Short answer
Yes, Pakistani ordinary passport holders need a visa for China. As of 24 October 2026, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad charges them no visa fee of any kind, but Gerry’s Chinese Visa Application Service Center charges its own service fee. You apply online first, then submit the passport and originals at the Gerry’s office for your consular district. The embassy generally needs four working days once it has the passport, and offers no urgent service.
Do Pakistanis need a visa to visit China?
Yes, on an ordinary passport. The friendship between the two countries shows up in the fee, not in the visa requirement.
What the exemption actually covers
The embassy publishes eight circumstances for Chinese visa exemption. The ones that mention Pakistan are narrow: Pakistanis holding a valid diplomatic or official passport planning to stay in mainland China and Hong Kong for up to 30 days, and Pakistanis holding a valid diplomatic passport planning to stay in Macau for up to 14 days. An ordinary green passport is not covered.
The visa-free lists you have read about
China has opened visa-free entry to a long list of countries in recent years, and the list changes. Pakistan does not appear on the embassy page that lists who may enter without a visa, which is the page that governs applications filed in Pakistan. If you see a WhatsApp forward saying Pakistanis can now fly to Beijing without a visa, check the embassy page before you believe it, and check the date on whatever you are reading.
Transit
The exemption list includes foreigners transiting via China by international flight, ship or train to a third country or region, holding valid travel documents and connecting tickets with confirmed seats, provided the stay in China does not exceed 24 hours and they remain within the corresponding ports. Leaving the airport, or an overnight beyond 24 hours, takes you outside that.
There is no individual tourist visa on the list
This is the part that surprises people, and it is worth being precise about.
What the published categories are
The embassy’s introduction to Chinese visas lists the categories of ordinary visa as C, D, F, J1 and J2, M, Q1 and Q2, R, S1 and S2, X1 and X2, and Z. There is no L in that list. In the detailed application instruction for Pakistan, the only tourist entry is Group L, which the embassy describes as issued to tourists visiting China in a group of at least five people, on an invitation letter for a tourist group issued by the authorised tourism office in China, usually the local Culture and Tourism Bureau at the request of a Chinese travel agency.
What that means for one traveller
If you are going alone or as a couple, you are not applying as a tourist. You are applying under the letter that matches the real purpose: F for a non-commercial visit or exchange, M for trade, Q2 for a short visit to a relative who is a Chinese citizen or permanent resident, S2 for a short visit to a relative working or studying in China, or S2 for medical treatment. Get this wrong and the embassy lists it as a refusal reason in its own words: a discrepancy between the stated purpose of visiting China and the applied type of visa.
Which visa letter fits your trip?
| Visa | Who it is for | Length |
|---|---|---|
| F | Non-commercial activities: exchanges, visits, inspections, religious, cultural and academic exchanges, public benefit work | Short stay |
| M | Commercial and trade activities | Short stay |
| Group L | Tourists travelling in a group of at least five people | Short stay |
| Q2 | Short relative visit to a Chinese citizen or a foreigner with Chinese permanent residence | 180 days or less |
| S2 | Short relative visit to a foreigner living in China for work or study, and medical treatment or accompanying a patient | 180 days or less |
| Q1 | Long family reunion with a Chinese citizen or permanent resident, and foster care | More than 180 days |
| X1 and X2 | Study in China, over and under 180 days | As issued |
Family, in two different letters
Pakistani families get this wrong often enough to be worth repeating. Q2 is for visiting a Chinese citizen or someone with Chinese permanent residence. S2 is for visiting a foreigner who lives in China for work or study, which is what a Pakistani son on a work permit or a daughter on a student visa actually is. The document list differs: Q2 asks for the inviter’s Chinese national ID card or their passport and permanent resident card, while S2 asks for the inviter’s passport information page and their residence permit or valid visa.
Study
X1 is for study of more than 180 days and X2 for 180 days or less. The embassy asks for the printout of the Confirmation Form for Study in China, Form JW201 or JW202, submitted online, a photocopy of the admission letter, and either evidence of a scholarship or proof of financial resources of 2,500 US dollars per academic year, with the supporter’s closing balance covering the whole period of study. Our guide to studying in China from Pakistan covers that route in full.
