Today we have two pieces of good news to share with you.
1. Chinese embassies and consulates in some countries have canceled Chinese visa reservations. That means applicants can directly submit visa application materials on the spot.
Recently, the Chinese Embassy in the United States/the Republic of Korea/the Republic of Indonesia/the Republic of Singapore/New Zealand and Chinese Consulate General in Milan and in other countries officially announced that since October 23, all Chinese visa reservations would be canceled, and applicants can submit applications at relevant Chinese visa application service centers in their home countries at any time during office hours. The move will further improve the efficiency of Chinese visa processing and facilitate personnel exchanges.
Notice on Walk-in Without Appointment Visa Application Service was published on the official website of Chinese Embassy in the US on October 20
In order to improve the efficiency of processing, some Chinese embassies and consulates still require applicants to visit the official websites of visa centers, fill out application forms, and prepare all materials in advance for timely processing before going to the visa center.
The same notice was issued on the official website of Chinese Consulate General in Milan on October 23
Later, the General Office of the State Council issued Several Measures to Unleash the Potential of Tourism Consumption and Promote High-quality Development of the tourism Industry, referring to strengthening inbound tourism work, implementing the inbound tourism promotion plan, optimizing visa and customs clearance policies, further improving the efficiency of visa processing... Various visa-free policies will be reinstated in an orderly manner, and the increase of the number of visa-free countries will be actively studied. At the same time, China will resume and increase international flights to make air travel more convenient. This measure may accelerate the simplification of visa procedures for entry into China. As a result, the number of foreigners entering China will increase to some extent.
2.The Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement for Authentication of Foreign Public Documents will come into effect in China on November 7, 2023
The notice of the Convention will take into effect in November 7, 2023 was published on the website of China Foreign Ministry on October 23
The announcement was published on the website of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Oct 23. The announcement said ”On March 8, 2023, China acceded to The Convention on the Abolition of the Requirements for the Authentication of Foreign Public Documents (hereinafter referred to as the Convention). The Convention will come into force in China on November 7, 2023.
It said that starting from November 7, official documents sent by China to other contracting countries for use only needs the additional Certificate (Apostille) required by the Convention, instead of consular certification by China government and the embassy and consulate of contracting countries in China. For documents of other contracting countries to be sent to the mainland of China for use, only Apostille of that country is required, and consular certifications of that country and Chinese embassies and consulates there are not required.
The implementation of this Convention will greatly shorten the processing time for foreigners who have things such as applying for work permits in China or for Chinese people to travel to the contracting countries.
Foreign documents needed in China mainland
Those foreign documents of the contracting countries are needed in China in some visa applications, such as highest degree certificate, none criminal record certificate, foreign marriage certificate, foreign birth certificate, etc.
Process before: Notary (local notary/lawyer) - Foreign Ministry certification - Chinese consulate certification
Process after: Notary (local notary/lawyer) - Apostille issued by Foreign Ministry of other countries
Chinese documents needed in other contracting countries
Process before: Notary (notary Office) - Certification by China's Foreign Affairs Office - certification by foreign consulates
Process after: Notary (Notary Office) -- Apostille issued by China Foreign Affairs Office
The following is a list of countries to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement for the Certification of Foreign Public Documents as of October 23, 2023
China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan
Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, SAO Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia
Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Russia, SAN Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu
Note 1: The Convention will enter into force for Canada on January 11, 2024, and the Convention will be applied between China and Canada on that date. The Convention will enter into force for Rwanda on June 5, 2024, and will apply between China and Rwanda on that date.
Note 2: The Convention is not applicable between China and Convention members that China do not recognize the status of those countries with sovereignty.
Note 3: The Convention is not applicable between China and India.
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This article is based on the analysis and references of different cited sources online and does not represent AsecorpChina's opinion. AsecorpChina won't assume any responsibility on the reader's application of the interpretation of this article.
http://milano.chinaconsulate.gov.cn/tztg/202310/t20231020_11165022.htm
https://www.mfa.gov.cn/wjbxw_new/202310/t20231023_11165858.shtml
http://milano.chinaconsulate.gov.cn/
http://us.chinaembassy.gov.cn/eng/lsfw/zj/qz2021/202310/t20231021_11165293.htm
https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20230929A08T1I00.html
