The Visa Office of the Chinese Embassy will reopen as of January 25, 2023. Those who enter the Visa Office are required to wear masks and follow the instructions of the office staff.
The application procedures for Visa and Authentication are as follows respectively:
1. Visa
(1) Visa applicants need to log on to the website “China Online Visa Application (COVA)” to fill in the COVA forms, and make appointments for on-site submission at the Visa Office by the website “Appointment for Visa Application Submission (AVAS)”. AVAS website appointment function will open as of January 16, 2023.
* Applicants must refer to the “Important Tips for online COVA visa form filling” , to ensure the COVA forms are true, accurate and complete. Once the COVA form is submitted online, no information in the form can be changed. If any adjustment needs to be made, the whole COVA forms must be filled out again.
After completing the COVA forms as required, please make sure to print the full set of COVA forms (8-9 pages) and sign on the Confirmation Page and the 8th page. If the COVA forms are not prepared as guided, the application will not be accepted.
(2) In addition to the printed and signed COVA forms, visa applicants also need to prepare the physical Required Documents (include "A.Basic Documents" and "B.General Documents") to submit on-site to the Visa Office. If the physical documents do not meet the requirements or not sufficient, the application may be returned, and the applicant may need to fill in the COVA forms again and make another appointment for on-site submission.
(3) The physical application documents can be submitted to the Visa Office at the appointed time by the visa applicant or by an agent with the printed "AVAS Confirmation" page. If they are unable to be present at the Visa Office at the appointed time, they must log on to the website "Appointment for Visa Application Submission (AVAS)" to cancel the appointment at least 1 business day in advance. Otherwise, the COVA Application ID and the AVAS Appointment Number will be invalidated. The applicant needs to fill in a new COVA form and make another appointment on AVAS.
(4) As of January 21, 2023, washington_visa@csm.mfa.gov.cn will no longer process visa application emails. For visa applications submitted by email before January 20, if they have got the Preview Pass Number (PPN), the applicant can continue to mail the physical documents following the email guidance to complete the process. If the application has not passed the preview by email, please complete the online COVA forms and make an appointment on AVAS, and submit the whole set of physical documents to the Visa Office at the appointed time.
2. Authentication
(1) Authentication applicants can prepare the required documents, and submit by themselves or by agents to the Visa Office in office hours.
(2) As of January 21, 2023, washington_gzrz@csm.mfa.gov.cn will no longer process authentication mailing applications. If the email application before January 20 has got the mailing guidance, the authentication documents can continue to be mailed to the Visa Office to complete the process.
In case your documents are going to be used in China, please order the multi-step authentication service at the link below:
For the local and state documents (Birth/Death/Marriage/Divorce Certificates, Power of Attorney, etc.), they may be processed sequentially by the Secretary of State in your state, the U.S. Department of State (if required), and the Chinese Embassy in DC.
For federally-issued documents (FBI Background Checks, etc.), authentications from the U.S. Department of State, and the Chinese Embassy in DC will be required.
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