How to get a visa to China in Bali

China is an amazing country with countless interesting places. While in Bali, obtaining visas for many countries without a KITAS can be challenging, but this doesn't apply to China. You can get a visa for China in Bali independently, without intermediaries. I'll share my experience.

I love China and have been there many times. Recently, I decided to visit a place I've long dreamed of - Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, also known as the Avatar Mountains (featuring peaks that inspired the floating mountains of Pandora in the movie "Avatar"). Now, about the visa. To obtain it, you need:

1. A passport valid for more than 6 months with at least 2 blank pages.

2. Two printed color photographs (photo requirements provided on the website) and one in digital format.

3. Completed and printed application form.

4. Printed tickets to and from China in English or Chinese (they specifically asked for my Bali ticket despite the layover in Kuala Lumpur).

5. Printed hotel reservation for a minimum of 3 nights (reservations from different hotels for less than 3 nights each are acceptable).

6. Printed itinerary for China with dates and cities (I made mine in two languages).

7. Copies of your passport (main page with photo, first page, and the Chinese visa page if applicable).

First, register on the Chinese Visa Application Service Center website and fill out the form. It's extensive but not difficult. You'll need to upload a photo at the beginning, so it's better to prepare it in advance. After gathering all the documents, you can go to the office located at the Grand Palace Hotel Sanur in Sanur, to the right of the hotel's main entrance near the bike parking. Documents are accepted from 9 am to 1 pm on weekdays. When I submitted my documents, the staff asked for additional copies, and I got them easily from the neighboring office. They also requested my old passport with the Chinese visa. I paid 745,000 Indonesian Rupiah for the visa (keep in mind they only accept cash). I received a slip to collect my passport and was told to return after 8 working days. This visa center does not offer express services like in Jakarta. The next day, I was contacted by email asking for tickets from Turkey with dates, as the departure stamp from Istanbul in my passport was smudged. I sent the information, and my passport safely returned to Surabaya after 8 working days with the visa.

It is said that there are unwritten rules that can lead to visa rejection, such as staying in Turkey for more than 30 consecutive days and working in media-related roles. Perhaps for these reasons, my friend, with whom we were planning to go to China and submitted documents together, faced a refusal. Unpleasant, of course, but the situation is not hopeless. We consulted the visa center staff, and she mentioned she didn't know the reasons for the refusal. She advised going to Jakarta, where documents are submitted to a different consul, and consulates do not share a common database. Moreover, there is no record of refusal in the passport.

We filled out a new application, indicating that my friend works as an administrator in an individual entrepreneur (previously mentioned media-related work), and we decided not to submit the old passport with Turkish stamps. My friend flew to Jakarta, checked into a hotel near the visa center, and by 9 am was already in line to submit the documents. Despite the crowd, the process was well-organized, so the wait wasn't too long. He opted for express processing within 3 working days (counting from the submission day). The cost was 1,302,000 Indonesian Rupiah, accepting both cash and credit cards. Two days later, he successfully obtained the visa. Travel to China! Its wonderful!