How to Read Your China visaUpdated 3 years ago

Overview

Here is a guide to help you determine what kind of travel your visa is good for and it's validity.

1. Category: This section lets you know what kind of visa you have and what kind of travel purposes are permitted with your visa. This example visa is a category L, issued to those who intend to go to China as a tourist. To see a list of different China vis types please click here.

2. Enter before: Rather than an expiration date, Chinese visas have an enter before date. You may enter China up until 12:59 PM on that date. For more information regarding your enter before date please click here.

3. Issue date: This is the date your visa was granted. You will need this date when applying for future China visas.

-Please note that based on the Issue date and Enter before date, this example visa is valid for 1 year.

4. Full name: In this section you will find your first initial and last name. 

5. Birth date: Your Birthday in day, month, year format. 

6. Entries: This will let you know how many times you will be able to enter China on your visa. This visa is M for multiple. You may be issued a multiple, single or double entry based on the consulates discretion.  

7. Duration of each stay: This lists the amount of days you can stay per entry before you must leave China. 

8. Issued at: This tells you the location your visa was processed. This Example visa was issued in San Francisco. 

9. Passport number: This section reflects your passport number listed on your passport data page. 

10. Visa number: This is your visa number. This number is unique to your visa.