Visas: Frequently Asked Questions
This guide answers some of the most frequently asked questions about U.S. non-immigrant visas. For additional information please visit the Department of State's website at www.travel.state.gov. For information about making interview appointments, call the Visa Information Call Center at 4008-872-333 or (021) 3881-4611 if calling from within China or (+86) (21) 3881-4611 if calling from overseas.
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1. How much does it cost to apply for a visa and where can I pay the fee?
A: The visa processing fee is US$131 and is payable at most CITIC bank branch locations. The following is a list of branch locations in Chengdu.
Branch | Telephone | Address |
| Zouma Street Branch | 8671-5324
8666-2016 | No. 68-1 Zouma Street |
| Gaosheng Road Branch | 8515-7670
8519-6696 | No. 1 Gaoshengqiao East Road |
| Renmin South Road Branch | 8545-0406
8545-2901 | No. 29 Section 3 Renmin South Road |
| Xinnan Road Branch | 8545-8376
8545-0355 | No. 8 Xinnan Road |
| Jiangxi Street Branch | 8556-8938
8556-0027 | No. 39 Jiangxi Street |
| Dongchenggen Street Branch | 8625-4025
8626-6383 | No. 95 Dongchenggen Shang Street |
| Shuinianhe Branch | 8447-2771
8445-1038 | No. 8 Section 4 East, Yihuan Road |
2. Where should I apply?
A: Anyone who lives or works in the Chengdu Consular District is welcome to apply for a visa at the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu. The Chengdu Consular District includes the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the city of Chongqing.
If you live in an area other than those mentioned above, please apply at the appropriate Embassy or Consulate as listed below:
Beijing —Municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, and the provinces of Gansu, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Ningxia, Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Qinghai and Xinjiang
Guangzhou — Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan
Shanghai — Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang
Shenyang — Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning
Hong Kong — Hong Kong & Macau
Chinese residents should submit their applications to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General that has jurisdiction over their place of residence, even if the location where they normally live is different from their "hukou" registration. Your chances of being approved for a visa are greatest if you are applying at the Embassy or Consulate that is responsible for the area where you live.
3. What if I hold a valid visa in an expired passport?
A: If you have a valid, undamaged visa in a passport which has expired or been canceled, and the old passport is from the same country as your current passport, you do not need to obtain a new visa. You may simply carry the old passport together with your currently valid passport to enter the United States. The two passports do not need to be attached together or sealed. If you want to have a visa placed in your new passport, you will need to submit an application through one of our regular channels, pay the application fee and any issuance fees, and come in for an interview.
4. How long before my planned travel date should I apply for a visa?
A: As early as possible. Because of high demand for U.S. visas, there is usually a wait for visa interview appointments, particularly during the summer. If you need a visa interview, you may have to wait a few weeks for an appointment. Additionally, some applications require additional processing after the interview, and this can sometimes take several weeks. Therefore, we encourage all visa applicants to call the China-wide Visa Information Call Center at 4008-872-333 well in advance of their anticipated travel plans. If you are a frequent traveler or someone who may be required to travel on short notice, we encourage you to keep your visa valid and apply to renew your current visa before it expires. Please plan ahead and apply early! For current appointment wait times please visit this page.
5. How can I request an emergency interview appointment?
A: Under certain emergency circumstances, applicants who cannot wait for a normal visa interview appointment may request an expedited appointment. Valid reasons for interview expedition may include:
Emergency medical treatment
Family emergencies (such as death)
Other emergencies (such as appearance in a U.S. court of law)
Applicants who need to get expedited appointments should first contact the Visa Information Call Center to make a regular interview appointment. The Call Center can be reached toll free within China by dialing 4008-872-333, or the Shanghai local number (021) 3881-4611. Applicants who are not currently in China can dial (+86) (21) 3881-4611.
After you obtain a specific appointment from the Visa Information Call Center, you can request an emergency interview appointment by sending an email or a fax to the U.S. Consulate General, Chengdu. Our fax number is (+86) (28) 8554-6229. Please provide specific details about why an emergency interview appointment should be granted and include the date, time, and confirmation number of your scheduled interview appointment. Be sure to include a phone number where we can reach you. Applicants will be contacted if the emergency interview appointment is granted.
Please keep in mind that an expedited interview appointment does not improve an applicant's chances of obtaining a U.S. visa. An expedited case simply results in an earlier appointment date for the visa interview. A humanitarian emergency is not grounds for the issuance of a U.S. visa; applicants for a non-immigrant visas still have to demonstrate they meet the requirements of the type of visa for which they are applying.
6. I am a third-country national living in China. Can I apply for a nonimmigrant visa here in China instead of returning to my home country?
A: Visa applicants should generally apply at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction over their place of permanent residence. Although visa applicants may apply at any U.S. consular office abroad, it may be more difficult to qualify for a visa outside your country of permanent residence; the reason is that the visa officers at the U. S. Embassy or Consulate in an applicant’s home country are more familiar with his or her circumstances and documents than the officers here would be. If you do not hold a PRC passport—particularly if you have been here less than one year and have never been issued a U.S. visa before—you may wish to apply for a U.S. visa in your country of permanent residence.
The application procedures for third-country nationals are the same as for Chinese nationals. Click to see How to Apply for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa in China. If you are a national of a U.S. Visa Waiver Program country, visit the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs website to see whether you need a visa to enter the United States.
7. What if I have problems with my PIN number?
A: Contact the Call Center's Customer Service Help Desk (Shanghai local number): (021) 5062-3880. This service is available from 8:00 AM to 5:00PM, Monday through Friday, excluding Chinese Public Holidays. This service is currently answered in Mandarin only. The caller is responsible for any long distance charges incurred. For more information about how to obtain a refund for unused PIN numbers, please refer to this page.
