This depends on your nationality and the country you live in. Many – but not all – embassies only allow citizens or registered residents of the country they are located in to apply. Sometimes it is also possible to simply send your passport and application documents to an embassy in your home country, without you actually having to travel there.

In some countries the application has to be handed in directly at the Chinese embassy, while in others they require you to go through a visa processing office that pre-screens applications.

Send us an email at [email protected] with your nationality and current residence and we will let you know where to best apply.

This very much depends on which embassy you apply at. We have seen anything from 24 hour express services to several weeks’ waiting time. If there are Chinese holidays or the visa centre has any questions it might take longer.

Generally you won’t be interviewed. There are rare occasions when this is required but it’s not something you should worry about.

Visa agencies charge money for their services so going yourself is always the cheapest option. However, a good visa agency (not all are good – please check with your student advisor regarding recent recommendations from other LTL students) not only saves you time and the need to queue at the embassy yourself – they also check your visa application before it is handed in and can inform you about any current specific requirements the embassy might have. As it is usually the little details that are not properly published on the internet, like a wrongly filled out form or applying at the wrong embassy, that lead to problems and delays, applying via an experienced and reliable Chinese visa agency might end up saving you not only time, but also hassle.

Yes, with your visa for a Chinese language course in Shanghai, you can move freely anywhere inside China. With the Multi City or Immersion Programs, it is also possible to study in several Chinese cities with the same visa.

The way this is handled keeps changing all the time and there is no set rule for this. Procedures can change from applicant to applicant or even vary between different embassies in the same country. Currently, for example, we are told that Chinese consulates the UK, Germany, New York and Japan do not require originals for student visa applications, while those in Italy, Spain, Indonesia and Texas do.

The best way to find out is by asking your student advisor regarding recent experiences of other LTL students who applied for a student visa in the consulate you are planning to apply. In some cases it might also be a good choice to not apply in the consulate closest to you, but the one that currently has the easiest application procedures. Your student advisor can help you there.

As a standard procedure, we issue visa invitations documents within one working day of the booking of a course. While we are available for emergency help with last minute changes or questions from the embassy, we very strongly appreciate if you leave yourself plenty of time with the visa application to avoid us having to issue invitations on weekends, call embassies in the middle of the night China time or the like.

How much the embassy will charge you for your visa application will depend on your nationality and the duration of the visa you apply for. Some embassies – but not all – also offer express services that are faster, but cost a bit more.

In general with everything in China always the earlier the better, because there is always a certain amount of unpredictability with any kind of visa rules and processes. For peace of mind, we recommend to apply for your visa about two months before your planned arrival date. In very last minute situations, we have had students secure visas within just a few days before departure, however as this can be quite stressful (for you and for us) we recommend to avoid situations like this whenever possible.

Normal student visa invitations are issued for up to 180 days, however it is also possible to stay longer. Please email us at [email protected] with your exact travel details and we will let you know.

If you let us know in advance we can issue you a multiple entry visa invitation and you can apply for a multiple entry student visa. However, how many entries will actually be granted is decided upon by the visa officer.

With a valid visa invitation from an accredited language school, it is possible to apply for a visa extension at the Public Security Bureau in Shanghai. Whether an extension is granted however is decided upon by the visa officer. As anything happening in the Chinese bureaucracy can be a bit unpredictable, we recommend you to decide upon the length of your stay in China before you come to Shanghai and apply for a visa for the full duration at the beginning.

The full name of the receiving person, your address including post code and a phone number the courier can call when delivering the visa documents to you. We can pre-pay the DHL fees for you and you can pay them with your invoice together or if you already made full payment in cash at our school when you are in Beijing/Shanghai.