Last updated: 15 October 2026
Direct answer. A foreigner in China applies to the exit-entry department of the public security organ at or above prefecture level, at least seven days before the stay expires. An extension cannot exceed the stay the visa originally allowed, and a changed visa cannot extend total stay past one year from entry.
China's NIA publishes the extension, change and reissuance rules in one guide: apply 7 days before expiry, and extensions cannot exceed the original stay. Fees listed.
Every rule, document list and fee on this page comes from a guide published by China's National Immigration Administration and retrieved on 15 October 2026. The guide carries an NIA publication date of 1 April 2021, and its fee schedule cites a 2011 notice. The original page is listed at the end; it is the specification, and this page is an independent reading of it.
The pages most travellers read before a trip cover how to get into China. This one covers the situation that arises afterwards: the flight out has moved, the trip has changed purpose, or the passport carrying the visa has been lost. China's National Immigration Administration publishes a single English-language guide for those three situations, and it is unusually specific about deadlines and fees.
Two limits shape this page. The guide is the NIA's English version, and the NIA states that it is "only for reference" against the authoritative Chinese version. And the guide is dated 1 April 2021 with a fee schedule that cites a 2011 notice, so it is a first-party source rather than a current one. Where a rule matters to a live trip, confirm it with the exit-entry bureau that will handle the application.
If the visa question is still open rather than a change to an existing stay, the pages that cover it are the visa-free entry schemes, the three visa-free routes for US passports, travel insurance for China and how many days to spend in China. The full guide index lists the rest.
Most of the guide is document lists. Three rules are the ones that decide whether an application is possible, and all three are hard limits rather than guidance.
| Rule | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| How early to apply | A foreigner must apply to the exit-entry department of a public security organ 7 days before the expiration date of the stay specified in the visa, and submit the supporting materials required |
| How far an extension can go | The accumulated extension of stay shall not exceed the original duration of stay specified in the visa |
| How far a changed visa can go | The accumulated stay period of the changed visas shall not exceed one year since the date of the current entry |
The second rule is the one that surprises people. A visa issued for 60 days of stay can be extended, but the extensions added together cannot take the total past the 60 days the visa originally allowed. A visa issued for 30 days cannot be extended into a 90-day stay by applying three times.
The guide applies to foreigners who entered China with an ordinary visa and who need to stay for non-diplomatic or unofficial purposes.
Authority sits with the exit-entry departments of public security organs. The NIA states that it entrusts the exit-entry departments of public security organs at or above the level of prefecture-level cities, including counties and districts under municipalities directly under the central government, to accept these applications.
The guide lists three circumstances in which the conditions for a facilitated application are met: the applicant is under 16 or over 60, or it would be unduly inconvenient for the applicant to apply in person because of illness or other reasons; the current entry is not the applicant's first entry into China and the applicant has good records of stay or residence; or the inviting entity or individual has guaranteed to cover the applicant's necessary expenses in China.
For an extension, the guide names the supporting letter or certificate by the type of visa being held. This is the part of the guide a traveller cannot improvise, because each visa letter comes from a different body.
| Visa held | What must be submitted with the application |
|---|---|
| C (crew) | A letter of certificate issued by a competent department of a people's government at or above the county level, or by the local civil aviation authority |
| F (non-commercial visit) | A letter of certificate from the inviting and receiving entity; entities without a filed record must submit the additional material the guide requires |
| G (transit) | A letter of certificate from the receiving entity plus a connecting ticket by air, bus or ship to the destination country or region |
| J2 (journalist, short term) | A letter of certificate issued by the foreign affairs department of a provincial-level people's government |
| L (tourist) | A travel plan and itinerary, and for a group tour also a letter of certificate issued by the travel agency |
| M (commercial and trade) | A letter of certificate from the local inviting and receiving entity or individual; unfiled entities must submit the additional material required |
| Q2 (family visit) | An invitation letter from the individual to be visited, that person's identity certificate, and proof of family relationship |
| R (talent) | A certificate letter issued by the inviting and receiving entity, plus additional material where the entity has no filed record |
| S2 (private visit) | An invitation letter from the individual to be visited, a foreigner residence permit, and proof of the relationship |
| X2 (short-term study) | A current study certificate issued by the education or training institution inside China |
Every application regardless of type also carries the common set: a valid passport or other international travel document, a completed visa, stay permit or residence permit application form, a compliant photograph, supporting materials tied to the reason for applying, and any other formalities the accepting office requires.
A change of visa is the route used when the purpose of the stay changes, where the state grants entry conveniences, when a new passport is being used, or when the stay must otherwise be regularised. The guide lists support material by the visa type applied for rather than the type held, and it closes the route with the one-year rule above: the accumulated stay of the changed visas cannot exceed one year since the date of the current entry.
The guide also covers the case where the original entry was made on a group visa and the traveller needs to stay behind after the tour, which requires a letter of certificate issued by the hosting travel agency.
Reissuance applies where the visa has been lost, damaged, destroyed, stolen or robbed after entry. If the visa was lost, stolen or robbed, the applicant submits the certificate of reporting the loss of the passport, or the official note issued by the embassy or consulate of the applicant's country in China. If the visa was damaged, the damaged passport or an official note is submitted. If a group visa was lost, stolen, robbed or damaged, a certification letter from the hosting travel agency is submitted with a copy of the original.
