i am curious a few people have told me that to visit china you will need an invitation from someone in china to be able to obtain a visa to visit. is this the case?
China Visa - Invitation Letter Necessary?
turbo77 on 27/04/2015 - 20:06
Comments
if for visa type L, tourist.
YES
Here are the documents you shall prepare before submission:1. Basic Documents
(1) Passport
Original passport with at least six months of remaining validity and with at least 2 blank visa pages, a photocopy of the passport's data page and the photo page if it is separate.
(2) Visa Application Form and Photo
One completed Visa Application Form with a recently-taken colour passport photo (bare-head, full face) against a light background (size: 48mm x 33mm) attached.
There are two ways to prepare your application form. You may complete an Online Application Form (where a Visa Centre provides such service), print it out and sign it; or, you can download the application form from our website and fill it out manually and sign it.
Please remember to bring the completed form to the Visa Centre to submit your application.
(3) Proof of legal status (applicable for those not applying for the visa in their country of citizenship)
If you are not applying for a visa in the country of your citizenship, you must provide the original and photocopy of your valid certificates of residence, employment or student status, or other valid certificates of legal stay provided by the relevant authorities of the country where the Visa Centre is located.
(4) Photocopy of previous Chinese passports or previous Chinese visas (applicable for those who were Chinese citizens and have obtained foreign citizenship).
If you are applying for a Chinese visa for the first time, you should provide the last Chinese passport held and a photocopy of its data page.
If you have obtained Chinese visas before and apply for a Chinese visa with a renewed foreign passport that does not contain any Chinese visa, you should present the photocopy of the previous passport's data page and the photo page if it is separate, as well as the previous Chinese visa page (If your name on the current passport differs from that on the previous one, you must provide an official document of name change).
(5) Chidren of Chinese descent ( Parent/Parents having or having had Chinese nationality) under the age of 16 applying for Chinese visas for the first time are required to provide a copy of their birth certificates.
2. Supporting documents
Documents showing the itinerary including air ticket booking record (round trip) and proof of a hotel reservation, etc. or an invitation letter for tourist.The invitation letter should contain:
(1) Information of the applicant (incl. full name, gender, date of birth, etc.);
(2) Details of the planned visit (incl. purpose of visit, arrival and departure dates, place(s) to be visited, relationship between the applicant and the inviting party, financial support to be provided during stay in China);
(3) Information of the inviting party(incl. name of organization or person concerned, contact telephone number, address, official stamp of the organization, signature of the legal representative or individual).
3. Special notes
(1) The invitation letter can be faxed, copied or printed. Consular officers may request an applicant to provide the original of the invitation letter. The invitation letters from Chinese individuals should present the photocopy of the ID (applicable to those who apply for F, M, L, Q1, Q2, S1 and S2 visa).
(2) Consular officers may request an applicant to provide additional supporting documents or conduct an interview when deemed necessary.
(3) Whether a visa is to be issued or not, as well as the period of its validity, number of entries and duration of stay will be decided by consular officers according to the applicant’s actual situation.Documents showing the itinerary including air ticket booking record (round trip) and proof of a hotel reservation, etc. or an invitation letter for tourist.
As I said, I have visited China without knowing anybody there.
Incidentally it's not commonly known that there are some areas in China where you can get a visa on arrival. One is Hainan Island.
No, you don't need a letter of invitation. Don't rely on people who just copy pasta from websites without reading the content.
See above poster re "supporting documents", all you need is printouts of flights in/out or other transport, and a hotel booking. Been to china 3 times recently, never used a letter of invitation.
Just went to china over easter for a convention, and while the convention organisers did send me a invitation letter, it was a lot easier just printing our flight/hotel bookings.
In addition, if you're flying in-out of guangzhou within 72 hours you can get a free 72 visa on arrival. But my conference was in guangzhou, we went in by train from macau and train out to HK, so had to pay $90 each for a single visit visa. Not worth it either - hated guangzhou and couldn't wait to leave!
Hi
I took the family to Beijing on Aussie passports. I just had to fill in some forms, with photos and submit my passport to the embassy/consulate(in Sydney) for processing. Cost a bit x 4, but it was worth going to China.
Hi Guys,
What if I was to enter via train from Mongolia?I dont have train tickets or flight tickets booked. Will I need an invitaton letter? (i dont know anyone there)
no, just go to Chinese embassy… even better pay flight center to do it, for me was $60 more, and it would have required me to take a day off work and $40 in rail fair, so i went with that
cant remember if had flights before hand, but from memory i did like other posters have said….
i booked flights to singapore first then onwards, so at very least i could get to singapore
book accom through expedia or something that has a cancellation policy.
Didn't need one to be a tourist, and not with any tour at that.