Other foreign ordinary passports: advance visa required baseline
The Exit and Entry Administration Law requires foreigners to apply to visa authorities abroad unless a legal exception applies. The current unilateral and mutual official schedules establish the covered ordinary-passport exceptions above; this policy records the nationwide short-visitor baseline for all remaining foreign catalog passports except special PRC/HK/Macao/Taiwan cases retained as unresolved.
- Apply to the Chinese visa-issuing authority abroad for the ordinary visa appropriate to the actual visitor purpose; authorities can require application information, an interview and, where required, a written invitation.
- This is the nationwide ordinary-passport baseline only. It excludes residence-permit holders, 24-hour and State Council transit arrangements, regional/Hainan programmes, authorized tour groups, port visas, crew, diplomatic/official/service/public-affairs/special documents, and emergency or other narrow statutory routes.
- A visa can be refused for statutory security, public-order, health, fraud, financial-guarantee, documentation and other listed grounds; entry remains subject to border inspection and individual admissibility.
Official sourcesNational Immigration Administration of the People's Republic of China: Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of ChinaNational Immigration Administration of the People's Republic of China: List of Countries Covered by Unilateral Visa Exemption PoliciesMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China: List of Agreements on Mutual Visa Exemption Between the People's Republic of China and Foreign Countries