New China Visa Policy Affects US Business Travelers
The Chinese foreign ministry has revised its visa regulations
for business travelers from the US in retaliation for
required fingerprinting and photographing of Chinese visitors
to the US.
The new
visa regulations (in simplified Chinese) for visitors
from the US were posted on the Chinese foreign ministry
website on March 30, and were only posted on the Chinese
language part of the website and were not translated into
English as is normal practice. Under the new guidelines,
US visitors will:
- Be given visas according to the purpose of their visit,
and charged an appropriate visa fee;
- Some business travelers to China from the US will
be required to be interviewed, and will need to present
themselves at the designated Chinese consulate or embassy
at the appropriate time;
- US citizens will no longer be able to apply for a
visa on arrival in China; they will all have to apply,
and receive, a Chinese visa before arrival in China
The new Chinese regulations are to take effect immediately.
The move is in retaliation for a US move requiring fingerprinting
and photo ID of all Chinese citizens traveling to the
US with a non-immigrant visa. The Chinese position is
that this is unfair discrimination against Chinese citizens,
since visitors from Canada and 28 other countries not
only do not require fingerprinting and photo ID, but are
able to enter the US without visas.
The US position is that the new measures are required
following the terrorist attacks in 2001, and were introduced
on January 5 at 115 US airports and 14 ports of entry,
and are part of the new US-VISIT system, which keeps photo
ID and fingerprints of visitors from designated countries
on file. The only exceptions are children under 14, and
the elderly over 79 and holders of diplomatic passports
and their dependents.
Chinese diplomats have filed official complaints with
the State Department, stating that it is discriminatory
against Chinese citizens, and have pointed out that no
Chinese citizens have been involved in attacks against
the US, or its interests overseas. US diplomats have said
that they will continue to study the program, and will
revise it as needed and appropriate.
The program has been controversial in other countries,
and Brazil has introduced similar retaliatory measures
for US visitors.
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