New Visa Form:   Effective July 1st, 2011, the Houston Chinese Consulate requires that everyone applying for a China Visa use the new, 4-page visa application form.

In addition, the Consulate will no longer accept forms completed by handwriting.   The form must be typed and must be error free.  You may not erase or "white out" errors.   

Scroll down this page to locate and download the new visa application form.

Click here for more information on Business Visas.  

All applications for a Chinese visa must be submitted in person or by visa service.  Applications sent to any Chinese Consulate by mail or express delivery service will be returned to the sender. 

Note:  I have been authorized by the Houston Consulate to submit visa applications from residents of all 50 states.

No White Out! - The Houston Consulate will no longer accept visa applications where White Out liquid or tape was used to make corrections.   If corrections need to be made, you must complete a new application. 

Any strikeouts or other obvious corrections on the form will result in rejection by the Consulate officials.

Click here for Visa Questions & Answers.

Holiday and Vacation Closings:

The Houston Chinese Consulate will be closed for MLK day on Jan. 16th.  The Consulate will also be closed on Jan 23 through Jan 26 for the Chinese New Year Holiday. 

Happy Year of the Dragon!     

Visa Service

Items Needed

Application Form

Shipping Info.

Visa Services & Fees

For your fee, the day your visa application arrives I carefully review it and your passports to make sure that everything is O.K.   If there are any potential problems, I will notify you right away.  After completing the review, I assemble everything in the order preferred by the Consulate.  This allows them to approve your application and issue the visas quickly.   

In 2003, the Consulate began to enforce visa requirements very strictly.  Reviewing your application allows us to identify and correct any potential problems before they result in  delays at the Consulate. 

The following business morning, I take your visa application to the Consulate and submit it to the appropriate officials for processing.  

On the scheduled pick-up date, I will drive back to the Consulate, and:

• Pick-up your visas.

• Check and make sure that the visa matches the dates, terms, and conditions requested.

• Place the completed visa(s) and passport(s) in the overnight shipping pack provided by the client.

• Drive the overnight package to an approved FedEx or UPS pick up location for return to the client.

Items You Will Need:

The completed and signed visa application form.  As of 7/1/11, the Consulate will only accept the new visa application form.  You can open and download an Adobe Acrobat^© version of the form using the following link:

    New 2011 China Visa Application Form

You may also download and print the following instructions for completing the China visa application:

    Instructions for Completing China Visa Application

IF you are applying for work visa (Z Visa), a student or study visa (X Visa), or if you are NOT a U.S. citizen, you will also need to complete the new Supplementary Visa Application Form:

    New 2011 Supplementary Visa Application Form

You may also download and print the following instructions for completing the New 2011 Supplementary Visa Application Form:

    Instructions for Completing Supplementary Visa Application

You will need Adobe Acrobat^© Reader to open the form.  Click on the Adobe graphic to download a free copy of Acrobat reader.

In addition to your completed, and signed, application you will need:

1. A valid U.S. passport for each person traveling.  Two of the inside visa pages must be blank and the passport(s) must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your travel date.  

If you need to obtain or renew your U.S. Passport, click here to link to the State Department's passport page.

Note:  Each passport must be signed.  Adults and older children should always sign their own passports.  The signature should match the name on the passport.  For children who are too young to sign their own passports, a parent may sign on their behalf using this format:  "child's name by parent's name (relationship)."

Important!  Always make and retain for your records a photocopy of the signature/photo page from each passport.  

2. One passport style color photo of each person traveling.

3. If available, a copy of your flight itinerary (or airline tickets).  If this is not available, list the cities you plan to visit in China in block 2.5 of the visa application.   

If your in-China travel plans are not yet firm, it is O. K. to just list the cities that you might visit.  

4. If you are applying for a visa for a daughter or son adopted from China, please include her or his original red Chinese passport plus one plain paper copy of the passport. 

If it has not been done already, the Consulate will cancel the Chinese passport.  We will return the cancelled Chinese passport with your visas.  If you no longer have the original Chinese passport, we can work with the Consulate staff to still obtain your visas.  Please call us for details.

