Thank you for visiting Duke Global Travel Team’s Entry Visa guidance for the People’s Republic of China.

If you have any questions, please write Christy Parrish (parrish@duke.edu).

Of note:

A. We cannot apply for an entry visa to the People’s Republic of China (China) – no matter your citizenship or the type of visa we are pursuing – until we are within 90 days of your intended arrival date in China.

B. Once you are within that time frame, please initiate the visa process by emailing a photo or scan of your passport biographical page and your flight itinerary to Christy Parrish.

C. If it is too early to apply, you can still begin pulling together the materials outlined below as soon as you know you will visit China in order to be prepared to apply once we are within the allotted window.

D. If you have other international travel during that 90-days for which you will need your passport, if you are a U.S. passport holder, we can explore securing a second passport for you to process for your visa while you travel on your primary passport.  Certain other citizenships offer a second, limited-validity as well.  Email Christy for more information.

The list of required items for a PRC short-term stay visa, are as follows:

  1. Applicants must have at least 6-months of validity, from the date of your intended departure from China, left in the passport booklet and on any legal status in the country from which you are applying.  Note: if you have a Visiting Scholar or Student Visa or a Permanent Residence/Green Card for the U.S., you must also have at least 6-months of validity on that status to be able to apply for your China Visa from within the U.S.  Otherwise, you will have to apply in your home nation.
  2. Applicants much have at least two completely blank “visa” pages. Note: these must be consecutively numbered in the order of pages and cannot be those pages for ‘endorsements’ or that do not indicate they are for “visas”).
  3. Applicants must provide one digital headshot to begin the process. This photo must meet the standards of the Chinese Embassy. You can view the digital requirements online at http://us.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/lsfw/zj/qz2021/201612/t20161206_4410998.htm. Note: We recommend traveler's have a friend or family member take a photo of the applicant, standing against a white/off-white wall, with a "resting, neutral facial expression" and bright lighting (photos with shadows or glasses are not accepted).  Please email photos to Christy.
  4. Applicants must provide a digital photo or scan of either an NC driver’s license, utility bill or lease/mortgage statement proving residency in the region served by the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C.
  5. Applicants must provide responses to the Qualtrics survey online at https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0IM4KnfcFsmhg5E.
    1. Please note these questions are directly from the Chinese Online Visa Application (COVA) which we will complete on your behalf (as is allowed). There are additional questions regarding Duke’s financial support of your travels and associated with DKU, your inviter (which we will provide from records at Duke and your invitation from DKU).
    2. We will draft and secure your DKU invitation letter for your China Visa Application.
    3. If you have an invitation from a non-DKU host, please send that to Christy to ensure it is in the format, and contains the required information, required by China for a visa.
  6. Applicants must complete, sign in BLUE ink and date the “Where you stay” form (PDF) for drop-off with their passport booklet once the COVA is completed.
  7. Past travel: As of March 2024, the PRC Embassy has announced that they wish to know all countries other than the U.S. and PRC that the applicant has visited in the last year.  If the traveler has visited any countries in the Middle East and Africa.  Please email these details to Christy as to specific travel dates, cities visited, hosts and purpose of travel for each (only if visited in the last year).

    8.