What does a Chinese visa cost from Pakistan?
The visa itself is free for you. The service around it is not.
The embassy fee
The embassy states that holders of diplomatic and official passports from every country except the United States, as well as holders of ordinary passports from Pakistan, are exempt from paying all types of visa fees. That is the whole of the Chinese government charge for a Pakistani applicant: nothing.
| Passport | Fee |
|---|---|
| Pakistani ordinary passport | Exempt from all visa fees |
| United States passport | PKR 39,400, and PKR 46,700 for a journalist visa |
| Canadian passport | PKR 15,200 |
| Third country, single entry | PKR 7,200 |
| Third country, double entry | PKR 10,800 |
| Third country, six month multiple entry | PKR 14,400 |
| Third country, one year or more multiple entry | PKR 21,600 |
What you do pay
The embassy says it entrusted Gerry’s Visa Application Service Center with the collection of visa application documents in May 2019, that Gerry’s charges a service fee as a service provider which is not associated with the embassy, and that applicants should contact Gerry’s directly for the fee structure. Ask for that figure in writing before you hand anything over, and ask whether it is the regular or the express tier.
Hong Kong and Macau are separate
The embassy lists a China Hong Kong visa at PKR 13,700, including a PKR 5,500 visa communication fee charged by the embassy in Pakistan, which is exempt if you apply through the Hong Kong Immigration Department website. An entry permit to Hong Kong is PKR 2,700 and a Macau visa is PKR 13,700 on the same basis. A mainland visa does not cover Hong Kong or Macau, and a trip to all three needs separate applications.
What does every applicant have to submit?
The embassy splits the file into characterised documents, which depend on your visa letter, and common documents, which almost everyone submits.
- A passport valid for more than six months with at least one blank visa page.
- A copy of the passport personal information page.
- A copy of the front and back of the Pakistani national identity card.
- For a third country national living in Pakistan, evidence of lawful stay or residence, such as a visa or a Pakistan Origin Card.
- For a former Chinese national applying for the first time after naturalising elsewhere, the original Chinese passport and a copy of its information page.
- If your name has changed and differs from the new passport, an official certificate of the name change, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
- A valid police character certificate, for applicants aged 10 and above.
The police certificate, and the QR code trap
This single document causes more returned Chinese applications from Pakistan than anything else, and the embassy says so itself.
What is required
Applicants aged 10 and above must submit a police character certificate covering the period since birth until now. Applicants under 10 are not required to submit one. The certificate needs to be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan if it does not contain a verifiable QR code.
The failure the embassy describes
In its list of common reasons for returned applications, the embassy describes an apostilled police character certificate whose QR code, when scanned, cannot display the content of the certificate, or displays another person’s certificate. Its own suggestion is blunt: scan the QR code yourself for verification before submitting the application, and contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan directly if there is a problem.
Do that check
Take your own phone, scan the sticker, and look at what comes up. If it is blank, or it is somebody else, you have found your refusal before the embassy did. The same QR failure is listed for marriage certificates, birth certificates and family registration certificates in Q and S applications.
How much money do you need to show?
The embassy gives a formula rather than a round number, which is unusual and useful.
The daily standard
For F and M applicants who cannot produce an Invitation Letter (TE) or Verification Letter, the embassy asks for a personal bank statement for the latest six months, with a closing balance enough to cover all expenses during the real stay in China, no less than 100 US dollars per day or the equivalent in Pakistani rupees. In its list of returned applications it puts the same rule plainly: the standard of proof of financial resources is to multiply the number of days of your duration of stay in China by 100 US dollars.
Worked through
A twelve-day trip therefore needs a closing balance of at least 1,200 US dollars, or the rupee equivalent, on a six-month statement. A thirty-day trip needs 3,000. The embassy also lists fake proof of financial resources as a reason applications come back, so this is not a figure to decorate.
Medical treatment
Where the purpose of the trip is medical treatment, the embassy lists the failure to provide evidence of financial support of at least 10,000 US dollars among the reasons Q and S applications are returned.
