Academic visit in China (1/3)

Created in February 10, 2025

2025   ·   china   travel   visit   ·   chinalife

Invited by peers in China? You are at the good place!

You are a senior or young researcher and have been invited by a peer to give a talk at a Chinese institute or university, to give a class, to attend a conference or a workshop? You wish to accept but wonder if you need to apply for a visa? And if so, what documents you need for the application? How to organize your trip? What you should know before going? How will you sustain yourself when you’re there? Say no more, you are in the right place!

First things first, if you are dealing with a renowned Chinese academic institute, you can sit back and relax, you are in good hands! They know their business, you are not the first foreigner they invite and you won’t be the last. Your Chinese peers will take it to heart to provide you with the best and smoothest experience. In all fairness, you’ll likely be provided with more accurate instructions and information than this simple guide. Yet, as I was once in your exact situation, I might still be able to provide you with some good tips.

If you wish to keep up with me, we will cover three main topics which should help you get the best experience possible out of your academic visit in China. The first part of my guide, which you are now reading, covers your right of entry into mainland China. This includes your eligibility for visa exemption and, if not eligible, the procedure to apply for a visa for the purpose of an academic visit. If you are already up-to-date on visa matters, you can go check out the next parts of the guide listed in Continue the Guide and print your TODO list.

Visa or not visa?

Ultimately, if you read this post, you are likely NOT to hold a Chinese passport or a Chinese residence permit. Hence, you need to carefully check the rules that apply to you to enter mainland China. Regulations in the matter have highly fluctuated these last few years, most often in the direction of leveraging or simplifying the requirements. Hence, at the time you read this post, certain information I present might be incomplete or wrong. I therefore strongly recommend checking the regulations presented on the official websites of your government or the websites of the Chinese embassies, consulates, or visa application centers in your country.

Visa exemption

As of today, if you hold a passport from certain countries in the European Union, East Asia, Oceania, and more, chances are that you are exempt from holding a visa for academic exchange for a duration of less than 30 days. This would give you more than enough time to attend most workshops, conferences, or seminars. The most reliable way to know if you are eligible for such an exemption is to check the travel information provided by your government or the Chinese embassies in your home country. You can also check the Travel China website which lists the visa-exempt countries, or find some official information on the Chinese government website.

✅ Valid purposes of visit for visa exemption

The exemptions generally cover entries to mainland China for the purpose of business, tourism, family or friends visits, exchange, and transit. Short academic visits fall within the “exchange” classification.

Be careful, being exempt from holding a visa does not mean you can arrive at the border unprepared. You need to be ready to provide the border agent with some proof of the purpose of your visit if asked. In the case of a short academic visit, it falls down to the following documents:

  • A valid passport (I mean…).
  • An invitation letter from your academic host in China. The letter should be addressed to you and should provide basic information, such as a short description of the activities you will engage in, the dates of your visit to the host institution, the host’s contact information, etc.
  • Reservation of airplane tickets, especially the flight out of China proving that you are scheduled to leave the Chinese territory.
  • Reservations of accommodation (e.g., hotel reservations). If you are not staying in a hotel, the official recommendations I could find are slightly vague. If your academic host provides you with other form of accommodation (e.g., the University owns flats dedicated to host visitors and staffs), I think the host should mention it on the invitation letter and maybe provide you with a filled invitation form. If you stay at a relative or friend’s place, ask them to fill an invitation form which contains various information including dates of stay, address, and Chinese ID number. Beware that if you are not staying in a hotel, you will have to register at the police station within 24 hours; more is said about this in section Hotel.

It is strongly recommended that you have everything printed and ready to be presented at the border. Note that you may not be asked to show all these documents; this is up to the judgment of the border agent. If you wish, you can also complete this list with other documents that might serve as proof that you have an on-going working contract as an academic or a researcher outside of China, that you are covered by a travel insurance, that you have enough money to sustain yourself, etc. You will most likely not be asked to provide one of these, yet, if this is not too inconvenient to obtain, it certainly won’t hurt.

⚠️ The PhD student case

Beware that a visa exemption does not cover entrance to mainland China for the purpose of work, journalism, and STUDY. In particular, in China, a PhD student is fully considered a “student”. Hence, if you are a PhD student, it should be clarified with your host institution or organism in China if your visit falls within the “study” or “exchange” classification. With the first, you are provided with an admission notice or letter that you should use to apply for a study visa. With the second, you should be provided with an invitation letter and, depending on your nationality, can be exempt from holding a visa.

If you need a visa

There are different kinds of visas you can apply for to enter mainland China, and all have different requirements. The type of visa you need depends on the purpose and length of your visit. If you are coming to China for a short academic trip (e.g., invited to give a talk at a seminar, visiting a scholar for collaboration, attending conferences or workshops, etc.), you likely need an F visa. You can find more detailed information about F visa on Travel China Guide for instance. In addition, a step-by-step visa application guide can be found on Travel China.

In short, you should be asked to provide the following documents to apply for an F visa:

  • Passport with two blank visa pages, plus a photocopy of the passport’s bio page.
  • A Visa Application Form which has to be filled out online on the Chinese visa Application Center website and which should be printed and signed. Note that you must pick the country/city where you wish to apply for the visa at this step.
  • Passport-sized photo in color and with a white background.
  • An official invitation letter from your host. A scanned and printed version of the letter is generally acceptable. Sometimes, the invitation mentions the city where you must apply for the visa. For this reason, let your host know early in which city you would like to submit your application.
  • A proof of legal residence if you are applying in a country other than your home country (e.g., a visa or residence permit).

Once you have filled and validated the application on the Chinese visa Application Center website, you must bring all the required documents to the visa application center of the city of your choice. From my understanding, appointments are no longer required in many visa centers, and you can visit the center during working hours to submit the application at the time of your convenience. You will also have to pay the visa fee at the center while applying.

Again, this is a very important business and you don’t want to mess it up, so don’t take my words for granted and check carefully the requirements that apply to you on the Chinese visa Application Center website. After you have entered your country and city of application on the aforementioned website, you can go to the Visa Category link to learn more about the requirements and documents you need to prepare.

⚠️ Using a visa agency

If you live far away from your nearest visa center, you might be tempted to use a third-party visa agency. With their services, you can apply for visas from the comfort of your home without having to travel to the visa centers or embassies yourself. HOWEVER, in the case of Chinese visa application, beware that you may or may not be required to come to the visa center in person to have your fingerprints taken! You should consider contacting the visa agency before booking their services to verify if you can avoid the trip to the center.

To cross the border you imperatively need to hold a valid visa for the period of your academic visit. Pay attention to the number of entries you need while applying for the visa and the number of entries that have been granted once the visa is issued. In particular, any trip to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan is an exit from mainland China. Hence, if you take a day break in Hong Kong while in Shenzhen for a conference, you won’t be able to go back under a single-entry visa!

Note also that in addition of your passport and visa, while at the immigration desk, you may be asked to provide the documents listed in Visa exemption.

List of useful material

Continue the Guide



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