Filing the official MFA online visa form — what to prepare, what trips people up, and what happens after you submit.
COVA (China Online Visa Application) is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs portal at cova.mfa.gov.cn for applying to a Chinese visa from overseas. Every traveler who needs a visa — tourist (L), business (M), student (X), work (Z), family (Q/S) — must complete the COVA form before booking an embassy or CVASC appointment. The form is free, takes 30–60 minutes, and asks for 10 years of personal history. Submit at least two weeks before travel. If you qualify for visa-free entry (30-day, 240-hour transit), skip COVA entirely.
Many travelers fill COVA unnecessarily. Citizens of 40+ countries get 30 days visa-free; the 240-hour transit policy covers most others. Check eligibility in 10 seconds →
Pick the right category before starting COVA — switching mid-application means re-filling everything.
Sightseeing, visiting family/friends as a tourist. Needs hotel + flight bookings.
Commercial trade activities. Needs invitation letter from a Chinese company.
Non-commercial visits, exchanges, study tours. Needs invitation letter.
X1: study over 180 days. X2: study under 180 days. Needs JW201/JW202 form + admission letter.
Employment in China. Needs Work Permit Notice issued by Chinese authorities.
Q1: long-term reunion (180+ days). Q2: short visit. Family is Chinese citizen or permanent resident.
Visiting a foreigner working/studying in China. S1: long-term. S2: short.
Passing through China when not eligible for visa-free transit. Rare — usually visa-free covers it.
Check the visa-free eligibility list first — citizens of 40+ countries can enter China without a visa for 30 days, and the 240-hour transit policy covers many more. If you qualify, skip COVA and just file the Arrival Card before flying.
Go to cova.mfa.gov.cn. Switch the language toggle to English (top right). Click 'Quick Access' for a new application. You'll set a password and receive an application ID — save both immediately.
Select the visa category that matches your purpose: L (tourism), M (business), X (study), Q (family — Chinese citizen relatives), S (family — foreigner relatives), Z (work), F (exchange/research). Choose the Chinese embassy, consulate, or CVASC you'll submit to — usually the one with jurisdiction over your residence.
Personal info, contact, travel details, work/education, family, prior China travel, references in China, and declarations. The form asks for 10 years of address and employment history. Skip nothing — blanks trigger rejection. Use 'N/A' where genuinely not applicable.
33×48mm, white background, no glasses, neutral expression, taken within 6 months. File 354×472 to 420×560 pixels, JPG, 40–120 KB. The system validates on upload. If rejected, use a pharmacy or post-office photo service that knows the Chinese visa specification.
Review every section. Submit. The system generates a confirmation PDF with a barcode — print it. You'll bring this, your passport, the photo (printed), and supporting documents to your appointment.
Book an appointment slot with the embassy/consulate/CVASC online. Show up with the printed confirmation, passport, photo, and supporting documents (invitation letter for M/Q visas; hotel + flight bookings for L visa). Pay the fee. Pick up the visa or have it mailed back — typically 4 working days.
COVA times out after 30 minutes of inactivity. Have everything in front of you.
Passport, valid ≥6 months with ≥2 blank pages
Passport bio-page scan (PDF or JPG)
Visa photo: 33×48mm, white background, no glasses
Round-trip flight bookings (L visa) or invitation letter (M/F/Q/S)
Hotel reservations covering full stay (L visa)
Proof of employment or enrollment
10 years of address history
10 years of employment/education history
Details of all prior China trips (dates, cities)
Two emergency contacts (one in China, if possible)
The Chinese visa photo spec is strict and the COVA system rejects on upload. Get this right once and you avoid 90% of resubmits.
Tip: Most pharmacies and post offices know the spec — ask for "Chinese visa photo."
By far the most common cause. Use a photo service that knows the Chinese spec — don't crop a regular photo yourself. The COVA upload validator catches most issues immediately.
Travel dates that don't match your flight bookings, or employment dates that conflict with your visa history, get flagged. Read your own answers back before submitting.
