from time to time. Please pay close attention to the notices and reminders on the websites of the Chinese embassy and consulates.

• 4. When applying for the health code, flight itinerary and proof of sampling at flight departure city and vicinity (such as clinic report, letter of proof, sampling-site photos or receipts, etc.) should be uploaded alongside with test reports and other materials. If the system does not have a special upload window for flight itinerary and proof of sampling city, please upload them in the window for submitting test reports.

• 5. Starting from 0:00 on December 23, 2020 Pacific Time, the Chinese embassy and consulates in the United States will only accept test results from the laboratories on the list, and they will be reviewed in conjunction with flight itinerary, sampling city, etc.

• 6. The airlines are only required to check the health code for international flights to China, but if your flight contains a domestic leg, there is a possibility that some airlines have additional requirements or their staff have different understanding as to checking the code. Please check with your airlines in advance or choose not to go to your international departure city via connecting flights.

IV. The Chinese embassy and consulates will verify the authenticity of test results with sample collecting and testing institutions. Passengers are advised to agree to disclosure of relevant information by the institutions to the Chinese embassy and consulates, including test results.

V. Passengers are strongly recommended to take personal protection very seriously to avoid infection in travel to the departure city and during the stay before departure. Please minimize public contact after testing. Some states have put in domestic travel restrictions or stay-at-home order, passengers are advised to inquire about local regulations in advance and comply.

VI. In case of any inconsistency between this Notice and the previous ones, this one shall prevail.

Applicants with these occupations must submit a letter from their employer stating their job description and purpose of visit to China. The visa processing time may be extended to 8-10 business days for these applicants.