What else is recommended
For F and M, the embassy recommends a round trip itinerary or e-ticket booking information, and a hotel reservation. For Q2 and S2 it lists the round trip itinerary or e-ticket booking as a required document rather than a recommendation.
The invitation letter, and the shape of the seal
Chinese visa files are built around the invitation, and the embassy describes its contents and its stamp in unusual detail.
What an ordinary invitation letter must contain
- Your personal information: name, gender, date of birth and passport number.
- The visit: purpose, arrival and departure dates, places to visit, your relationship with the inviting organisation and the source of expenses.
- The inviting organisation: accurate and complete name, contact number, address, the formal stamp, and the signature of the legal representative or the inviter, with the date.
The stamp
The embassy notes that the State Council of China requires the seals of administrative agencies, enterprises, institutions and social groups to be circular, and that forging seals or using forged seals is unlawful. The stamp can be the official seal registered with the local public security authority, or a special seal used only for foreign affairs matters. Among its reasons for returning an application, it lists a stamp whose shape and other features do not comply with Chinese law, or which is found on verification to be a forgery.
When you can skip the formal invitation letter
For F and M, the Invitation Letter (TE) or Verification Letter can be exempted in two cases. The first is a person employed in a Pakistani government department, official organisation or institution whose private passport is annotated Government Officer or Government Employee, who also submits a no objection certificate to travel abroad issued by the employer and apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, plus the six-month bank statement. The second is a person who has visited China more than three times since 1 January 2016, who submits the passport information page, copies of the visa pages carrying the Chinese entry and exit stamps for those three visits, and the six-month bank statement. In both cases the ordinary invitation letter from the inviting organisation is still required.
Where do you submit, and which city covers you?
The consular district decides this, and it is not simply the nearest office.
| Where you live | Mission that decides | Where you submit |
|---|---|---|
| Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan | Embassy in Islamabad | Gerry’s Center, Islamabad |
| Sindh and Balochistan | Consulate General in Karachi | Gerry’s Center, Karachi |
| Punjab, excluding Rawalpindi | Embassy in Islamabad, on behalf of the Consulate General in Lahore | Gerry’s Center, Lahore |
The embassy states that the Consulate General in Lahore does not currently accept visa applications, and that it handles Punjab applications on that consulate’s behalf. It lists the Islamabad office at Gerry’s Building, Park Road, adjacent to Punjab Cash and Carry, and the Lahore office at 20, Ex American Centre Building, Queen’s Road, opposite Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore 54000. Both open from 9:00 to 15:00 Monday to Friday, excluding holidays, and the enquiry helpline is 051-8439385.
How the process actually runs
Online first
You complete the Visa Application Form of the People’s Republic of China on the official online system and upload all the application documents. The embassy says Gerry’s Center and the embassy view roughly all the documents online and return cases with a visible deficiency, asking you to supplement and adjust.
Then in person
Once you receive the Online Visa Approved email, you submit the passport, the visa application certificate and all the original documents at Gerry’s Center. Gerry’s forwards the passport to the embassy.
Then the four working days
The embassy generally needs four working days to process the application after receiving the passport, and does not provide urgent or extra urgent service. It warns that processing time may vary for reasons such as document supplementation or an embassy interview, and that if an application is returned and you reapply, it counts as a new application with the clock restarted from the date the new application reaches the embassy.
Filling the form properly
The embassy is specific about the form. Your surname, given name, gender, date of birth, nationality and passport number must match the passport information page exactly, or the application is returned. The photograph must be a recent two-inch colour digital photo on a white background, and a blurry one is listed as a reason for return. Work experience for the past five years must be entered as instructed, and the position fields completed accurately. In the travel section, the inviting organisation field takes the organisation’s name exactly as on its Chinese business licence, not the contact person’s name.
Validity, entries and duration of stay
Three different things, and people routinely confuse them.
- Period of validity. Shown as enter before, or expiry date on a biometric visa. It is the window in which you may enter China. Unless the issuing authority says otherwise it runs from the date of issue to 24:00 Beijing time on the expiring day.