8. Should I use a travel agent or other advisor to help me apply?
A: This is a personal decision for each applicant, but in most cases it is not necessary to hire a travel agent to assist with a visa application. Travel agents will often charge large sums on the promise of enabling the traveler to bypass the visa interview. Our experience shows that many applicants are coached by intermediaries to provide answers that are misleading. While the truthful answer might not have harmed the application, the discovery of a misleading answer often puts the entire application in doubt.
The U.S. Embassy or Consulates do not endorse or have a “special relationship” with any individual or business that offers advice or assistance with the visa process. No one can guarantee the issuance of a visa to you. All U.S. government forms are free.
Beware: Many visa applicants lose money or are permanently barred from the United States because of misleading information and fraudulent documents provided by visa consultants.
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Traveling to the United States
1. What is the US-VISIT Program?
A: US-VISIT is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that enables the United States to verify the identity of incoming visitors and confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies.
The initiative involves collecting travel information and “biometric identifiers” (such as fingerprints, using an inkless scanner) from visitors on arrival to the United States. The identity of visitors who need a visa to travel to the U.S. will be verified upon their arrival and departure.
2. What will happen when I arrive in the United States?
A: At the airport or seaport where you enter, your travel documents (such as your passport and visa) will be reviewed, and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer will ask specific questions about your planned stay in the United States. As part of the US-VISIT procedures, most visitors traveling on visas will have two fingerprints scanned by an inkless device and a digital photograph taken. All of the data and information is then used to assist the border inspector in determining whether or not to admit the traveler.
All data obtained from you is securely stored as part of the your travel record. This information is made available only to authorized officials and selected law enforcement agencies on a need-to-know basis.
3. How long can I stay in the United States?
A: Please note that the length of your visa does not equate to a length of stay. The expiration date on your visa only refers to the date by which you have to enter the United States. When you enter the United States, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer will interview you. He or she will determine the amount of time you will be permitted to remain, and it is perfectly legitimate for you to be in the United States after your visa has expired as long as you do not stay past the date the CBP officer authorizes.
4. What will happen when I leave the United States?
A: U.S. departure procedures are currently being piloted at a number of airports. In the near future, as part of US-VISIT, most visitors who require a visa will need to verify their departure. The US-VISIT system is being designed to make this checkout process easy by planning the placement of automated self-service workstations in the international departure areas of airports and seaports. By scanning travel documents and capturing fingerprints on the same inkless device, the system is intended to validate the visitor’s identity, verify their departure, and confirm their compliance with U.S. immigration policy.
Compliance with these new security procedures is critical because the exit information will also be added to the individual’s travel record to protect their status for future visits to the United States.
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Visa Denials and Reapplications
1. How soon can I apply again if my application was not approved?
A: You may apply again as soon as you wish if your application was not approved. If your application was denied because the interviewing officer did not believe you overcame the presumption of immigrant intent (under Section 214(b)), you should try to collect additional information which you believe supports your contention that you have a residence outside the U.S. that you do not intend to abandon, or wait to apply again until you have had a change in your personal situation (employment, family, etc.) which would convince an interviewing officer that you now have stronger ties to your residence abroad.
2. I have a letter (or fax) to show you that will help you understand my situation and my strong ties to China. Can I send it to you so you can read it in advance of my interview?
A: It will not be helpful for you to send information about your case to us before you come in for your interview. Because we receive a large volume of correspondence and because officers are assigned to cases on a random basis, there is no practical way for us to make sure that incoming correspondence gets to the officer who will actually conduct the interview. If there is something that you (or your employer or contacts) want the officer to consider, please bring it along to the interview. Please bear in mind that interviews are short, so if you do want the officer to read a particular letter or document, make sure that it is short and clear.
3. I presented all the documents I was told to bring, but my application was turned down anyway. What else should I bring?
A: The problem is most likely not with the documents. Rather, the applicant’s current overall situation (as supported by those documents) was not adequate to overcome the presumption that he or she is an intending immigrant. U.S. immigration law requires visa officers to assume that most applicants for nonimmigrant visas are intending immigrants unless they can show that their overall circumstances in their home countries are stable and attractive enough to convince the officer that they intend to return home after visiting the United States.
4. Can my American friend speak with a visa officer about my case?
A: In order to afford American citizens an opportunity to speak directly with a consular official, the Consular Section is open Friday afternoons from 3:00PM to 4:00PM. Only American citizens are allowed to use this service. As an alternative, inquiries from individuals regarding their specific cases may be emailed to us at ConsularChengdu@state.gov or faxed to the Consular Section at (86-28) 8554-6229. Replies are generally sent out within five business days.
We do not allow third parties, including American citizens, to either submit individual visa applications or be present during visa interviews. Documents in support of an individual application should be forwarded directly to the applicant. The interviewing officer will consider the third party information together with the other information the applicant presents.
5. What can I do if I have a complaint about the application process?
A: The Consulate does not have sufficient resources to meet with every interested party who wishes to discuss a visa case with a consular officer. Therefore, we do not arrange meetings to discuss individual visa cases. However, all visa applicants are entitled to courteous, efficient, and consistent treatment. If an applicant feels that he or she was treated improperly during the processing of a visa application, a letter should be written to the Consulate describing the circumstances. All legitimate concerns will be reviewed and corrective action taken where justified. You can reach us by email here, and our fax number is (86-28) 8554-6229.
Types of US Visas
Visa FAQs
