Are you traveling to the 2018 World YoYo Contest in Shanghai? Make sure you are prepared!
Most people from outside of China will need to obtain a visa in advance to enter China.
Please check the information below carefully.
Countries that do NOT need a Visa:
If you are from one of the following countries you should not need to obtain a visa (of course, you will still need your Passport).
“Citizens of Singapore, Brunei and Japan holding ordinary passports may enter China without a visa through the ports of entry open to foreigners provided that they come to China for tourism, family visit, business or transit, and intend to stay in China for no more than 15 days.”
- San Marino
- Mauritius
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Ecuador
- Fiji
- Grenada
- Serbia
- Seychelles
- Tonga
- United Arab Emirates
- Brunei
- Japan
- Singapore
Countries that DO need a Visa
If you are from any other country you will probably need to apply for a visa. It may cost money and take some time but it should not be too difficult.
Visa Type:
The local host highly recommends you obtain an L-Visa (Foreigners who intend to go to China as a tourist).
Some people may think they need F-Visa since you are competing in a sport competition. However, China officials see the definition of “Sport” as professional sports like Baseball or Soccer or Olympic sports. This does not include sport yo-yo. If you apply for a F-Visa and claim that you are competing in “sport yo-yo,” you may confuse them and complicate or delay your visa process.
The easiest way for you is to apply for a Tourist Visa (L-Visa) and it does not need our invitation letter. Basically, it only requires proof of your flight ticket and hotel stay.
You can apply for a visa from the China Visa Application Service Center (Chinese Embassy Official Service)
What you need: (It is just a sample for your information. Please check with officials for your own situation.)
1. Basic Documents
(1) Passport
(2) Visa Application Form and Photo
(3) Proof of legal stay or residence status (applicable to those not applying for the visa in their country of citizenship)
(4) Photocopy of previous Chinese passports or previous Chinese visas (applicable for those who were Chinese citizens and have obtained foreign citizenship)
2. Supporting documents
1. Applicant’s round-trip flight booking and hotel reservation.
If applicants can’t provide the hotel reservation and are instead staying at a friend’s or relative’s place, please provide the tourism invitation letter and a copy of the inviter’s Chinese ID (front & back) or foreign residence permit and passport copy.
For US players, we HIGHLY recommend that you use a third-party service to manage your visa application process. The cost is slightly higher but they are very efficient and quite a few US players have used them for various yoyo-related trips to China with great success.
Visa Express
Please check the links below for more information.