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Your China Visa, Start to Finish

Free guide

Your China Visa, Start to Finish

Filipinos need a visa to enter China. There is no tourist exemption for us, and the visa-free news you may have read does not cover Philippine passports. This free guide takes you through the whole process, from the documents you gather at home to the day you collect your passport.

  • Why Filipinos still need a visa, and the three ways into China that do not need one
  • Every document required, plus the three extra ones first-time applicants must submit
  • Why you need both a bank certificate and a bank statement, and what each one proves
  • How to show a confirmed flight and hotel without paying for a trip that might not happen
  • What to expect at the Chinese Embassy in Makati, and who else can file on your behalf
  • How to read your visa once you have it, so you do not overstay by accident

One email, the PDF straight to your inbox. Check your promotions tab if it is not in your main folder.

Your China Visa, Start to Finish, the free 16 page guide from Travel with CMT

What is inside

Four parts, in the order you will actually need them.

Part one

The three routes into China. The tourist visa that covers the whole country, the Hainan exemption that stops at the provincial line, and the group route through Hong Kong or Macau that some packages run on.

Part two

Every document, split into what everybody brings and what first-time applicants add. Passport pages, photo size, proof of funds, proof of work, and the tax return.

Part three

The online application, the upload mistakes that cost people a second trip, and what to expect on the morning you lodge it in Makati.

Part four

Reading the visa you get back, then the other counter. Philippine Immigration decides separately whether you board, and that is a different set of documents.

Who this is for

A good fit if you are

  • Applying for a Chinese visa for the first time
  • Booked on, or considering, any of our China tours
  • Unsure whether the visa-free news you read applies to you
  • Worried about proving you can afford the trip
  • Travelling with children, which has the longest lead time of anything here

Probably not for you if

  • You hold a passport other than a Philippine one
  • You already hold a valid multiple entry Chinese visa
  • You are going for work or study, which are different categories entirely
  • You want a day by day itinerary rather than the paperwork

Questions people ask

Do Filipinos need a visa for China?
Yes. There is no visa-free tourist entry to mainland China on a Philippine passport. The exemptions you may have read about cover other nationalities. The two that do apply to us are Hainan province and a group route into nine cities of the Pearl River Delta, and the guide explains both.
Can I use the ten day visa-free transit instead?
No. Philippine passports are not on that list, and even for eligible nationalities it only works when you are passing through China on your way to a third country. Manila to Shanghai and back to Manila is a trip to China, not a transit.
Do I have to buy my flights before I apply?
You need a confirmed booking, not a paid ticket. A reservation held under a booking reference and a cancellable hotel booking satisfy the requirement. Never buy a non-refundable ticket before the visa is in your passport.
How early should I start?
Earlier than you think. First-time applicants cannot use the faster processing tiers at any price, a bank certificate takes days to obtain, and if you are travelling with children there is more to arrange again.

Send me the China guide

Sixteen pages, free, and written for a Philippine passport. We check the entry rules constantly because our own departures depend on them.

Back to all free guides

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