An article on how to independently obtain a transit and tourist visa to China in 2021: the necessary documents, cost and processing time in Russia and Asian countries, nuances.
When asked whether Russians need a visa to China, one can answer - in almost all cases, yes. Below we will consider the options when it is not needed, and also talk about how to get a visa to the PRC on your own for the purpose of tourism and transit, what documents will be needed and how much it will cost, as well as how to get it in Asian countries - Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Tourist visa to China for Russians (L)
If you are planning to visit the country in 2021 with the aim of tourism, then you will need the usual package of documents:
- a passport valid for more than 180 days (as well as a copy);
- copy of internal passport (pages with photo and registration);
- booked round-trip tickets;
- hotel reservation (for the entire duration of travel around the country);
- completed application form V.2013 - can be done manually (in block letters, without blots);
- color photo - it must be glued to the questionnaire;
- a copy and original of insurance with coverage of more than 15 thousand dollars (especially important in St. Petersburg and Moscow). Travel insurance →
- plan your trip just in case.
In the same case, if you have received a PRC visa in the past, you need a copy of it (and a copy of your old passport, if it is pasted there). But with first receipt visa, it is important to be sure to attach proof of financial solvency and a certificate from your work.
Pensioners, unemployed and students must additionally provide:
- a letter from the sponsor with a copy of the passport;
- a certificate from the sponsor's place of work (indicating his income);
- or an account statement ($ 100 per day).
For a private visit (acquaintances, friends, etc.), a free-form invitation from the Chinese side will be required, which must be stamped by the police. You also need to have a copy of your Chinese friend's document (ID). However, check with the consulate in your city in advance if they accept invitations. For individual entrepreneurs, you must attach a copy of the IP certificate.
To China without a visa
Without a visa in China, you can visit Suifenhe and the border trade zone - however, if the stay is no more than 15 days. Another restriction is that leaving the city is prohibited. To enter, you only need to provide a valid foreign passport.
Also for Russians there is the possibility of visa-free entry to Hong Kong for 2 weeks and Macau for 30 days. Be careful: if you want to enter Hong Kong through the PRC, do not take into account the time spent in Hong Kong when applying for a visa and filling out the application form.
Transit visa to China for Russians (G)
A transit visa is issued at the embassy if you stay for more than 72 hours in the following cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqin, Dalian, Shenyan, Guilin, Xian, Xiamen, Kunming, Harbin. The same is true if the transfer is more than a day in other cities of the country. Departure from the country by other means of transport, except for the plane, is not possible. The package of documents is basic (plus a visa to another country).
What documents are needed for transit for 72 hours:
- coupons for the previous and next flights;
- international passport;
- if necessary - a visa to a third country.
Please ensure that tickets are in English (or duplicated). Departure and arrival must be from the same city.
Daily transit with arrival and departure from different airports is possible in the following cases:
- all flights are operated by one airline;
- flights are operated by different airlines, but the flight segments are the same and have the same booking code;
- a change or stopover at one of the airports in the Middle Kingdom is planned by the airline.
What you need for daily transit:
- international passport;
- completed form;
- boarding passes from the previous and next flights.
In addition, a transit permit can be obtained directly at the airport of the city. Dalian - Zhoushuizi. Term - 7 days, costs $ 14. Required documents: photo, valid passport and air tickets to another country. Departure - from the same airport. However, we recommend that you still apply for a visa in advance, since there is no guarantee that you will be given it - the decision is made by an officer.
You might be interested in the article on prices in China for hotels, food and transport.
Visa upon arrival in 2021
A visa to China for Russians can also be obtained upon arrival, however, there are restrictions, we will discuss them below.
1. Inner Mongolia
Upon arrival at the airport of Hailar or Manchuria (Sijiao), you can register it there. To begin with, citizens of the Russian Federation need to receive an invitation in advance from a travel agency of the Middle Kingdom (necessarily accredited), and they will also need a foreign passport. An entry permit is issued at the airport visa center. Validity period - 30 days, single entry.
2. Hainan
Citizens of the Russian Federation have the opportunity to obtain an entry permit on arrival (for 2 weeks) at the airports of the cities of Sanya and Haikou, in Hainan. Restriction - the flight must be direct and international. What is required? Foreign passport, color photo, application form filled in English (black paste), return tickets, hotel reservation and $ 65 to pay the fee. It is also recommended to have an official confirmation that tourists can apply for a visa upon arrival.
When buying a tour, you can stay on the island for up to 21 days (from 2 people or more).
3. Shenzhen
They issue entry permits at the crossings between Hong Kong and Shenzhen: Yantian (Shatoujiao Port), Luohu (or Lo Wu), Nanshan and Bao'an, but not at the Futian Port crossing. The permit is given once for 5 days. Required documents: passport, application form and fee (393 yuan), return ticket from Hong Kong and hotel reservation in Shenzhen. Driving outside the city is prohibited.
4. For residents of territories bordering the PRC
It is easier for residents of the Irkutsk and Amur regions, as well as the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Trans-Baikal regions to obtain a Chinese visa than other Russians. They can go through ground checkpoints located in Heihe, Hongchun and Manjouli. However, there is a condition: the tourist must have an invitation, which can be issued in travel agencies, and a passport with registration in the regions bordering the Middle Kingdom. Only in this case will a visa be issued at the border (you can get both a single entry visa for 15 days and a multiple entry visa up to six months), but it is better to find out in advance. The cost consists of the price for the services of the travel agency and the service fee.
