Schengen Visa for Chinese Passport Holders

2018 has been dubbed the China-EU Tourism Year. In an effort to improve cultural exchange and trade relations between the two regions, the EU and the Schengen nations are creating avenues for mainlanders to visit Europe on holiday.  One way they are doing this is by making the Schengen visa application process easier and less time-consuming for Chinese passport holders. Any Chinese citizen of the People’s Republic of China, who wishes to visit Europe, must apply for the Schengen Visa. This article will give you a comprehensive information about how to apply for Schengen Visa in China.

Schengen Visa: What you need to know about it

Citizens of non-Schengen countries (excluding citizens and permanent residents of EU member states) need to take the Schengen Visa to travel to any of the Schengen countries.

The Schengen area isn’t on the visa on arrival list for Chinese citizens. Chinese nationals can apply for one of the 3 different types of Schengen Visas:

Uniform Schengen Visas

If you intend to travel to any of the Schengen member states in the next six months, you can apply for the Uniform Schengen Visa. The visa is granted for 90 days and it allows holders to travel to any of the Schengen member states during the time of their visit.

Limited Territorial Validity Visas

The Limited Territorial Validity Visa allows its holders to visit only specific, pre-determined Schengen countries and no other.

National Visas

The National Visa covers only a single country and allows holders to visit and reside in that country alone. Usually, students and working professionals apply for this. The visas usually have long-term validity.

China is the second-highest applicant for Schengen visa in the world. Over 2,533,905 applicants from China applied for the visa last year, out of which 2,447,041 were granted the visa (of which 807,068 were multiple entries visas). This looks like a promising start to the 2018 China-EU Tourism Year.

The Schengen Visa application process for Chinese nationals

The Schengen visa application process can be a long process and it’s important for visa applicants in China to be aware of all the procedures they need to complete if they wish to successfully apply for a Schengen visa in China. The current application rejection rate stands at 3.30%, which isn’t bad compared to other countries but still is a cause for concern for Chinese travelers keen on visiting the Schengen countries.   

Take a look at our detailed explanation about the Schengen visa application process for Chinese citizens:

Select the type of visa you wish to apply for

There are two sets of visas that you can apply for. The tourist visa is a visa that grants holders the ability to travel to the Schengen countries on holiday. The business tourist visa authorizes the visa holder to work for a pre-determined timeframe in one of or multiple Schengen countries.

The next thing you need to decide is if you need to apply for a Uniform Schengen Visa, Limited Territorial Validity Visa or a National Visa. Plan your itinerary in advance and select the visa you wish to apply for.

Visa application fees for Chinese citizens and expats applying from China stand at:

Embassies of France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and other Schengen countries are situated in Beijing. You can get your appointment for the visa application at the embassies or at the local VFS center in Beijing.

Take an appointment at the Schengen embassy

According to Schengen travel rules, a foreign national may schedule his/her visa application process at any one of two Schengen embassies:

1. At the embassy of the country, you are starting your travel in (country of entry)
2. At the embassy of the country where you plan to stay the longest

If, for example, you begin your tour in Amsterdam, the Netherlands embassy is where you need to apply. But, if you stay the longest in Paris, you can also apply at the French embassy.

The entire visa application process takes up to 15 days, with an additional 10 days to get the results of your application and have your visa delivered to you. This is why we recommend that you take the appointment at the embassy at least one month prior to the beginning of your travel. 

List of Schengen Embassies in Beijing, China

Source: European Commission. Please check the European Commission website for updated information

File the application form and other important documentation

The next thing you need to do is fill in the Schengen visa application form with care. You can get the form from your nearest VFS center or download it from the Embassy’s website. The visa application contains a series of questions about your name, age, occupation, family status (unmarried/married, with/without children), education, income, and nationality. In addition to these questions, the application form will also contain questions about your travel itinerary and travel insurance. The application must be correctly filled-in and signed by the applicant.

