The Chinese Visa Application Service Centre (CVASC) in Busan has issued a notice confirming that it will be closed on Monday, 2 March 2026 for a local holiday. All passport collection dates originally scheduled for that day will move to 3 March, and peak-day queues are expected through the rest of the week.
While the disruption is brief, it lands in the middle of Korea’s busy spring outbound season, when student groups and MICE delegations file large volumes of Chinese visa requests. Mobility coordinators supporting South-Korea-based assignees bound for China should therefore build an extra 2–3 days into processing timelines, especially for Z- (work) and S- (family) visa categories that require additional approval layers.
![Chinese Visa Application Centre in Busan to close 2 March; applicants advised to file early]()
For organisations that lack in-house visa expertise, VisaHQ can step in to manage Chinese visa paperwork end-to-end, including COVA form validation, appointment booking and document couriering. Their Korea-based clients can monitor status online and receive proactive alerts about centre closures like the one above; see https://www.visahq.com/china/ for service details.
Applicants using the Busan centre can still complete online COVA forms and book biometrics slots during the closure, but physical submission and collection will be unavailable. Express processing—which normally delivers passports in 2–3 working days—will be suspended for files lodged on 1 March and resume on 3 March.
In the longer term, companies with frequent Korea–China travel may consider enrolling eligible staff in China’s 30-day visa-free regime if they hold qualifying passports, or make greater use of the 240-hour transit waiver via Shanghai and Qingdao to reduce reliance on consular processing.
While the disruption is brief, it lands in the middle of Korea’s busy spring outbound season, when student groups and MICE delegations file large volumes of Chinese visa requests. Mobility coordinators supporting South-Korea-based assignees bound for China should therefore build an extra 2–3 days into processing timelines, especially for Z- (work) and S- (family) visa categories that require additional approval layers.
For organisations that lack in-house visa expertise, VisaHQ can step in to manage Chinese visa paperwork end-to-end, including COVA form validation, appointment booking and document couriering. Their Korea-based clients can monitor status online and receive proactive alerts about centre closures like the one above; see https://www.visahq.com/china/ for service details.
Applicants using the Busan centre can still complete online COVA forms and book biometrics slots during the closure, but physical submission and collection will be unavailable. Express processing—which normally delivers passports in 2–3 working days—will be suspended for files lodged on 1 March and resume on 3 March.
In the longer term, companies with frequent Korea–China travel may consider enrolling eligible staff in China’s 30-day visa-free regime if they hold qualifying passports, or make greater use of the 240-hour transit waiver via Shanghai and Qingdao to reduce reliance on consular processing.
