Visa and Passport

Passport

Make sure your passport is valid for at least three months longer than you plan to stay in China and has at least one blank page for every entry you plan to make into China and into any other country that you might visit during your holiday vacation while enrolled at the China Center. Please be aware that the Chinese visa office requires at least twelve months validity and at least one blank page left in the passport.

Enrollment Letter

You will be required to apply for and obtain a student visa (X visa) for mainland China prior to your departure. To do so, you must first apply for and receive the necessary documents from our host university in China, Zhejiang University. You should do this as soon as possible by sending or faxing the enrollment documents (not the Chinese Q1 visa application form) to the China Center before June 20 for fall semester and before December 5 for spring semester, as Zhejiang University’s semester schedule runs differently from the China Center’s schedule and conflicts do occur. New students should also notify the China Center staff by email when you have sent these forms.  Read more...

Visa Type

In general students are required to apply for a student visa type X (intended for students staying over six months). This is especially necessary if you intend to enroll both fall and spring semester at the China Center. If you are a short-term student at the China Center, studying for just one semester, you may be required to apply for a student visa type F (intended for students staying less than 180 days), which will be indicated on the JW form sent to you by Zhejiang University.  Read more...

Visa Office

Please note that it is now policy at the Chinese Embassy and all Chinese Consulates in the United States not to accept visa applications by mail. Therefore, all visa applicants must come to the visa office of the embassy or consulate general in the consular jurisdiction in which the person resides, or entrust a relative or friend or travel/visa agent to complete the application process by proxy (no power of attorney is required). No appointment is necessary to apply for the visa.  Read more...

Visa Fees

The application fee is USD 130 for American citizens and USD 30 for citizens of other countries. Please pay by money order, cashier's check, or company check. Personal checks are not accepted. Please make the check or money order payable to Chinese Embassy or Chinese Consulate respectively. These and all other visa costs are to be paid by the student, including all in-country visa costs, such as those associated with changing visa types, extensions and fines.

Visa Processing Time

The regular processing time is four working days, but the student should allow at least seven to ten days for completing the visa application process in the event of unforeseen delays. An additional fee of USD 20 will be applied for expedited processing in two to three business days.

Medical Exams and Forms

You are required to have a physical examination from a doctor to fill out the "Physical Examination Record for Foreigner" (Q2) form issued by the Chinese visa office if you intend to study in China for more than six months.  Read more...

Residence Permit

The student with an X visa must register with the local public security bureau (PSB) within thirty days after entering the country. All students, whether entering on an L, F or X visa, must make sure not to overstay the validity date of their visa or temporary residence permit. Failure to do so will result in legal consequences, including fines (typically CNY 500 per day for each day overstayed and up to CNY 5,000) that must be paid in full by the student prior to leaving China.  Read more...

Declaration of Temporary Residence

It is the responsibility of the student living in individually arranged off-campus housing to register any new residence address at the local police station within twenty-four hours. This includes any stay more than one night at any residence (Chinese or foreign) that is not a state approved hotel or hostel. The student must also report any change of address to the International College of Zhejiang University and the China Center faculty within the same time period.  Read more...

Work Visa and Employment

Students wishing to seek part-time or full-time contracted employment from a Chinese work unit must apply for a work visa. However, the China Center may employ students for certain tasks or projects. For example, a student may be paid to organize the books and articles left out by other students, and qualified students may be hired to work with the Academic Director on special projects. Students in past semesters have worked at the China Center to catalogue new books, create a library database, and design and update the center website.  Read more...

Miscellaneous

Upon arrival in China the student should provide the China Center Administrator with a copy of the information page of the student passport, together with the visa and customs entry stamp pages. The student should provide a new copy of the visa and entry stamp with each entry to the country or whenever the visa has been extended or changed.

Please note that you are required to bring a set of at least six visa photographs with you to China, including the several required by the Foreign Affairs Office of Zhejiang University.