Info Center > Passport & Visa

Exclusively prepared for China Spree Travelers
China Spree is here to make your adventure to the Peoples Republic of China easy, comfortable, fun filled and most memorable. We have vast experience in offering both new and seasoned travelers a seamless and rewarding adventure. You can rely on us.

All foreign nationals traveling to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) must travel with a valid passport and a visa obtained prior to entering the country. U. S. citizens are not required to have a visa when traveling to Hong Kong and Macau if your stay in these destinations is less than 90 days in duration. If you are non-U.S. citizens, you must contact our office regarding the visa to Hong Kong.

If you are U.S. resident holding a green card, you MUST make a clear copy of both sides of your green card and submit it with your actual passport and China Visa Application Form. If you are non-U.S. resident without any legal status in U.S. you must contact China Consulate on your own.

Passport
Your passport must have a minimum six (6) months remaining validity after your scheduled entry date into China. Your passport must have at least one (1) entirely blank page for the affixed visa. Your passport should be signed to be valid, and must be physically submitted to China Consulate either via China Spree or by yourself or your agent if you choose to handle your visa application on your own.

China Visa
You must obtain a visa prior to entering Mainland China (PRC). Your tourist visa (Type L) is good for up to 30 days after the entry date to China. The thirty-day visa is activated on the date you enter China, rather than on the date of issuance. You must enter China within three months (or six months as specified on the Visa) after the date of issuance otherwise the visa expires.

China Group Visa
China Spree DOES NOT handle group visa, which is only $20 less than individual visa. The disadvantage with Group Visa is obvious. There is only ONE original copy hold by one member of the group; all group members MUST meet and go through China Customs together in the sequence of order on the group visa form. The same procedure applies when leaving China Customs. If one person is late or does not show up, the whole group visa has to be modified, and that person who is left behind is in big trouble too and cannot proceed to enter China. Moreover, If someone has to leave China earlier than the rest of the group, he/she will have to go to local police station to deviate his/her individual visa from the group visa so she can leave the country.

Type of Visa
your trip includes Hong Kong, you need a double entry visa; otherwise single entry visa is sufficient. However since China Consulates charge a flat fee for double/single entry visa, we usually apply for double entry visa regardless of tours.

Visa Application Fees
you plan to handle China visa application on your own, P. R. China Consulates charge a flat fee of $130 for single/double entry visa.

If you prefer to have China Spree to obtain a visa for you, a nominal $20 visa processing fee will be added to the actual charge; namely $150 for single/double entry visa.

Visa Application Procedure
P. R. China has an embassy in Washington DC and 5 China Consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and New York.  Please find the detailed address and contact information below. You may submit your visa application at any of these consulates. Please be advised that Chinese Consulate does not accept mail-in visa application due to increased security measures. If you choose to handle the visa application yourself, you must physically present your application and documents to the China Consulate, or, entrust someone to handle the application on your behalf. It takes four (4) to five (5) business days for the consulate to process a visa application; Rush fee applies if you require an express service.

China visa by China Spree
If you choose to have China Spree to handle your visa application, you must mail your actual passport, the completed and signed China Visa Application Form with one 2x2 passport photo glued to the form along with your balance payment check (where applicable) to our company by balance payment due date at 50 days prior to departure date as specified on the invoice. Please don’t mail out your passport too early in case you need it to travel abroad. China Visa is only valid for 3 months; therefore we will not process the visa application until about 50 days prior to departure date. If you cannot send the passport to us in a timely manner due to your other travel arrangements, please contact us for details.

Your passport and China visa will be returned to you, by Fedex, with other travel documents about two weeks prior to departure. If you request the passport being processed or returned to you sooner, additional service and mailing fees apply.

Please mail your documents to the following address using courier such as FedEx or UPS so you can track the delivery of your important documents. We don’t recommend U.S. postal service.

Tour Beyond, Inc.
435 Martin Street, Suite 3010
Blaine, WA 98230

You must provide the following items in order for China Spree to handle your visa application.

