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X1 visa step by step: from admission notice and JW form to the visa application

Unofficial summary · Sources checked

An X1 application is prepared in this order: admission notice and the JW201 or JW202 form first, then the application form, your passport or other international travel document, qualified photos and the material on your purpose of entry (Regulations, Article 7), then filing with the Chinese embassy, consulate or entrusted overseas institution that serves your country of nationality or residence, then a possible interview (Regulations, Article 8). The steps below stop when the visa is issued; what happens after entry is covered on another page.

The Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, in force from 1 July 2017) and the Ministry of Education reply on forms JW201 and JW202 are published in Chinese. The English wording used here for both is this site's translation of the Chinese text.

Who applies, and where

Order No. 42, Article 35, requires a foreigner coming to study at a school covered by Article 2 of the Measures to apply before entering China for an X1 or X2 visa — the choice follows the length of study — from the Chinese embassy or consulate in his or her country of nationality or country of residence, or from another overseas institution entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, submitting the proof filed with the education department and the admission notice issued by the school. Chapters 2 to 5 of the Measures, Articles 7 to 34, apply to higher education institutions.

On length of study, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States states in its notice "Requirements and Procedures for Chinese Visa Application (Updated September, 2025)" that the X1 visa is issued to those who intend to study in China for a period of more than 180 days. That is the Washington embassy's own statement about applications it receives; the notice applies to applications made to the embassy through the COVA system launched there on 30 September 2025, and the notice itself says consulates-general and other missions may differ. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' general instruction, discussed below, does not restate a duration threshold in the text used here.

Step 1. Get the admission notice

The admission notice is asked for at every level of the rules:

  • Order No. 42, Article 35 lists the admission notice issued by the school among the material for the pre-entry application.
  • Regulations, Article 7(11) requires, for an X1 visa, "the admission notice issued by the admission institution and the certification documents provided by the competent authority."
  • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Visa Application Instructions of the People's Republic of China ask for "the Admission Letter issued by a school or other admitting entity in China."

Nothing in these texts describes what the notice must contain beyond its being issued by the admitting school or entity.

Step 2. Get form JW201 or JW202, and know who issues it

The Ministry of Education's reply of 15 February 2008 (to a question dated 13 December 2007) sets out the difference:

  • Form JW201, the "Visa Application for Study in China" for foreign students, is used for Chinese Government Scholarship students and for students coming through inter-governmental exchange channels. The Secretariat of the China Scholarship Council handles the formalities in consultation with the higher education institution concerned.
  • Form JW202 is used for self-funded students. Each higher education institution handles it for the international students it has admitted.
  • Any institution that recruits international students may provide form JW202.
  • A private university may apply to the local provincial education administrative department; once it has approval to recruit international students, it may obtain form JW202 as needed.
  • The reply describes both forms as important documents for the study visa, for entry, for registration at the school and for the residence formalities.

The reply does not describe the layout or fields of either form and says nothing about downloading them. It is also older than Order No. 42, which came into force on 1 July 2017; the two texts are used here separately, each for what it states.

Step 3. Assemble the standard application material

Regulations, Article 7 states the baseline: a foreigner applying for a visa shall fill out the application form and submit his or her passport or other international travel documents, qualified photos, and material relating to the purpose of application. Article 7(11) adds the X1-specific items — the admission notice from the admitting institution and the certification documents provided by the competent authority. For X2, the same item requires certification documents such as the admission notice issued by the admitting institution.

The Regulations use the general phrase "certification documents provided by the competent authority" and do not name form JW201 or JW202. The forms are named in the Ministry of Education reply, in the Ministry's general instruction and in the two embassy lists below.

Step 4. Check the list of the mission that will take your application

The Visa Application Instructions of the People's Republic of China, on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' China Consular Services website, is the Ministry's general instruction for all missions. It asks for the admission letter and the confirmation form (JW201 or JW202), and it states that requirements are as required by the Chinese Embassy or Consulate-General in your locality — so the mission's own page still governs your individual application.

