The Chinese Non-Commercial (F) visa

 

Currently we do not provide this service, due to changes to the invitation letter. However the information is still accurate and will be continue to be updated for your convenience. 

 

F, Z and M visa differences

 

Before September 1st 2013, the Business visa used to be the F visa, however since then the F and the M visa have been separated, with the F visa focused on non-business and non-tourist related visits to China. What that means in short is the F visa is for scientific, technological, education and cultural exchanges and the like.  

 

The F visa can be issued in single, double or multi-entry, up to 10 years and the stay of duration each time is usually 30-90 days. For certain nationalities (US, UK, CAN, IL) a year 10 visa may be issued, depending on each individual. For more info people follow the link here. The Exit-Entry Bureau/Chinese Consulates may however issue visas with limited entries, shorter duration and validity at their discretion without notice.

 

Since 2015, multinational companies sending employees to China may also apply for short-term working visa Z, which took certain categories of the M visa as well. To distinguish what constitutes as a Z or M or F visa we have drawn up the following examples:

 

 

Z visa	M visa	F visa
Working with the business partners for technical knowhow, research, management and supervisory work	Providing machinery and equipment maintenance, installation, testing, debugging, disassembling, inspection and training	Performing volunteer work either receiving no pay or receiving pay from overseas
Conducting training (including coaches, athletes) for sport clubs	Providing guidance, supervision and inspection on successful bids	Conducting non-commercial performances
Filming (including advertisements, documentary)	Working short-term in branches, subsidiaries and representative offices
Performing in fashion shows (including car exhibitions, print ads)	Participating in athletic competitions (including athletes, coaches, doctors and assistants unless otherwise approved by the in-charge authorities as requested by the international athletics associations
Participating in commercial, performances
other situations as identified by the MHRSS (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China)

 

Requirements

• Applicant’s passport with 12 months validity remaining and at least 2 blank pages for visas (not all blank pages are designated for visas).
• 1 recent passport sized colored photograph with white background
• One filled visa application form. Every space needs to be completed, using N/A whenever it is not applicable.
• Applicant’s up-to-date Local Registration Form of Temporary Residence.

 

An invitation letter：

 

• A formal invitation letter issued from a company or institution in mainland China.
• An invitation letter of duly authorized unit issued by the Chinese Government.

• Applicant’s personal name, date of birth, passport number, full name of the company and the job title.
• Purpose of visit and industry the company is in
• Date of arrival and departure and which cities will be visited
• The relationship of the Chinese company and the foreign one (parent company, subsidy etc).
• Who will bear the cost of the applicant’s stay in China (hotel, living expenses)?
• Full information of the inviter: name, job title, company address, phone number, ID number (sometimes requires ID photocopy).
• Official seal of the company and signature of the inviter

The invitation letter must be printed on a company’s official letterhead, showing address and phone number. High quality scans and printed out in color will generally be accepted.

 

• Copy of the Chinese company’s business license.

Process Duration

Regular service time requires 10-15 working days
Express service time requires 8-10 working days