Part 1. Important Information about visa application

Part 2. Steps of Online Visa Application (including Visa Category and Required Documents)

Part 3. Fees, Processing Time and Payment Methods

Part 1. Important Information about visa application

Please read this guidance carefully before submitting your application:

1. The Chinese diplomatic missions in New Zealand reserve the right to interpret, amend and change the Chinese Visa requirements in accordance with the laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China. We also reserve the right to review, delay, refuse and cancel your visa without providing specific reasons. Based on the individual circumstances, the validity of a visa, length of stay and number of entries is decided on a case-by-case basis. The Chinese diplomatic missions in New Zealand are not liable for any financial losses resulting from any above scenario.

You are fully responsible and liable if your visa becomes invalid or unused due to changes in personal or unforeseen circumstances. The Chinese diplomatic missions in New Zealand will not refund any fees in relation to your visa application.

2. From November 30, 2024 to December 31, 2026 of Beijing time, New Zealand ordinary passport holders travelling to China for business, tourism, family visit, transit and exchange and visit purposes, and staying not more than 30 days, may enter China visa-free.  For those who are not eligible for the visa-free policy and holders of official passports are still required to obtain a Chinese visa before entry. For more details, please refer to the Answers to FAQs article.

3. The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Auckland has introduced the China Online Visa Application system with effect from 15 June 2023.

All applicants, including diplomats and government officials, but excluding those who apply for visas to Hong Kong SAR of China and Macao SAR of China, are required to log in to China Online Visa Application (COVA) website (https://consular.mfa.gov.cn/VISA/)and submit the application for preliminary assessment. Your application will be declined or you can be refused entry permission to China if you provide inaccurate, false or misleading information.

After the preliminary assessment has been completed, you are required to submit your passport and other supporting documents (only if specifically requested) at the Visa Office. Biometric information including fingerprints and photographs will be collected on-site.

4. All applicants must visit the Visa Office to have their fingerprints collected. The following applicants are exempted from fingerprint collection:

• Applicants under the age of 14 or over 70;
• Diplomatic passport holders, or applicants who are eligible for diplomatic, official and courtesy visas;
• Applicants holding the same passport with fingerprints collected within the last 5 years (Exemption will only be granted ifthe biometric sticker visa is still identifiable. Otherwise, the exemption will only be granted at the Visa Office where the fingerprints were originally collected.);
• Applicants with all ten fingers mutilated or all ten fingerprints noncollectable.
• To further facilitate visa applicants, fingerprints collection will be waived for short-term visa applicants with each stay in China no more than 180 days. This policy will be effective until 31 December, 2026. For applicants applying for D, J1, Q1, S1, X1 and Z visas and required to apply for residence permits after entry into China, fingerprints collection is still required.

5. It normally takes 4 working days to process visa applications. If you are asked to provide further documents or certain documents need to be verified, we will contact you regarding the processing time. You may request express processing service but it must be approved by a consular officer.

6.You may not change or withdraw your visa applications once they have been accepted for processing. Any supporting documents you provided will not be returned and please make additional copies if you wish to keep them.

7. For New Zealand-born children of Chinese descent travelling to China for the first time:

• If, at the time of the child’s birth, the child did not have the citizenship of New Zealand or any other country, and at least either of the parents was a Chinese citizen, the child is recognised as a Chinese citizen by birth. The child is eligible to apply for a Chinese passport. Please refer to "申办中国护照注意事项".
• If, at the time of the child’s birth, the child had the citizenship of New Zealand or any other country, and neither of the parents was a Chinese citizen who had acquired permanent residence inNew Zealand or any other country, the child is recognised as a Chinese citizen by birth. The child is eligible to apply for a Chinese Travel Document. Please refer to "申办中国旅行证注意事项".
• If, at the time of the child’s birth, the child had the citizenship of New Zealand or any other country, and at least either of the parents was a Chinese citizen who had acquired permanent residence in New Zealand or any other country, the child is not recognised as a Chinese citizen by birth. The child is required to apply for a Chinese Visa.

ATTENTION:

Please be aware that the Chinese diplomatic missions in New Zealand have never cooperated with any agencies, nor have given authorization to anyone to be the official visa agent. We do not recommend any agency, all applicants are treated equally, and no individuals or agencies will have privileges or exceptions for their visa applications.

Part 2. Steps of online visa application

STEP 1: Preparing Documents as Required

1. Basic Documents

1) Passport. Original passport with at least six months of validity and blank visa pages, and a photocopy of bio-data page of the passport.

2) ID Photo. Must be a recent color ID photo, facing forward and with white color background, and bareheaded.

3) Proof of legal stay or residence status (applicable to those applying for a Chinese visa who are not in their country of citizenship). For non-New Zealand passport holders, when you apply for your China visa in New Zealand, you must provide the original and photocopy of evidence of your immigration status in New Zealand, such as citizen endorsement, residence (RV/PR), work or student visa.

4) Previous Chinese passports or previous Chinese visas (applicable to foreigners who were Chinese citizens and have obtained foreign citizenship, or who have been issued China visas before).

If you are applying for a China visa for the first time, you should provide your previous Chinese passport and a photocopy of its data page. If you have obtained China visas before and want to apply for a China visa with a renewed foreign passport that does not contain any China visa, you shall present a photocopy of the previous passport's data page, as well as the pages with your previous China visas. (If your name on the current passport differs from that on the previous one, you must provide an official document of name change.)