Item Ministry of Foreign Affairs, general instruction Embassy in the United Kingdom Embassy in the United States
Admission letter Admission Letter issued by a school or other admitting entity in China Admission Letter issued by a college, university or other educational institution in China Photocopy of the Admission Letter issued by a school or other entity in China (listed under "Foreign higher education institution students")
Study form Confirmation Form for Study in China (JW201 or JW202) Original or photocopy of "Visa Application for Study in China" (JW201 or JW202) Confirmation Form for Study in China (JW201 or JW202)
Elementary stage Not mentioned in the text used here Original or photocopy of the "Confirmation Form for Elementary Stages Students Study in China" Confirmation Form for Elementary Stage Students Study in China, for foreign elementary, junior and senior high school students
School type split Not stated Not stated in the X1 entry Separates higher education institution students from elementary, junior and senior high school students

The US notice also records one exception it states in its own words: for foreign elementary, junior and senior high school students who reside in China for family reunion purposes, an X1 visa application is not compulsory.

The US notice marks some items in red for originals to be presented on site; that colour is lost in the text available here, so no individual item is attributed to that marking beyond the two lists the notice itself separates. The UK page's service days and the US notice's own wording apply to those missions, not to every mission.

Step 5. Be ready for an interview

Regulations, Article 8 lists the circumstances in which a foreigner shall be interviewed as required by the visa authority abroad:

  1. the applicant applies for entry into China for residence;
  2. information about the applicant's personal identity or purpose of entry requires further verification;
  3. the applicant has a record of being denied entry into China or ordered to exit China within the prescribed time limit; or
  4. other circumstances where an interview is necessary.

The same article provides that where the visa authority abroad requires relevant departments or entities in China to help verify information, those departments or entities shall cooperate.

The texts used here do not say that every X1 applicant is interviewed, and they do not say how an interview is scheduled or how long one takes. Article 8 gives the circumstances, not a rule that all long-course students are called in.

Step 6. File, and collect the visa

Once the material above is complete, the application goes to the mission named in Order No. 42, Article 35. The texts used here stop at the visa. The Ministry's general instruction and the UK page both add one line about what follows: the holder must, within 30 days of entering China, apply for a residence permit at the exit-entry administration of the public security bureau at or above the county level of the intended place of residence. How to do that is set out on the residence permit after arrival page, not here.

Where the official texts stop

  • Fees: none of the pages used here states a fee figure. The UK page refers readers to the latest notice on visa fees on the embassy website; the US notice links to a separate fees page; the Ministry's general instruction gives no fees.
  • Processing time: the Ministry's general instruction gives no processing times, and no processing time for an X1 application appears in the parts of the two embassy pages used here.
  • One list for all missions: the Ministry's general instruction refers applicants to the embassy or consulate-general in their locality, and each embassy page states what that mission asks for. No text used here says all missions use an identical list.
  • The Ministry of Education reply does not describe the fields of JW201 or JW202 or how a student obtains a copy.

Questions people ask

Do I apply for the X1 visa before I travel?

Yes. Order No. 42, Article 35 requires the application to be made before entry, at the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country of nationality or residence, or at another overseas institution entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the choice between X1 and X2 following the length of study.

Who issues form JW201 or JW202?

Form JW201 covers Chinese Government Scholarship students and students coming through inter-governmental exchange channels, and the Secretariat of the China Scholarship Council handles it in consultation with the higher education institution concerned. Form JW202 covers self-funded students, and the admitting institution handles it for the students it has admitted — this is the Ministry of Education's reply of 15 February 2008, in this site's translation.

Can the JW form or the admission letter be a photocopy?

The Embassy in the United Kingdom accepts the original or a photocopy of form JW201 or JW202. The Embassy in the United States lists a photocopy of the admission letter for higher education institution students. The Ministry's general instruction does not address copies, and it defers to the embassy or consulate-general in your locality.

Will I have to attend an interview?

Regulations, Article 8 requires an interview in the circumstances it lists, including where identity or purpose needs further verification. The texts used here do not state that every X1 applicant is interviewed.

Does the X1 visa cover the whole course?

The Ministry's general instruction and the UK page both state that the holder must apply for a residence permit within 30 days of entering China. The residence permit is a separate procedure, covered on the residence permit after arrival page.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026 (the Ministry's consular page, 10 October 2026).

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or immigration advice and is not published by the bodies named above; where the official text or the instructions of the visa office or exit-entry office handling your case differ, theirs prevail.

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