Mainland China: Pre-scheduled Visa Appointments to be Eliminated in Many Countries

Starting October 23, 2023, Chinese visa applicants in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States will no longer need to schedule an appointment to visit a Chinese consular post to submit hard copies of their visa application documents. Instead, they will be able to walk into the participating consular posts without an appointment. There may be delays following this rule change, as a high volume of walk-ins is expected immediately following the effective date of the change – travelers should consider this in their trip plans. More countries and consulates will adopt this practice going forward on a rolling basis. This change is in line with the government’s continuing effort of standardization, streamlining and digitalization of immigration services.