This is a fan’s experience in the USA. It’s not legal advice.

· Deal with a company that has a China visa service

· Determine that you don’t need a visa due to your nationality or travel itinerary and stay duration

· Apply for a tourist visa (L) on your own.

✦ This is my experience getting a tourist visa in the US.

· The minimum visa is 90 day single entry. So you can start the process if you are going to Chengdu for the 2023 Worldcon.

· The steps are:

    01 Fill in the online application form

    02 Make an appointment at a Chinese consulate

    03 Turn up with your paperwork at the consulate

    04 Return to the consulate to pay and pick up your visa

✦ Application form and making an appointment:

· The form is here:https://cova.mfa.gov.cn/

· Note that this is just to generate the form. You will have to print it out and bring it and the rest of the materials to your appointment

· Give yourself a lot of time to fill it in and save often. It is extensive

· Prepare to give a lot of details including work history, family details, other nationalities you may have, etc. It took me half a day to fill it in.

· Make sure you take note of your application ID as soon as you start the form in case you need to get back to it.

· When you finish, you will be directed to go to a different site to make an appointment.

· PRINT OUT YOUR APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION - you will need it to enter the consulate.

· If there is more than you traveling (eg family members): everybody fills in their own application form, but when you make the appointment you can attach multiple application IDs to a single appointment

· You will need a passport photo but you can take your own (following the provided instructions on size, posture etc) and upload it with your form.

· You will need to bring with you to your appointment printouts of scans of:

    01 Your passport page

    02 Your driving license or national ID

    03 Proof of residence if your driving license/ID does not list your address

    04 Your airline itinerary

    05 Your hotel confirmation

· If you are applying with a family member, you will need a printout EACH even if you are on the same airline and hotel arrangements

· If you are traveling with a minor and not their other parent they suggested the other parent must be present but they did not ask us on the day for that.

· Proof of vaccination was asked for but not checked - but make sure you have it for travel

· If you have multiple nationalities, you must use the passport that you used to enter the country of the consulate location. For example I live in the US and visited the consulate in Los Angeles so I had to use my US passport. Bring all your passports just in case.

✦ On your appointment day:

· You will need a mask to enter the consulate floor

· It’s a standard procedure: you enter security, you show your appointment printout, you are given a number and wait to be called.

· Appointments are for the day (in LA, 9am-1pm). Bring a good book and catch up on your reading. However all things told we didn’t have to wait long in LA - maybe an hour.

· Appointments are plentiful. We were able to get one in only 2 days time.

· At your appointment they will check your application form and take your printouts (see above) and your passports. They will tell you when you can come back to pick up and give you a receipt/chit. You do not need to make an appointment for pickup. We were able to return in 4 business days to pick up.

✦ On pickup day:

· Show your receipt to enter, you will be given a number.

· When your number is called you pay and pick up your passport which now has a visa page in it - see you in Chengdu!

· You can pay with a credit card. Price depends on your nationality - for US it was $185 each but most other countries seem to be $35.

✦ Other notes:

· As someone who has dealt with a number of consulates, I found the Chinese consulate in LA extremely efficient, clean and well organized. The staff were nice and patient.

· If you are traveling to LA from elsewhere, stay near the consulate location in case you need to retrieve paperwork etc because traffic.

· The LA consulate did have a photocopier for people who forgot to bring a copy of their documents but better not depend on that.

· We had a mistake with our application (we had applied to travel with our European passports not knowing that we had to use our US ones, see above). Staff were very helpful and allowed us to leave to fix our paperwork and come back the same day to resubmit without a new appointment. This is why you should turn up early, even though waits are shorter later in the morning.

· The amount of paperwork was intimidating but the process itself was very smooth.

✦ A Worldcon member from the US