L visa: round-trip flights + every-night hotel bookings. M visa: original invitation letter from a Chinese company (scan not enough at most consulates). Q visa: invitation + Chinese ID/passport copy of inviter.
Each consulate has territorial jurisdiction. Submitting at one outside your residence area is auto-rejected. Check the embassy's website for the jurisdiction map.
If you've been to China before, list every trip. If you've been to countries China is sensitive about, list them honestly — undisclosed travel found later via passport stamps causes rejection.
Even with a valid visa, you still need to file the China Arrival Card within 24 hours of your flight. The form is separate, on a different government portal, and takes about 3 minutes.
Read the Arrival Card guideCOVA (China Online Visa Application) is the official portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for filing Chinese visa applications from overseas. Anyone applying for a Chinese visa at an embassy, consulate, or Chinese Visa Application Service Center (CVASC) outside Mainland China must complete the COVA Form V.2013 first — there is no paper-only application route. This applies to tourist (L), business (M), student (X1/X2), work (Z), family visit (Q1/Q2), and most other visa categories.
No. If you qualify for China's 30-day visa-free policy, the 240-hour visa-free transit, or any other visa-exemption arrangement, you skip COVA entirely — you only need the Arrival Card on the day of travel. COVA is for travelers who need an actual visa stamp in their passport.
No. COVA is the application form. After submitting it online, you must (a) print the confirmation page, (b) book an appointment with a Chinese embassy, consulate, or CVASC in your country, and (c) appear in person to submit your passport, photo, and supporting documents. The embassy then issues — or refuses — the visa.
Allow 30–60 minutes for a first-time application. The form has 9 sections (personal info, travel details, work/education history, family, prior China travel, etc.) and asks for 10 years of address and employment history. The system saves your progress under a unique application number — write it down, because losing it means starting over.
Have ready: passport (bio page scan), a recent passport-style photo meeting Chinese visa specs (33×48mm, white background, no glasses), invitation letter from China (for M/Q/F visas) or hotel + flight bookings (for L tourist visa), proof of employment or enrollment, and details of all China trips in the past 10 years. The photo is the single most common rejection trigger — verify the spec before uploading.
Chinese visa photos: 33mm wide × 48mm tall, color, taken within 6 months, plain white background, full face visible, neutral expression, no glasses (since 2016), no head covering except for religious reasons, ears visible, no shadows. File: JPG, 354×472 to 420×560 pixels, 40–120 KB. Most pharmacy or post-office photo services know the spec — ask for "Chinese visa photo." If uploading your own, the COVA system will flag rejections with a code.
COVA itself is free. Visa fees are paid at the embassy/consulate/CVASC when you submit documents. Fees vary by nationality and visa type — US citizens pay USD 185 for any visa type (single, double, or multi-entry), while most other nationalities pay USD 30–90 depending on entries. CVASCs add a service fee of roughly USD 50–80. Always check the official rate on your local embassy's site before going.
Standard processing: 4 working days. Express: 3 working days (extra fee). Rush: 2 working days (extra fee, not always available). Add 1–2 days if you mail your passport in. Apply at least 2 weeks before travel; embassies will refuse to expedite for travelers who left it too late.
Yes. After starting an application, the system gives you an application ID and a password you set. Use them to log back in within 30 days. Don't wait — applications are wiped after 30 days of inactivity. Print or save the application ID immediately; password reset is impossible without it.
COVA is hosted on Chinese government infrastructure and can be slow from outside Asia. Try (a) a desktop browser instead of mobile, (b) Chrome or Firefox — older Safari versions sometimes choke on the form widgets, (c) off-peak hours for China time (late evening UTC), (d) a VPN with an Asian endpoint if your ISP routes badly. There is no alternative URL — beware any third-party site that claims to be "COVA easy" or charges to file the form.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, cova.mfa.gov.cn. Procedures last verified May 2026. Visa policies, fees, and required documents vary by nationality and change frequently — confirm current requirements with your local Chinese embassy, consulate, or CVASC before applying. iGo2China is an independent travel companion service and is not affiliated with the MFA or any Chinese government body.
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