5. If you are applying for a  business visa, a copy of the invitation letter from the Chinese educational institution, government agency, or Chinese company (or from the Chinese office of an international company).  The invitation letter should identify each person invited by name and provide a general description of the visit's purpose.  

6. A money order made out to "Consulate General of the P.R.C. in Houston."   You may combine the Consulate fees for all of the visas you need onto a single money order.

The Houston Consulate accepts payment by money order only.  As of 1/4/07, the Consulate no longer accepts company, "official", or "certified" bank checks.  The Consulate is very strict about this - if the payment does not have the words "Money Order" displayed on it, they will NOT accept it. 

The Consulate fee per visa for normal, 4-5 working day processing is:

 

Consulate Fee for Chinese Visa - Normal Service
Number of Entries	Note:  The fee for all visas is $140, regardless of the number of entries requested.  Almost all visas as issued are valid for 12 months and allow multiple entries within that period.
Multiple 12 Month (Almost all Visas are now issued for multiple entries for a 12-month period.)	$140

Note:  For expedited "Next Business Day" rush service, add  $20 per visa.

7. A prepaid, self-addressed FedEx or UPS letter pack so that we can ship the passport(s) and visa(s) back to you.

Make shipping easy - set up an account with FedEx. Click this link to find out how.

8. A check for our service fee of $35 per visa for normal service.  For next business day rush service, we charge an additional $20 per visa.    Please make the check payable to "Cindy Marut."

MyChinaDocs Visa Service Fee
Number of Visas	Normal Service  (4-5 Business Days)	Rush Service (Next Business Day)
1	$35	$55
2	$70	$110
3	$105	$165
4	$140	$220
5	$175	$275
6	$210	$330

Most adoptive families and anyone visiting China for tourism need the standard tourist visa and normal processing.  Please e-mail us if you have questions about the type of visa that you will need.

NOTE:  We receive many inquiries from adoptive families who want to return to China with their children.  Evidently some of the other Chinese consulate locations are requiring that copies of adoption paperwork be submitted in order to apply for a standard tourist visa. 

As long as your child has a valid U.S. passport, the Houston Consulate does NOT require any copies of the child's adoption paperwork.  They do, however, prefer to see the child's original red Chinese passport.

For adopted Chinese children who are now age 13 or older, the Consulate is requiring that the Chinese characters for the child's original Chinese name be written in box 1.3 of the visa application form.  For example, let's say that the adopted child's original Chinese name was Zhang (family name) Xuemeng (given name) in Pinyin.  On the visa application, write the following in box 1.3:

Please make sure that you use the correct Chinese characters.  For most adoptive families, the easiest place to find them will be on the child's original Chinese passport or the Chinese adoption certificate. 

NOTE:  Once your visa application has been submitted to the Consulate, it is not possible to change the type of processing you selected.  In other words, if you selected normal processing you cannot change it to rush service.   If there is any chance that your departure date for China might be moved up, please consider submitting your visa application for rush service.  

Shipping Instructions:

When you are ready, please send the documents and payments to me using the shipping service of your choice (we recommend Federal Express)  to:

Cindy Marut

MyChinaDocs.Com

1860 FM 359, # 125

Richmond, TX  77406

832-368-1844

Please e-mail before you send your visa applications so I'll know to look for them.

NOTE:  Want to ship for delivery for us on Saturday?  Please call or e-mail us first for special instructions.

Please Note:  We recommend using FedEx for shipping visa applications and dossier documents.   FedEx has proven services that are very reliable and - almost always - deliver your documents on schedule.   For FedEx, we recommend their Standard Overnight service for delivery to us by 3 PM the next day.  If you prefer UPS, we recommend their Next Day Air Saver for delivery to us by 5 PM the next day.

DHL no longer provides domestic shipping operations within the U.S.A. All the DHL drop boxes and shipping centers located close to our office or to the consulates have been closed. While we can continue to receive international DHL packages, we will no longer be able to ship return packages via DHL. 

Important:  Never use any form of regular mail or USPS "Priority" Mail to ship documents.  These services are NOT tracked ("Delivery Confirmation" is not the same thing as tracking).  If the postal service does not deliver your documents, there is no way to trace the package.  For additional explanation see question #15 on the Visa Q&A page.

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