China Multiple-Entry Business Visa for Indians: Who Gets It and How to Apply

1. Entries, Validity and Duration of Stay

A Chinese visa label states three things that are easy to confuse. Entries is how many times you may enter China on the visa: single, double or multiple. Enter before (the validity) is the last date on which an entry may be made. Duration of each stay is how many days you may remain after each entry, counted from the day after arrival. A one-year multiple-entry M visa with 30 days per stay lets you enter as often as you like for a year, staying up to 30 days each time; it does not let you stay a year. Overstaying a single entry is a recorded offence that damages future applications, so read the label at collection.

2. Who Is Granted Multiple Entries

The consular officer decides entries and validity case by case; there is no application form for "a one-year visa" that guarantees one. In practice multiple entries are granted to applicants who have held Chinese visas before and used them properly, whose invitation describes an ongoing trading relationship with repeated visits, and whose Indian company documents show an established business. A first-time applicant is usually granted a single or double entry; a second or third application with a clean record is where six-month and one-year multiple-entry visas are commonly issued. The China business visa guide covers the basic categories and process; this article is about the request on top of it.

3. What Strengthens the Request

• Previous Chinese visas, in the current or old passports, with entry and exit stamps that show stays within the permitted duration. Bring the old passports.
• An invitation that asks for it. The Chinese partner's letter should state that the business requires several visits in the coming year, name the expected frequency ("quarterly visits for production inspection") and request a multiple-entry visa valid for twelve months. A letter that describes one trip supports one entry.
• Evidence of the trading relationship: purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading or payment records between the two companies. Not on the standard list, but persuasive as supporting papers.
• The Indian company's cover letter stating the same need in the same words, with the applicant's role.
• A consistent COVA form that requests multiple entries and twelve months' validity in the relevant fields, with an itinerary for the first trip.

4. How to Apply for It

The application is an ordinary M application lodged at the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in your jurisdiction with the documents in the documents checklist. The difference is in three places: the entries and validity requested on the COVA form, the wording of the invitation letter described above (the invitation letter article covers how to ask the supplier), and the supporting evidence of repeated trade. Fees differ by entries at the consular fee stage, so check the centre's fee table; the processing time is the same as for any M visa, as the processing time article explains.

5. What the Officer May Grant Instead

These are patterns, not rules; the officer may grant less than requested without stating why, and a grant of fewer entries is not a refusal. Plan the first trip on the assumption of a single entry and treat anything more as a gain.

6. Using a Multiple-Entry Visa

Each entry starts a new stay count; leaving to Hong Kong and re-entering mainland China counts as an exit and an entry, which some travellers use to reset a 30-day stay, but repeated resets draw questions at the border. Keep a record of entries and exits. If your passport is renewed while the visa is valid, the visa in the old passport remains usable when you carry both passports, but check the current rule with the centre before travelling. A multiple-entry holder going to the Canton Fair does not need the organiser's invitation for the visa, but still needs the buyer registration for the badge, as the China visa for Canton Fair guide notes. Our China business visa assistance prepares the request for multiple entries and tells you beforehand what outcome your record supports.