1) Your ACTUAL passport, it must:

• be valid for 6 months after the scheduled entry date to China. How to renew a passport
• have at least one blank page (pages 7-21) to affix the visa. Amendment/endorsement pages beyond page 21 do not count.
• be signed (parents/guardians may sign for minors) How to add pages

2) One recent passport-size photo, and it must:

• be 2" x 2", color or blank and white
• have a plain white background
• be bare headed, and show a full front view of the person's head
• can not be scanned; digital images must be produced on a glossy paper

3) A completed, signed and dated China Visa Application Form. You need Adobe Reader to view this
Form.

Please note that you must participate in China Spree tours to be eligible for using our visa handling service. If you would like to handle your own visa application, you should send us a copy of your passport for our record. Visa application fees are non-refundable.

China visa by yourself
P. R. China has an embassy in Washington DC and 5 consulates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and New York.  Please find the detailed address and contact information below. You may submit your visa application at any of these consulates. Please be advised that Chinese Consulate does not accept mail-in visa application due to increased security measures. If you choose to handle the visa application yourself, you must physically present your application and documents to the China Consulate, or, entrust someone to handle the application on your behalf. It takes four (4) to five (5) business days for the consulate to process a visa application; Rush fee applies if you require an express service.

Please note due to the complication of handling the China Visa on your own (i.e. you must wait in line to submit the application and must return to pick it up; you also need to call them in advance to verify the payment method, etc.), we strongly recommend that you use the visa service provided by China Spree.

China Consulate charges a flat fee of $130 for single/double entry visa. You can pay with cash, visa card, or company check. Personal check and all other credit cards are not acceptable.
If you would like to handle China visa application yourself and your China tour includes Tibet, you must send us a copy of your passport information and China visa pages so we can handle the Tibet Permit for you.

How to complete China Visa Application Form

The latest version of China Visa Application Form is required and can be downloaded from the website of China Consulates or at Chinaspree.com.

Section 1. Information about yourself

1.1 Your name as on your passport
1.2 Sex
1.3 Chinese name if you have one
1.4 Nationality
1.5 Previous name (e.g. maiden name or other aliases)
1.6 Previous nationality if applicable
1.7 Date of birth
1.8 Place of birth
1.9 Passport type: Regular
1.10 Passport number
1.11 Date of issue
1.12 Place of issue: is actually the “Authority” such as National Passport Center, etc.
1.13 Expiration Date
1.14 Your Current Occupation: It’s a tricky question. Please ONLY check “Teacher or student
”, or “Businessman” or “Other” and specify: "Retired". All other selections may
complicate your application.

Section 2. Your Visit to China

2.1 Major purpose of your visit to China: check “Tourism”
2.2 Intended Number of entries: since China Consulate charge a flat fee for single/double
entry visa, please simply check “Double Entry” even if you only need a single entry visa.
2.3 Date of your first possible entry into China: the second day of your tour starts. For
example, you leave U.S. on June 3rd, 2008, you then arrive in China on June 4th, 2008.
2.4 Your longest intended stay in China: the actual duration of your tour. For example, 21
days for 21-Day China Panorama; 16 days for 16-Day Grand China & Yangtze Cruise. 
2.5 Please list countries/cities and Provinces to visit in China in a time sequence: You only
need to put a few cities there, such as: Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, or Yangtze River should
be sufficient. Remember don’t input “Tibet”; that may complicate your application. 
2.6 Normally, visa processing takes 4 working days, Do you request express or rush service
by paying extra fee?: please leave it blank if you have China Spree to process your visa
or you don’t want to pay extra to receive express service.

Section 3. Your health condition and previous overseas tour
Complete as it is.

Section 4. Your contact information

4.1 Name of your employer or school: complete as it is. Input “retired” if you are retiree.
4.2 Day time phone number
4.3 Address of your employer or school: complete as it is or leave blank if you are retired.
4.4 Night time phone number
4.5 Your home address
4.6 Your email: input if you have one
4.7 Name of Inviter, Contact or Your relative in China: input “China Confucius International
Travel”, don’t input China Spree as we are not the inviting organization in China.
4.8 Phone number of your contact: please leave blank
4.9 Address of inviter, contact or your relative in China: please leave blank

Section 5. Other Declaration
Leave blank.

Section 6. Application Form completed by another person
Leave blank

Section 7. Signature and date
You must sign and date to validate your application.

China Consulates in U.S.