The reissued visa matches the original: the same type, the same validity entry period, the same duration of stay, and the same remaining number of valid entries.
The guide sets out the fee schedule it applies, citing the notice of public security organs adjusting charging standards for foreigners' visas, Gong Ming Fa [2011] No. 470. The figures below are for non-reciprocal countries; for reciprocal countries the guide states that fees are charged in accordance with the standards stipulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
| Visa | Fee per person (non-reciprocal countries) |
|---|---|
| Zero-entry | CNY 160 |
| Single-entry | CNY 168 |
| Double-entry | CNY 252 |
| Multiple-entry, valid for no more than half a year | CNY 420 |
| Multiple-entry, valid for no more than one year | CNY 672 |
| Adding or reducing accompanying persons | CNY 160 |
The guide describes four steps: application, in which the foreigner goes in person to the exit-entry department; acceptance, in which the authority decides whether to accept the application; review and verification; and decision, in which a permit is granted and a visa of the corresponding type is issued.
On timing, it states that once the application complies with the conditions for acceptance, it is accepted and an acceptance receipt is provided. The decision is made within the validity period of that receipt, and the receipt's validity is no more than seven working days from the date of acceptance.
The approved visa is collected in person by the applicant at the relevant exit-entry department, with the acceptance receipt.
The guide reproduces the statutory grounds. Under Article 21 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, a visa shall not be issued to a foreigner who has been deported or repatriated and whose no-entry period has not expired; who is suffering from serious mental disorder, infectious tuberculosis or another infectious disease that may cause great harm to public health; who may endanger China's national security and interests or disrupt public order; who resorted to deceit in the application or failed to guarantee expenses; who failed to submit the required materials; or in other circumstances in which the visa authority considers a visa should not be issued.
The guide adds a sentence worth reading twice: where a visa is refused, "the visa authority may not explain reasons."
Grounds for refusing a residence permit are listed separately under Article 31, and cover a visa of the wrong type for the permit, deceit in the application, failure to provide the required supporting materials, ineligibility for residence because of violations of Chinese law, and other circumstances the issuing authority considers disqualifying.
Three gaps are worth naming. The guide carries no processing-time estimate beyond the receipt's seven-working-day validity. It defines family members for family-visit purposes, and requires supporting materials in foreign languages to be translated into Chinese, but it does not list which overseas certificates are accepted without further legalisation. And the NIA's own notice on the page states that the English version is only for reference, with the authoritative version in Chinese.
Nothing on this page should be read as a substitute for the office that will accept the application. The guide's own structure says as much: it is a service guide, published so that the applicant knows what to bring.
The NIA guide states that a foreigner applying to extend a stay must apply to the exit-entry department of a public security organ 7 days prior to the expiration date of the stay specified in the visa, submitting the supporting materials required.
The extension is capped by the visa itself. The guide states that the accumulated extension of stay shall not exceed the original duration of stay specified in the visa, so a 60-day stay can be extended only up to a total of 60 days.
The guide's fee schedule, citing Gong Ming Fa [2011] No. 470, lists CNY 160 for a zero-entry visa, CNY 168 single-entry, CNY 252 double-entry, CNY 420 for a multiple-entry visa valid for no more than half a year and CNY 672 for one valid for no more than one year, per person, for non-reciprocal countries. Reciprocal countries are charged at standards set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The guide provides for a change of visa where the purpose of the stay changes, with support material listed by the visa type applied for. It also caps the result: the accumulated stay period of the changed visas shall not exceed one year since the date of the current entry.
The guide's reissuance route requires a certificate of reporting the loss of the passport, or an official note from the applicant's embassy or consulate, and the replacement visa is issued with the same type, validity entry period, duration of stay and remaining valid entries as the original.
All sources retrieved 15 October 2026. This page is an independent reading of the sources listed; the official pages themselves are the specification.
| Fact used on this page | Source |
|---|---|
| S1 — Scope (foreigners applying for visa extension, change and reissuance after entry with a regular visa); legal basis; the NIA entrusting exit-entry departments of public security organs at or above prefecture-level cities; the three facilitation circumstances; the 7-day application deadline; the supporting letter required for each of the C, F, G, J2, L, M, Q2, R, S2 and X2 visa types; the common document set; the cap that accumulated extension shall not exceed the original duration of stay and that changed visas shall not exceed one year since current entry; reissuance conditions and the matching reissue; the four-step process; the acceptance receipt valid for no more than seven working days; the fee schedule citing Gong Ming Fa [2011] No. 470 with CNY 160 zero-entry, 168 single-entry, 252 double-entry, 420 half-year multiple-entry, 672 one-year multiple-entry and 160 per accompanying person, reciprocal countries charged at Ministry of Foreign Affairs standards; the Article 21 and Article 31 refusal grounds; the statement that a refused visa need not be explained; the definition of family members; the requirement that foreign-language supporting materials be translated into Chinese; and the notice that the English version is only for reference | National Immigration Administration, "Guide on Visa Extension, Change and Reissuance for Foreigners", published 1 April 2021; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147423/n147478/n147715/c158249/content.html |
| S2 — The NIA's Services section publishes, for foreigners already in China, a guide on visa extension, change and reissuance; this hub page is how the guide is reached and confirms it sits under the NIA's own Guidelines for Foreigners section | National Immigration Administration, "Guidelines for Foreigners"; retrieved 15 October 2026 https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147423/n147478/index.html |