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Chinese citizens who travel to the United States must apply for B2 (tourist) visa. The validity period of passport must be at least 6 months longer than the expected duration of stay in the United States. Application for visa must be submitted to the embassy or consulates general of the United States in China. For visa interview appointment or visa-related inquiries, you can call Visa Call Center at 4008-872-333 (calling in China) or 86-21-3881-4611 (calling from outside China).

Starting February 13, 2012, the United States adopted a new policy with respect to Chinese visa applicants which spares some qualifying applicants visa interviews:

A. Chinese citizens who previously held visa of types B (temporary visitor for business and tourist), C1 (transit), D (flight crew, ship crew), C1/D (transit/flight crew and ship crew), F (student), J (exchange visitor), M (non-academic student), O (visitor with special abilities), who have left the print of the index finger and who apply for a visa of the same type, are spared visa interviews within 48 months (4 years) after the visa of the above-mentioned types expires.

B. If the Embassy or a Consulate General of the United States in China requires the applicant to be interviewed, the applicant can directly go to the embassy or consulate general for the visa interview; he/she does not need to make an appointment or leave his/her fingerprint.

C. Holders of F type visa and M type visa who change school and holders of type J visa who change the project of academic exchanges do not qualify for this new policy.

D. Applicants for F1 visa renewal whose previous visa carries ”clearance received” and has expired for less than three years can be spared visa interviews. Applicants for renewal of the types of visa listed in A. (except F1 type) need to make an appointment for visa interviews if the previous visa carriers “clearance received”.

E. Applicants for H, L and P type visa renewal are spared visa interviews if the previous visa has expired for less than 12 months.

* The above information is for reference only. For more, contact the embassy.

* For more information on visa, head to the Star Alliance website.