What are the China student visa requirements for Indian students?
Unofficial answer · Sources checked
For study in China lasting more than 180 days, the Chinese Embassy in India's August 2024 notice requires the general documents every applicant submits, plus the original and a photocopy of the admission letter issued by a school or other entity in China and a photocopy of the "Visa Application for Study in China" (Form JW201 or Form JW202). That combination is the X1 row of the notice's table. You apply through the Chinese Visa Application Service Center covering your consular district, and ten fingerprints are taken there unless you fall into one of the exemption categories.
What the rules say
The notice is the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in India's "Notice on Updating Requirements for Chinese Visa Application (Update August, 2024)", time-stamped 20 August 2024. Section 2.1 lists the general documents:
- Chinese Visa Application Form and the confirmation page of the online visa application.
- Original passport valid for at least 6 months, with 2 or more blank visa pages, plus a photocopy of the passport information pages; expired passports from within the last 5 years. If the name in the new passport does not match the name in the original passport, the original and a copy of the official document certifying the name change.
- Two recently taken colour passport photos, full face, front view, bare head, 48mm × 33mm, taken within 6 months.
- Original and photocopy of proof of legal stay, residence, employment or study status, or a valid visa — this item applies to applicants who are not Indian citizens.
- A copy of the most recently obtained Chinese visa, if you have one.
On top of those, the study rows of the notice add their own documents, shown below.
| Visa | Purpose stated in the notice | Supporting documents listed |
|---|---|---|
| X1 | Study in China for more than 180 days | Original and photocopy of the Admission Letter issued by a school or other entity in China; photocopy of "Visa Application for Study in China" (Form JW201 or Form JW202) |
| X2 | Study in China for no more than 180 days | None listed — the documents cell for X2 is empty on the page |
The notice describes what X2 is issued for but lists no supporting document for it, so this page does not fill that in.
Where to apply
Applications are processed according to consular jurisdiction. Applicants residing in Maharashtra or Karnataka go through the Chinese Consulate-General in Mumbai; applicants residing in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal go through the Chinese Consulate-General in Kolkata; applicants residing anywhere else go through the Chinese Embassy in India.
The application itself is submitted through the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in New Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata, according to that jurisdiction, and the centre forwards it to the Embassy. Since November 2023 the appointment requirement has been removed: you can submit your documents at the centre on any working day, and the notice states the centre accepts all applications that meet the requirements on the same day.
Fingerprints
Applicants retain ten fingerprints at the centre. The notice exempts: applicants under 14 or over 70; applicants who had fingerprints collected within the past five years at the Chinese Embassy in India or the New Delhi Chinese Visa Application Service Center using the same passport; and applicants with all fingers mutilated or uncollectible. A temporary measure also exempts applicants eligible for short-term single or double-entry visas with a stay of less than 180 days from biometric collection; the notice refers to a separate Embassy notice for when that temporary measure expires.
Fees
The August 2024 notice states that Embassy visa charges cover visa fees and express fees and refers to the separate "Fee Charges for Visas & Consular Services (2024 Renewed)" notice; it prints no fee amount itself. The Embassy's notice on the extension of the visa-fee reduction states that the reduced fees are extended until 31 December 2026, and that the express fee and the urgent fee are not adjusted and remain Rs1800 and Rs2700 per application. The visa-fee tiers on that page are published as images, and the text read for this page does not state those amounts; ask the visa centre or the Embassy for the current figure. The August notice also states that any other fees are charged by the visa centre or agency for their services.
What the official pages do not say
The notice does not state whether an X2 applicant must also submit an admission letter or Form JW201/202; ask the Chinese Visa Application Service Center handling your district. The articles read for this page do not state a processing period, and the online-application instructions are not reproduced here — see the visa section of this site.
Related questions
Do I need Form JW201 or JW202 for a course shorter than 180 days?
The notice lists those forms under the X1 row, which covers study of more than 180 days. The X2 row lists no supporting document at all, so the notice read for this page does not answer this; ask the visa centre for your district.
I live in Maharashtra — where does my application go?
To the Chinese Consulate-General in Mumbai, submitted through the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in Mumbai according to the notice's jurisdiction list.
Does a 12-year-old applicant have to give fingerprints?
No. The notice exempts applicants under the age of 14 from fingerprint collection.
Are the fingerprints I gave last year valid for a new application?
If they were collected within the past five years at the Chinese Embassy in India or the New Delhi Chinese Visa Application Service Center, and you are using the same passport, the notice exempts you.
Sources
- Notice on Updating Requirements for Chinese Visa Application (Update August, 2024) — Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India
- Notice on Extension of Visa-Fee Reduction — Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India
- Fee Charges for Visas & Consular Services (2024 Renewed), English notice — Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India
- New Delhi Chinese Visa Application Service Center — Chinese Visa Application Service Center
Checked 10 October 2026
This page is an unofficial summary. It is not legal or immigration advice, and it is not published by or affiliated with the bodies named above; if the official text or the instructions of the university, embassy, visa centre or exit-entry office handling your case differ, those prevail.