- Entries. The number of times you may enter within that window. Once the entries are used up, or the visa expires, it is no longer valid even if entries remain, and you need a new one.
- Duration of stay. How long you may remain after each entry. The embassy says it begins from the next day of entry.
Overstaying violates the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China and the related regulations, and the embassy says it may result in a fine or other penalty. Holders of D, J1, Q1, S1 and X1 visas with a 000 duration of stay must apply for a foreigners’ residence permit within 30 days of entry.
Why applications come back
The embassy publishes its own list, which is more useful than any guesswork. Its general reasons for refusal are dishonest behaviour such as fabricating the purpose of the visit or submitting fake or modified documents, wrong and insufficient information, a discrepancy between the stated purpose and the visa type applied for, insufficient financial resources, and other circumstances in which the embassy considers a visa unsuitable.
The specific failures it names
- Fake invitation letters, which the embassy says can easily be verified.
- An invitation letter missing the arrival and departure dates, or the signature of the legal representative.
- A company seal of the wrong shape, or one found to be forged.
- A police character certificate whose QR code shows nothing, or somebody else.
- Fake proof of financial resources.
- A contact number for the Chinese inviter that cannot be reached.
- An applicant who gives no mobile number of their own.
- A digital photograph too blurry to verify identity.
- For Q and S visas, originals of marriage, birth or family registration certificates not provided, or a relationship too distant for the category.
What happens at the Pakistani airport?
FIA immigration officers check that your passport and visa are genuine and valid and ask about the trip. Visitors should carry a return ticket, accommodation details and proof of funds, and the answers at the counter should match the file that was filed in Islamabad or Karachi.
Under the Emigration Ordinance 1979, a Pakistani going abroad on a work visa must be protected by the Protector of Emigrants, and FIA lists a protector stamp among the documents for work visa travellers. It is not required of a genuine visitor. Only a licensed Overseas Employment Promoter may recruit people in Pakistan for work abroad, and section 22 of the same ordinance makes it an offence for anyone else to take money for providing, or pretending to provide, a job abroad. If an agent is selling you a China trip with work attached, the guide to checking a visa consultant in Pakistan sets out the licence checks and where to report fraud.
How do you apply, step by step?
The order matters here, because the online review happens before you ever hand over a passport.
Match the purpose to a visa letter
The embassy asks you to apply for the visa type that matches the primary purpose of the visit. F is for non-commercial visits and exchanges, M for commercial and trade activities, Q2 for a short visit to a relative who is a Chinese citizen or permanent resident, and S2 for a short visit to a foreigner living in China or for medical treatment.
Get the invitation letter from China
Ask the inviting organisation or relative in China for the invitation letter in the form the embassy describes. For F and M visas it must carry the full company name, contact number, address, the formal circular seal and the signature of the legal representative, with your arrival and departure dates.
Get the police character certificate and check the QR code
Every applicant aged 10 and above must submit a police character certificate covering the period since birth until now. If it has no verifiable QR code it must be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Scan the code yourself and check that it shows your own certificate.
Prepare six months of bank statements
The embassy sets the standard as the number of days of your stay multiplied by 100 US dollars, or the equivalent in rupees, as the closing balance on a personal bank statement covering the latest six months. For medical treatment the figure is at least 10,000 US dollars.
Complete the online form and upload everything
Fill the Visa Application Form of the People’s Republic of China on the official online system and upload your documents. Select the Chinese mission for your consular district. Gerry’s Center and the embassy review the uploads and return anything with a visible deficiency before you attend.
Submit the passport and originals at Gerry’s Center
After you receive the Online Visa Approved email, take your passport and all original documents to the Gerry’s Chinese Visa Application Service Center for your district. The centres open 9:00 to 15:00 from Monday to Friday, excluding holidays.
Collect the visa and check it at the counter
The embassy generally needs four working days once it has the passport, and offers no urgent service. Collect from Gerry’s Center on the pickup date shown on your pick-up form, and check the visa details at the front counter before you leave.
What goes wrong most often?
