Nonimmigrant Visas

Overview: NIV Visa Application Procedures

In addition to the general information below, you will find more detailed information on visas to the U.S. in the pages in the left-hand margin. Please read all of the information carefully.

• Where to Apply 
• Consular Section Address
• Visa Inquiries
• Visa Processing Times
• Expedited Visa Appointments for Emergencies
• Other Expedited Visa Services
• Fees and Forms
  

Where to Apply

The Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai processes only nonimmigrant visas for travel to the United States. Nonimmigrant visas are issued to those who intend to enter the United States for a temporary stay and who intend to depart the United States at the end of their stay. U.S. law establishes separate classifications of nonimmigrant visas for tourism, business, temporary employment, study, transit, investment, training, and other purposes.  All immigrant visa applications including K-1 (fiancé/fiancée) visas are processed at the American Consulate General in Guangzhou.

If you live or work in the Shanghai Consular District you may apply for a nonimmigrant visa at the Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai. The Shanghai Consular District comprises the Shanghai Municipality, and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Currently, if your application is approved, generally your passport with the visa will be returned by China Post or will be picked up at the designated post office. Those living or working outside the Shanghai consular district should apply for a visa at the Consular Section with responsibility for their consular district:

• If you live in Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet or Chongqing, please click here.
• If you live in Liaoning, Jilin or Heilongjiang, please click here.
• If you live in Beijing, Tianjin, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, or Jiangxi, please click here.
• If you live in Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan or Guangxi, please click here.
  

Consular Section Address

The Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General is located on the 8th floor of the Shanghai Westgate Mall at 1038 West Nanjing Road. For additional contact information and hours click here.

Visa Inquiries

This website contains detailed up-to-date information on applying for a visa.  Please read all information carefully to learn about application materials, scheduling an interview, visa fees and other relevant information.  To schedule a visa interview and to ask general questions, you may call the China Visa Call Center.  For questions concerning individual cases, please contact us by fax at (86-21) 6217-2072.     

Visa Processing Times

Because of increasing demand for visa appointments and increased processing requirements and times, we advise all applicants to apply well in advance of their anticipated travel dates. If you are a frequent traveler, we suggest you keep your visa up-to-date by applying to renew your visa before it expires. For the latest visa appointment wait times, please visit the Department of State website at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/tempvisitors_wait.php. 

The U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai implemented a new passport pass-back system that offers greater convenience to visa applicants. Successful visa applicants no longer have to wait or return to the U.S. Consulate to pick up their passport and U.S. visa.  All Shanghai consular district customers’ passports are returned directly to their homes via Post Bureau courier or made available for direct pick-up at a local post office. Click here for more information on visa delivery and pick up services
 
Applicants with backgrounds in high technology and scientific subjects should be prepared to present copies of their resumes, detailed business or research plans, previous publications, and information about their clients or advisor(s) in the United States and China. Occasionally, for various reasons, the Consulate must perform additional checks before issuing a visa. These delays generally add approximately four weeks to the total processing time for the visa. Please schedule interviews accordingly.

** For Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) passports: Please note that all FAO passports, whether the visa is issued or refused, will be returned directly to the relevant Foreign Affairs Office.
**CITIC Bank Prior Travel Program applicants:  Please note that applicants who submit their applications through the CITIC Bank Prior Travel program will have their passport and visa returned via CITIC Bank.

Expedited Visa Appointments for Emergency Situations

Applicants wishing to request an expedited appointment for humanitarian or other urgent reasons should send a detailed fax to (86-21) 6217-2072. The Consulate wishes to assist applicants seeking to travel to the United States for emergency and humanitarian reasons and reviews each fax received and attempts to respond to each fax in a timely fashion. Applicants are asked to include all relevant contact information; if someone wishes to contact the Consulate on an applicant's behalf, he should include contact information for both himself and the applicant.

The Consulate considers the following situations examples of those eligible to apply for expedited appointments:

• Humanitarian cases, including but not limited to travel for emergency medical treatment or to attend to family emergencies (such as death), as well as travel to support someone receiving emergency medical treatment or dealing with these emergencies;
  
• Responding to a summons to appear in U.S. court;
  
• Certain emergent business situations, as reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive, nor can every expedite request be granted. The Consulate encourages applicants to attempt to make an appointment first through the China Visa Call Center at 4008-872-333 from within China and (86-21) 3881-4611 from outside of China. The Consulate reviews all requests for expedited appointments in light of the merits of the situation, the timing involved, and the Consular section's workload.
Please note that an expedited appointment in no way guarantees that a visa will be granted. Each case will still be considered on its own merits under the relevant sections of U.S. immigration law. Click here for additional information on expedited visa appointments.

Other Expedited Visa Services

In addition to the above categories of travelers, special programs are in place for:

1) Those with prior recent travel to the U.S.
2) Foreign Affairs Office passport holders
3) Select AmCham businesses.
4) Students and Exchange Visitors

Please click here to read more about these programs and to see if you qualify.  
** For Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) passports: Please note that expedite requests for FAO passport holders must be submitted to the Consulate through the relevant Foreign Affairs Office.  

Fees and Forms 

Each applicant must pay a non-refundable 904 RMB visa application processing fee at an authorized branch of the China CITIC Bank before coming to apply at the Consular Section. Application forms are provided free of charge. These forms are available at any branch of the China CITIC Bank. Forms can also be downloaded from the Consulate’s website. If you download the forms, you must print two-page forms on one sheet of paper, front and back. 

An electronic barcode version of the DS-156 form (English) is now available on the Consulate website and on http://evisaforms.state.gov.  A PDF or paper version  application form is no longer accepted.  All applicants must use the electronic version.

Student and exchange visitors must pay an extra fee of $100 called a SEVIS (Student Exchange Visitor Information System) fee. Each student or exchange scholar issued an initial Form I-20 or DS-2019 on or after September 1, 2004, is responsible for paying this fee online before applying for a visa. Persons sponsored by the United States Government are exempt from payment of the SEVIS fee. Most continuing students and exchange visitors will also not be required to pay the SEVIS fee. For additional information on how to pay the SEVIS fee and the purpose of the SEVIS fee, click here.