If you've been putting off a China trip because you remembered the visa costing well over a hundred dollars, the math changed. The current tourist (L) visa fee for U.S. passport holders is $68, and that reduced rate is in place through December 31, 2026.
The catch is the date. This is a temporary reduction that has already been extended once, and the official guidance says it runs through the end of 2026. Once it lapses, the fee could go back to the prior amount. Nobody outside the Chinese government can promise what January 1, 2027 looks like, so if China is on your list, the cheap window is now.
What "$68" actually covers
The $68 is the consular fee for a standard tourist L visa for a U.S. citizen. A few things worth being precise about:
- The fee is set by the Chinese consulate, not by a third-party agency. If you apply through a visa service or courier, they tack on their own service charge on top of the $68. That extra is theirs, not the government's.
- $68 is the current published figure as of our May 2026 check. Consular fees can change without much notice, so treat the number as a strong signal, not a guarantee. Verify on your consulate's site before you pay.
- The reduction has a hard date attached. It's tied to the December 31, 2026 cutoff, and the official wording leaves open whether it gets extended again or reverts.
The paperwork got lighter, too
Separate from the fee, China simplified what U.S. tourists have to submit. The old checklist that scared people off — a confirmed round-trip itinerary, hotel bookings for every night, an invitation letter — has been pared back. For a standard L visa you now generally need:
- Your passport (valid well beyond your trip, with blank pages)
- The COVA online application form, filled out and submitted through China's online visa system
- A compliant passport-style photo
- Proof of residence (showing you're applying in the right consular district)
You no longer have to lock in flights, prepay hotels, or chase down an invitation letter before applying. That's a real change in how you sequence the trip: you can get the visa first, then book. If you want the full pre-trip sequence laid out, see our China trip checklist for Americans, which covers the visa step alongside payments, apps, and arrival logistics.
What you get: 10-year, multiple-entry, 60 days a stay
The headline benefit for U.S. travelers is the validity. The tourist L visa for Americans is commonly issued as a 10-year, multiple-entry visa, with each individual stay capped at up to 60 days. In plain terms: one $68 application can cover a decade of trips, as long as no single visit runs past the per-stay limit printed on your visa.
"Commonly issued" is doing honest work in that sentence — the validity, number of entries, and per-stay length are set by the consular officer based on your application, so read what you're actually granted rather than assuming. For a typical first-time American leisure traveler, the 10-year multiple-entry outcome is the standard expectation.
| Item | Current terms (through Dec 31, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Tourist (L) visa fee, U.S. citizen | $68 |
| Typical validity | 10 years, multiple entry |
| Max stay per entry | Up to 60 days |
| Required documents | Passport, COVA form, photo, proof of residence |
| No longer required | Flight itinerary, hotel bookings, invitation letter |
Do you even need the L visa?
Before you pay anything, it's worth checking whether your specific trip needs a visa at all. The U.S. is not on China's unilateral visa-free list, so a straightforward round-trip vacation — fly in, travel inside China, fly home — does require the L visa. But some itineraries qualify for visa-free entry instead:
- 240-hour transit visa-free if you're routing through China to a different third country or region and staying 10 days or less. The U.S. is on the eligible list. Details and the routing rules are in our 240-hour transit eligibility guide.
- Hainan 30-day visa-free if you stay only within Hainan Province. There's a catch: entry generally requires advance filing through a Hainan-registered travel agency, and the exact requirements vary by carrier and port of entry. Treat this one as "verify before you fly" — go by your airline's and the Hainan port's latest requirements, cross-checked against the NIA visa-free list.
These have strict conditions, and getting one detail wrong (like flying back to the same country you came from on a transit trip) breaks eligibility. If you're not sure which path fits, run your trip through the China visa eligibility checker on our homepage — it asks about your route and stay length and tells you whether you're likely looking at the L visa, transit visa-free, or another option.
What happens after December 31, 2026
Two honest possibilities once the reduction period ends:
- It gets extended again. This measure has already been pushed out once, so another extension wouldn't be surprising. But "wouldn't be surprising" is not a plan.
- It reverts. The fee could go back up to the prior amount.
If your trip is anywhere in the next year or so, applying while the $68 rate is live is the low-risk move. The 10-year validity means you're not committing to specific travel dates — you're just locking in the cheaper terms before the deadline. And because the paperwork no longer requires booked flights or hotels, there's nothing stopping you from applying early.
Before you apply
Fees, deadlines, and document rules for Chinese visas change, sometimes on short notice. The $68 figure, the 2026 deadline, and the simplified document list reflect our May 2026 check, but the only authoritative source is the Chinese government. Before you apply, confirm the current fee and requirements directly with the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. visa pages at us.china-embassy.gov.cn, or with the consulate covering your state.
Disclaimer: OffToChina is an information service, not a visa agency or government office. Always confirm visa fees, deadlines, and requirements with the Chinese Embassy/Consulate or China's National Immigration Administration (NIA) before you travel; their official guidance overrides anything you read here.