The invitation is issued in accredited travel agencies - their list can be found in the consulate.
The invitation must contain information about the person to be invited (full name, gender, date of birth, etc.) and the inviter (whether it is an individual or an organization - name or full name, address and telephone number, signature of the inviting or legal representative, seal of the travel agency), as well as information about the trip (planned places of residence and visits, dates of departure and arrival, etc.). When obtaining a tourist visa, the invitation is usually replaced by a hotel and ticket reservation.
Self-registration of a visa to the PRC in 2021
Addresses, phones and websites of consulates
To apply for a visa to China in Moscow, you need to submit documents to the consular department at the address: st. Friendship, 6, from 9 to 12 noon on weekdays. Phone (contact from 15:30 to 18:00): +7 (499) 951-8435. Official site: ru.china-embassy.org. Better come early.
Visa to China in SPb is issued independently at the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in St. Petersburg, which is located at 134 Griboyedov Canal Embankment. Contact the consulate from 9 am to noon on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Phone: (812) 713-76-05, 8-960-242-80-06. Official website: saint-petersburg.china-consulate.org.
Get a visa to the PRC in Irkutsk can be at the address: st. Karl Marx, 40. Documents are accepted from 10 am to noon on Mon, Wed, and Fri. Phone: +7 (3952) 781-442, 781-444. Official website: irkutsk.chineseconsulate.org/rus/
Residents Vladivostok you need to contact the consulate, which is located on Krygina street, 3. Accept documents from 9:30 to 12:30 on Mon, Wed and Fri. Phone: +7 (4232) 495-037. And in Yekaterinburg - at st. Tchaikovsky, 45. Opening hours: from (630 to 12 on Mon, Wed and Fri.Official website: ekaterinburg.chineseconsulate.org/rus/
China visa cost and validity
Tourist: single entry - 30 days of stay, corridor - 90 days; double entry - 90 days of stay, 180 - corridor.
Transit: single entry - 7 days of stay, 60 days corridor; double entry - 7 days of stay, 180 days - for entry.
Cost in 2021: 1,500 rubles for a single entry and twice as much for a double entry, and 4,500 for multiple entries (a year or six months). Surcharge for urgency (2 days) - 900 rubles, for express (1 day) - 2100 rubles.
The processing time is usually about 5 days, but it can be done faster (except for Yekaterinburg), for this you need to submit documents before 11 am and provide an air ticket as a basis, as well as pay the urgency fee - 900 rubles.
How to get a Chinese visa in Asia
Thailand
Citizens of most countries, including Russians, can get it in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Songkhla. This is convenient for those who travel independently in Southeast Asia and winter in Thailand. According to rumors, it is more difficult to do this in Bangkok, a lot of documents are required: you need to provide a passport, a copy of its first page and a page with a Thai stamp, a questionnaire and a photo, copies of old Chinese visas, if any, hotel reservations for the entire stay and round-trip tickets , an account statement (at the rate of $ 100 per day), as well as an invitation or letter of employment (a self-employment letter is also suitable). Sometimes they ask for a travel itinerary. In Chiang Mai, they usually don't ask for an invitation or a route
They say that the easiest way in Thailand to get a permit to enter the Celestial Empire in the city of Songkhla - despite the requirement to provide a standard package of documents, they issue a permit based on a passport, hotel reservation and tickets, a photo, a questionnaire and a paid fee. The consulate accepts visitors from 9 to 11 on weekdays.
The cost of a single entry is about 1100 baht, a double entry is 1,650 baht, a multiple entry for six months is 2,200, and a year is 3300 baht. For urgent registration you will have to pay 800 baht more. Corridor - 90 days.
The embassy in Chiang Mai accepts documents from 9 to 11:30, in Bangkok - until 11. Official websites of the embassies: chiangmai.chineseconsulate.org/eng/ and www.chinaembassy.or.th/eng/. Bangkok address: 57 Rachadapisake Road, Songkhla - No.9, Sadao Road, Ampur Muang Songkhla, Thailand.
Vietnam
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are two cities in Vietnam where you will be given permission to enter the PRC without any problems. Tourists note that it is easier to give it in Hanoi. The package of documents is the same as in Thailand (do not forget about a photocopy of the Vietnamese visa). They may require a travel route around the country, a copy of the internal passport (home page and registration), as well as insurance - so it's better to have it just in case. Some tourists write that they were not asked for an invitation.
The consulate will not start doing anything until you pay the fee ($ 30) - you need to take a special form after submitting the documents the next day and go to the bank - ask which bank is better to do this.
Address in Hanoi: 46 Hoang Dieu, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, website - vn.china-embassy.org/eng/. Address in Ho Chi Minh City: 175 Hai Bà Trưng, website - hcmc.chineseconsulate.org/. Reception of documents from 8:30 to 11:30 on weekdays.
Malaysia
You need to contact the consulate in Kuala Lumpur, which is located at: 1st Floor, Plaza OSK 25 Jalan Ampang. Website: my.china-embassy.org/eng/. There you fill out a questionnaire and the next day you are scheduled for an interview in the next building - just a couple of formal questions about the purpose of the trip and so on. Submit your documents, pay the next day and receive passports. The cost is 190 ringgit.