Applying as a tourist
There is no individual tourist category on the embassy’s list for Pakistan. People pick the nearest thing, write a purpose that does not match it, and meet the embassy’s own refusal line about a discrepancy between the stated purpose and the visa type.
Not scanning the QR code
The embassy tells you to do it. Most applicants do not. A police certificate whose code shows a blank page or another person’s record costs you the whole application and the trip back to the counter.
Assuming free means easy
No visa fee is a real advantage, and it makes people casual. The documentary standard is unchanged: six months of statements, 100 dollars a day, a properly sealed invitation, a lifetime police certificate.
Thin funds for a long trip
A traveller plans 30 days and shows 1,000 dollars. The published standard for 30 days is 3,000. The arithmetic is the embassy’s, not the officer’s opinion.
Treating four working days as the total
Four working days is the embassy’s processing time once it has your passport. It does not include the online review, the time to fix a deficiency, or an interview. A file that gets returned restarts the clock entirely.
Filing in the wrong city
A Lahore resident queueing in Islamabad, or a Quetta resident assuming Islamabad covers them, loses a day. Punjab outside Rawalpindi submits in Lahore even though the embassy in Islamabad decides the case, and Sindh and Balochistan go to Karachi.
A realistic example
This is a hypothetical illustration, not a real client. Imran is 38, runs a small surgical instruments business in Sialkot and wants to spend ten days in Guangzhou meeting a supplier he has dealt with for two years.
- Purpose first. His trip is commercial, so it is an M visa, not an F and certainly not a tourist application.
- Six weeks out. He asks the Chinese supplier for an ordinary invitation letter carrying his passport number, the arrival and departure dates, the places he will visit, the relationship, who pays, and the company’s circular seal with the legal representative’s signature.
- Five weeks out. He applies for his police character certificate covering since birth until now, and scans the QR sticker on his own phone to confirm it displays his own certificate.
- Four weeks out. He prints six months of personal bank statements. Ten days at 100 dollars is 1,000 dollars, and his closing balance is comfortably above the rupee equivalent. He adds his letter of credit and bill of lading from last year’s shipment as evidence of the business relationship.
- Three weeks out. He fills the online form himself, types the supplier’s company name exactly as it appears on its Chinese business licence, uploads a clear two-inch photograph on a white background, and selects the embassy in Islamabad because Sialkot is in Punjab outside Rawalpindi.
- After the approval email. He submits his passport and originals at Gerry’s Lahore office, collects on the date printed on the pick-up form, and checks the visa at the counter before leaving.
The version that goes wrong
His cousin Bilal, 26, is offered a package by an agent: a China visa and a factory job in Zhejiang for PKR 650,000, with the work permit to be arranged after landing. The agent produces an invitation letter with a square stamp and no legal representative’s signature, tells him to write tourism as the purpose, and keeps the passport. The embassy has already said it verifies invitation letters and that it returns applications over the shape of a seal. Bilal is most likely to lose the money before he ever reaches an airport, and if he does reach China on a visit visa and work there, he is in breach of his status.
Key takeaways
- Pakistani ordinary passport holders need a visa for China; only diplomatic and official passports are exempt, for up to 30 days in the mainland and Hong Kong.
- The Chinese government charges Pakistani ordinary passport holders no visa fee at all, but Gerry’s Center charges its own service fee, which you should get in writing.
- There is no individual tourist visa on the published list; the only tourist entry is Group L for a group of at least five people.
- Everyone aged 10 and above needs a police character certificate covering since birth until now, and the embassy tells you to scan its QR code yourself before filing.
- The funds standard is the number of days of your stay multiplied by 100 US dollars, shown on a six-month personal bank statement.
- Apply online first, then submit the passport and originals at the Gerry’s office for your consular district; the embassy generally needs four working days after that.
- A returned application that is refiled counts as a new application, with the processing clock restarted.
Frequently asked questions
Do Pakistanis need a visa for China?
