How to Extend Your Chinese Visa Validity in 2023?

If you are already in Chi­na and you want to stay longer than your cur­rent visa allows, you may be won­der­ing how to extend your Chi­nese visa valid­i­ty. Extend­ing a Chi­nese visa is not very dif­fi­cult, but it requires some prepa­ra­tion and plan­ning. In this arti­cle, we will explain the require­ments, pro­ce­dures, fees and tips for extend­ing your Chi­nese visa validity.

When to Apply for a China Visa Extension?

The visa exten­sion appli­ca­tion should be sub­mit­ted at least 7 days before the expi­ra­tion date of your cur­rent visa. If you apply too late, you may over­stay and be sub­ject to a fine and pos­si­ble deportation.

Once your visa is extend­ed, the new dates start from the day you receive your new visa – NOT from the day your old visa was going to end. For exam­ple, if your orig­i­nal visa expires on July 31 and you get a 30-day exten­sion on July 25, your new visa will be valid until August 24.

Where to Extend Your China Visa?

You must go to the Exit and Entry Admin­is­tra­tion Office of the Pub­lic Secu­ri­ty Bureau (PSB) in the city or coun­ty where you are stay­ing. You can find the near­est office by search­ing online or ask­ing your hotel or host. In nor­mal cas­es, you should sub­mit the appli­ca­tion in per­son. In case the staff can­not speak Eng­lish, you are rec­om­mend­ed to take a Chi­nese friend with you if you can.

What Documents Do You Need for China Visa Extension?

Vis­i­tors who want their visa to be extend­ed should pro­vide the fol­low­ing evi­den­tial materials:

• Valid pass­port and your cur­rent visa
• A pass­port sized photo
• A com­plet­ed appli­ca­tion form for visa exten­sion (you can get it at the PSB office)
• Rea­son for the exten­sion along with rel­e­vant sup­port­ing doc­u­ments, such as: 
  • For Tourist (L) Visa, indi­vid­u­als should sub­mit trav­el plan and itin­er­ary, group tourists need extra cer­tifi­cate and proof of the trav­el agency;
  • For Busi­ness (M) Visa, cer­ti­fi­ca­tion let­ter pro­vid­ed by the local host organization/​individual is necessary;
  • For Fam­i­ly (Q2) Visa, the invi­ta­tion let­ter, ID cer­ti­fi­ca­tion and proof of fam­i­ly mem­ber­ship is needed;
  • For Short-term Stu­dent (X2) Visa, you need to sub­mit study­ing cer­tifi­cate pro­vid­ed by Chi­nese edu­ca­tion­al or train­ing institutions.

The doc­u­ments required may vary depend­ing on the type of visa and the local PSB office. You are advised to check with the PSB office before­hand to con­firm what doc­u­ments you need to prepare.

How Long Can You Extend Your China Visa?

The length of the exten­sion depends on the type of visa and mul­ti­ple entry visas can­not be extend­ed. Nor­mal­ly the exten­sion of your stay can­not exceed your cur­rent visa stay peri­od. You can extend your visa once or twice. This depends on the dura­tion of your orig­i­nal visa. Your total exten­sions on any one entry to Chi­na can­not exceed the length of your orig­i­nal per­mit­ted stay.

For exam­ple, if you have a 30-day sin­gle-entry visa, you can extend it for anoth­er 30 days at most. If you have a 60-day mul­ti­ple-entry visa, you can extend it twice for 30 days each time at most.

How­ev­er, the actu­al length of the exten­sion is sub­ject to the dis­cre­tion of the PSB offi­cer. You may not get the full exten­sion that you request. There­fore, it is advis­able to apply for a longer exten­sion than you actu­al­ly need.

How Much Does It Cost to Extend Your China Visa?

The price for extend­ing your Chi­na visa is 160 yuan for nation­als of most coun­tries. How­ev­er, some coun­tries may have dif­fer­ent fees based on reci­procity. You can check the exact fee with the PSB office when you apply. You will need to pay the fee when you col­lect your new visa.

How Long Does It Take to Extend Your China Visa?

The pro­cess­ing time for extend­ing your Chi­na visa is usu­al­ly 5 to 7 work­ing days. How­ev­er, it may vary depend­ing on the local PSB office and the type of visa. You will be giv­en a receipt with the date of col­lec­tion when you sub­mit your appli­ca­tion. You should keep the receipt and bring it with you when you col­lect your new visa.

Tips for Extending Your China Visa

Here are some tips to help you extend your Chi­na visa smoothly:

• Plan ahead and apply ear­ly. Do not wait until the last minute to extend your visa as you may encounter delays or complications.
• Check the valid­i­ty and type of your cur­rent visa. Make sure you are eli­gi­ble for an exten­sion and know how long you can extend for.
• Pre­pare all the required doc­u­ments and fill in the appli­ca­tion form cor­rect­ly. If you are not sure what doc­u­ments you need, con­tact the PSB office in advance.
• Be flex­i­ble and rea­son­able with your exten­sion request. Do not expect to get the max­i­mum exten­sion every time. Be pre­pared to accept a short­er exten­sion or change your trav­el plans if necessary.
• Fol­low the rules and reg­u­la­tions of your visa. Do not over­stay, work, study or engage in any activ­i­ties that are not per­mit­ted by your visa.

We hope this arti­cle has helped you under­stand how to extend your Chi­nese visa valid­i­ty. If you have any ques­tions or need any assis­tance, please feel free to con­tact us at info@​youwinconsulting.​com. We are a pro­fes­sion­al con­sult­ing agency that pro­vides ser­vices relat­ed to Chi­nese visa, pol­i­cy, tax, reg­u­la­tion, com­pa­ny news, sus­tain­abil­i­ty, econ­o­my, tech­nol­o­gy, sci­ence, devel­op­ment, work, employ­ment and busi­ness. We are hap­py to help you with your Chi­na-relat­ed needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources:

1. State Coun­cil of Chi­na | Oth­er fre­quent­ly asked ques­tions about Chi­nese visa
2. Embassy of the Peo­ple’s Repub­lic of Chi­na in the Unit­ed States of Amer­i­ca | Visa Application
3. Bei­jing Munic­i­pal Gov­ern­ment | Visa exten­sion, renew­al and replace­ment for foreigners
4. Guangzhou Munic­i­pal Gov­ern­ment | Doc­u­ments required for visa appli­ca­tions, exten­sions, sub­sti­tu­tions and reissuance