The documents an applicant must submit along with the Schengen visa application include:

Common documents for all applicants:

1. Two passport size photographs (full-frontal image of the head, 32-36 mm height with a plain background, the photo must not contain reflections, shadow, and red-eye)
2. Passport (that contains at least 2 blank pages and is valid for up to 3 months after the visa application date – old passports must also be mandatorily submitted, with copies of the old visas that have been issued)
3. Cover letter from the applicant or a sponsorship letter by the sponsor residing in the Schengen country
4. Copy of travel medical insurance of a minimum coverage of €30,000 or $50,000
5. Flight reservation
6. Proof of accommodation
7. Notarised original bank statement of past 3 months (the bank statements must be stamped by the main branch of the original bank and signed by the presiding bank manager)
8. National identity documents like passport, resident identity card and national identification card and domiciliary documents like marriage certificate and birth certificate

Employment-related documents:

1. Employed – Income statement of past 6 months, employment contract signed and stamped by the organization, leave request form signed by the employer, a copy of the past year’s IT returns
2. Self-employed – Copy of business registration and license, P&L statement of past 6 months, a copy of company IT returns of past year
3. Students – Enrolment details at the school/university, student ID card, signed and stamped no objection certificate from school/university

Click Here to find the complete list of supporting documents to be submitted by applicants for short stay visas in China.

Attend the Schengen visa interview at the embassy

All Schengen visa applicants will be asked to attend an interview at their respective embassies on a date that will be pre-specified by the embassy officials. During this interview, the embassy will try to ascertain how genuine and bona fide your reasons are for visiting the Schengen country. Your documents will be checked and all the information you have provided will be cross-checked and verified with your answers during the interview.

The visa interview is also another way of ascertaining whether you have the financial backing necessary to successfully complete the trip and return. If your trip is being sponsored by someone staying at a Schengen country, ask him/her to send a signed sponsorship letter to you with copies of their employment documents, income statements, bank records, national identity documents and IT returns (as stated above) to the embassy.

Provide your biometrics

The final stage of the visa application process is the biometrics. Here, your fingerprints and photos will be taken using a biometric scanner, which will be then tagged to your documents and visa application.

The biometrics is a security measure that all Chinese visa applicants need to provide.  

Receive the visa acceptance/rejection letter

Finally, if you’ve completed all the required steps with care and have followed all the procedures carefully, you will be granted the Schengen visa. However, in select cases, you may notice that your visa application has been rejected. Usually, the embassy will provide a reason for rejection and you will be advised to re-apply for the visa immediately.

If you have any other queries about the visa application process, visit this website.

But why would your visa application be rejected?

Visa applications can be rejected due to multiple reasons, such as:

1. Wrong information or misleading information provided in the application form
2. Not having taken travel insurance or having taken travel insurance of insufficient amount (less than €30,000)
3. Withholding important information during the interview
4. Not providing the detailed travel itinerary and not sharing information about accommodation and visits
5. Unavailability of sponsorship letter or covering letter with the application form
6. Not possessing sufficient funding or financial sponsorship to support the visit
7. Having a history of criminal activity or a record of legal action against yourself
8. Forged signatures and stamps on documents or not having the valid stamps by banks and employers
9. Expiry of passport validity
10. Non-compliance with any of the visa application procedures (willfully or negligently)

Things you can do to ensure your visa application is accepted

1. Fill in the application form correctly and be transparent and genuine
2. Pay all the visa application fees you are expected to pay
3. Furnish all the documents as asked for
4. Attach a cover letter/sponsorship letter with your application
5. Get genuine signatures and stamps from banks, sponsors and employers
6. Get the right coverage travel insurance for your travel in advance
7. Prepare and provide a comprehensive itinerary (with copies of ticket bookings) containing information about travel, accommodations and visits
8. Renew your passport if it is within 1 year of expiry

About Us

At Visa Reservation strive to simplify the visa process by providing free visa consultations, cover letter templates and no objection letter templates for our clients from US, UK, Canada, Philippines, India, China, UAE, Europe, Nigeria and globally. We also offer flight itinerary for visa, travel medical insurance, hotel reservations for visa and much more. To learn more about how we can help you with our visa services, please feel free to contact us today.