5) For Children Born in New Zealand with New Zealand Citizenship and Chinese Descent applying for the first time, applicants must also submit the following documents:

• Birth Certificate of the child and its photocopy
• Photocopies of the parents’ passports at the time of the child’s birth and the photocopies of the parents’ passports when the visa application was submitted;
• Photocopies of proof of legal permanent residence status of the parents, including the citizen endorsement, PR residence etc., that the parents held at the time of the child’s birth and the valid ones at the time of visa application submission..

ATTENTION:

For minor applicants, their applications are allowed to be submitted on-site by parents without the child needing to be present.

2. Supporting Documents Based on Visa Category and Purposes of Travel

STEP 2: Complete China Online Visa Application Form

Please log in to China Online Visa Application website (https://consular.mfa.gov.cn/VISA/), and make the application online. All applicants are required to complete the online application form, (including diplomats, government officials, but excluding those applying for visas to Hong Kong SAR of China and Macao SAR of China) and wait for the application to pass the preliminary assessment.

ATTENTION:

(1)Applicants must submit applications to the corresponding consular office of the Embassy or Consulate-General in New Zealand in accordance with consular district jurisdiction of the applicant's residential address in New Zealand. Applications may be declined if received from areas outside of consular district jurisdiction.

(2) Your application will be declined or you can be refused entry permission to China if you provide inaccurate, false or misleading information.

(3) For applicants who were born in China (including Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan Province), you must enter your name in Chinese characters, if applicable.

(4) Applicants are required to submit one ID photo while applying for a Chinese visa. Your application may be declined if you upload a photo of someone else. In accordance with the instruction from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the P.R. China, the following requirements of the ID photo should be satisfied:

• It must be a color photo, taken within the last 6 months.
• Photo size: 48mmx33mm, width of head: 15mm to 22mm, height of head: 20mm to 33mm. Please refer to the picture below:

I
  t should be easy to identify the applicant by the photo, while taking the photo, please face the camera with the entire head and face clearly visible. The facial expression should be neutral with eyes open, lips closed and ears visible. Head position: ≤20°left or right tilt, and ≤25°up or down tilt. There should be no extra movement or objects visible in the photo.

• Facial features should be complete and clearly visible, with the head centered in the photo. Eyeglasses are allowed except thick-rimmed, tinted or glare glasses. Hat or other head wears are only permitted due to religious reasons, but any facial features should not be obscured.
• There should be no damages or impurities on the photo, no permeation or shadow over the face. Photo should be in natural tone, but not over or under exposed, red-eyed or distorted.
• Background should be in white, and with no edge frame. Photo with scene of everyday life is not accepted.
• Photo should be printed on glossy finish photo paper, but not on matte finish paper or plain paper, and should be free of stain, scratch or any crease.

STEP 3: Submission of Visa Application

Applicants are required to submit their passport and other supporting documents (only if specifically requested) at the Visa Office. Biometric information including fingerprints and photographs will be collected on-site. Please bring the following documents for your appointment:

1) Original passport;

2) One printed ID photo(only if the digital ID photo submitted online does not meet the requirement);

3) Original or photocopy of supporting documents(only if specifically requested).

If you wish to have your passport to be returned by courier or post, handling service fees are not applied; however, you need to provide the following:

4) Prepaid courier package. (Please make sure you have written the recipient's name, address and telephone number on the package. Please make the payment via internet banking as per instructions, make sure you have entered all required information and the correct amount when paying your fees.)

ATTENTION:

Passport is a valuable personal item, so we strongly recommend using a courier delivery service which provides tracking, such as NZ Post, Courier Post, and NZ Couriers. Applications that are sent by regular post arenot recommended.

STEP 4: Payment and Collection

1. You will be given a pickup slip when submitting your passport(s)in person at the Visa Office. You must bring the pickup slip for passport collection and make the payment for your visa application.

2. You may appoint someone to collect your passport, your nominated person must also present the pickup slip for passport collection and make the payment for your visa application.

3. If the applicant requests the passport to be returned by post or courier service, we will return your passport using the courier package you provide.

Part 3. Fees, Processing Time and Payment Methods

Table of Visa Fee and Processing Time

(Unit: NZD per Person)

Visa fee waiver countries based on bilateral agreements

(Last update on 1 November 2017)

How to pay

Application fee can be paid by:

• Credit card (Visa and MasterCard only);
• EFTPOS;
• Internet banking transfer
• UnionPay (Credit card, Debit card, QuickPass)
• WeChat Pay
• AliPay

Information about internet banking：

Account Name: The Consulate General of PRC

Account No: 03-01040962837-28

Bank Name: Westpac

3. In order to check the applicant and process the application in a timely manner, make precise and correct every detail you put in when making an online payment. Fill in PARTICULARS with your pick-up number, CODE with your full name, and REFERENCE with “VISA”.

ATTENTION:

(1) We do not accept express processing service if the applicant intends for the passport to be returned by post or courier.

(2) The Chinese diplomatic missions in New Zealand will not be responsible for any loss, damage to your passports and documents, or delays caused by the post or courier.