China will directly accept and process visa applications and consular legalization requests in India from October 26, ending the application services previously handled through visa application centers in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Services in the jurisdiction of the Chinese Consulate General in Kolkata will temporarily be handled by the embassy in New Delhi . Applicants must fill out the form and upload the required documents through the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ official visa application portal. In a notice issued on October 22, the Chinese Embassy in India said the embassy in New Delhi and the Chinese Consulate General in Mumbai would directly handle the applications. The Chinese Visa Application Centers in the three cities will stop accepting new applications from October 26. Applicants who have already submitted documents can collect processed documents from the existing centers until noon on October 30, according to the centers’ notices. After the online review is approved, applicants will receive an email and must submit their passport, application form and relevant documents to the designated embassy or consulate within 30 days.
Applicants residing in Maharashtra and Karnataka must approach the Chinese Consulate General in Mumbai, according to the embassy’s official notice. For consular legalization, the relevant jurisdiction is determined by the place where the documents were issued, according to the embassy’s detailed guidance.
The changes also include the removal of visa application service center fees for online applications submitted after 5 pm on October 23.
Fees already paid for applications submitted before the deadline will not be refunded, according to the notice published by the Chinese visa application center.
