China's L tourist visa: the six steps, in order

Updated 2026-10-21: Wildfire near Mongolia-China border in Inner Mongolia, 2,000 firefighters deployed.

You complete the L visa application online through COVA, then physically submit your passport at a Chinese embassy, consulate or visa centre — the online form alone never produces a visa. Processing takes four business days from passport submission, and the fee depends on your nationality, not on your itinerary.

1. Check whether you need it. Ordinary passport holders from roughly 45 countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and others — enter for up to 30 days without a visa until 31 December 2026. United States, Indian, Nigerian and Philippine passports are not on that list. The 240-hour transit exemption is a separate scheme with its own onward-ticket and port conditions.

2. Fill in the COVA form. Register at consular.mfa.gov.cn/VISA/ and select the mission covering where you live. The form runs nine sections: personal details, visa type, five years of work history, education, family, travel plans, previous travel, other information, declaration. It only accepts entry dates within the next 90 days, and once submitted you cannot edit it — corrections happen through the review, not the form.

3. Upload your documents. Passport bio page with more than six months' validity and at least two blank visa pages, a 33mm × 48mm colour photo on white with no glasses, and proof of residence if you are applying outside your country of citizenship. Since 1 January 2024 the US mission no longer asks L applicants for flight bookings, hotel reservations or an invitation letter. Missions elsewhere commonly still do, so read your own mission's checklist before buying anything non-refundable.

4. Wait for "Passport to be submitted". A consular officer reviews the upload first. No processing time is published for this stage and no fee speeds it up. This is where tight itineraries fail.

5. Submit the passport. Several centres have dropped appointment booking and take walk-ins on working days; the visa office in Washington, DC is open 9:30–14:30, Monday to Friday. Fingerprints are waived for all short-term visas with a stay of 180 days or less at Chinese visa authorities abroad until 31 December 2026.

6. Pay and collect. US citizens pay $140, a reduced rate running through 31 December 2026; express adds $25 and cuts processing to 3 business days. Other nationalities pay on reciprocal schedules, and visa centres charge a service fee on top. Fees are not refunded if the visa is refused.

The L visa requires no travel insurance and Chinese hospitals will treat you without it. A serious illness is the one cost that dwarfs the trip.

Cover for hospital stays in mainland China varies a lot on whether evacuation is included, so compare all the main policies rather than taking the first quote.

Three things sink otherwise clean files: a photo that fails the size or glasses check, travel dates that contradict the documents you uploaded, and applying through the wrong mission for your address.

Last checked: 2026-10-21