Yes, on an ordinary passport. The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad lists eight circumstances for visa exemption, and the only one covering Pakistan is for valid diplomatic and official passport holders staying up to 30 days in mainland China and Hong Kong, and diplomatic passport holders staying up to 14 days in Macau. An ordinary Pakistani passport needs a visa.
How much is the Chinese visa fee for Pakistanis?
Nothing. The embassy states that holders of ordinary passports from Pakistan are exempt from paying all types of visa fees. For comparison, the same page lists 39,400 rupees for a US passport holder, 15,200 for a Canadian and 7,200 for a third country single entry. Gerry’s Center charges its own service fee, which is separate from the embassy.
Is there an individual tourist visa for China from Pakistan?
Not on the embassy’s published list. Its table of ordinary visa categories runs C, D, F, J1, J2, M, Q1, Q2, R, S1, S2, X1, X2 and Z, and the only tourist entry in the application instruction is Group L, issued to tourists visiting China in a group of at least five people with an invitation letter for a tourist group. An individual traveller should look at F, Q2 or S2 depending on the real purpose, and confirm with Gerry’s Center before filing.
How long does a Chinese visa take from Pakistan?
The embassy says it generally needs four working days to process the application after receiving the passport, and that it does not provide urgent or extra urgent service. That clock starts when Gerry’s Center forwards the passport, not when you upload the form, and it can stretch if documents have to be supplemented or an interview is called.
Do I need a police character certificate for a Chinese visa?
Yes, if you are 10 or older. The embassy asks every applicant aged 10 and above to submit a valid police character certificate covering the period since birth until now. Applicants under 10 are not required to submit one. If the certificate does not carry a verifiable QR code it must be apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
How much money do I need in my account for a Chinese visa?
The embassy sets the standard as the number of days of your stay in China multiplied by 100 US dollars, or the equivalent in Pakistani rupees, shown as the closing balance on a personal bank statement for the latest six months. For a visit for medical treatment it lists evidence of financial support of at least 10,000 US dollars.
Where do I submit a Chinese visa application in Pakistan?
At Gerry’s Chinese Visa Application Service Center, by consular district. The embassy in Islamabad takes applications from residents of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. The Consulate General in Karachi covers Sindh and Balochistan. The Consulate General in Lahore does not currently accept applications, so Punjab residents other than Rawalpindi submit at Gerry’s Lahore office and the embassy handles the file.
Can I visit a relative in China on a Q2 visa?
Yes, if the relative is a Chinese citizen or a foreigner with Chinese permanent residence and the visit is 180 days or less. The embassy asks for an invitation letter from that person, a copy of their Chinese national ID card or passport and permanent resident ID card, the original and a photocopy of the family relationship certificate, and a round trip itinerary or e-ticket booking.
What if my family lives in China on a work or study visa?
That is an S2 visa, not Q2. The embassy issues S2 to family members paying a short relative visit of 180 days or less to foreigners who reside in China for work or study. The inviter sends an invitation letter, a copy of their passport information page and residence permit or valid visa, and the family relationship certificate, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan if it was issued in Pakistan.
Can I skip the invitation letter if I have travelled to China before?
You can skip the Invitation Letter (TE) or Verification Letter, but not the ordinary invitation letter. The embassy exempts applicants who have visited China more than three times since 1 January 2016, on production of the passport information page, copies of the visa pages with the entry and exit stamps for those three visits, and the six-month bank statement. A government officer or employee with the annotation in their passport, an apostilled no objection certificate and the same bank statement is also exempt.
Can I transit through China without a visa?
Only in narrow circumstances. The embassy lists an exemption for foreigners transiting via China by international flight, ship or train to a third country or region, with valid travel documents and connecting tickets with confirmed seats, provided the stay in China does not exceed 24 hours and they remain within the corresponding ports. Anything beyond that, including leaving the airport overnight, needs a visa.
Can Ch. Bilal Rasheed help with a China visit visa?
He offers a consultation in Lahore, on WhatsApp or by phone, and will read an invitation, an agent quote or a job offer with you before you pay anyone. No one can guarantee a visa or entry to China. He is an immigration advisor in Pakistan, not a Chinese lawyer, and he does not offer job placement.
