It’s finally happening! As a much-awaited relief to Indian students, China has declared that it would ease the more than two-year-long COVID-induced visa ban for Indians. At last!
The move will chiefly benefit about 23,000 Indian students who were pursuing courses in Chinese medical universities. And a few others.
The tweet by Ji Rong, Counsellor, Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China, welcoming the Indian students, has been widely circulated in the last few hours. Students are excited, and Ji Rong has definitely expressed her elation as well, but is everything bright and sunny? Let us find out.
When exactly is the ban being lifted?
The Chinese Embassy in India has updated the 'Application Procedures and Material Requirements of China Visa', which will be implemented from tomorrow, August 24, Wednesday.
Students are advised to visit the official websites of the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, which are https://bio.visaforchina.
What are the documents required?
Here is the list:
1) Visa Application Form of the People's Republic of China
2) Confirmation page of the online Visa Application form
3) Original passport and its photocopies of relevant pages. The passport needs to be valid for at least six months, with more than two blank pages
4) Expired passports within five years and the photocopies of their relevant pages
5) Two recently-taken colour passport-size photographs (full face, front view and bare head, with size: 48×33 mm).
6) COVID-19 vaccine certificate with verifiable QR code
7) Other necessary materials required by the Chinese Embassy in India and the Chinese Visa Application Service Center
8) If any student is a citizen of a third country, he/she has to submit an Indian long-term residence visa or work permits
Along with these documents, students have to submit the prints of all 10 fingers at the visa centres.
Are the ordeals of the waiting students over with this news?
Not quite so. Though the ban has been lifted, students have no clarity on the situation. In a conversation with EdexLive, Rachita Kurmi, a medical student from China, points out the problems. They are:
1) Provincial restrictions – Only a few provinces in China are calling students back. Others are closed. So, only universities in certain provinces will receive students. It is not yet clear which ones will be open and which ones will be closed
2) Batch entry – Many universities have stated that they would be receiving only certain batches of students, as their respective provinces have not yet permitted them to function full-fledged. There is no clarity on which batches will be called back.
3) Visa Centers – The visa centres are open only on certain days to process applications and appointments. “The Mumbai centre is open on Friday and Delhi centre is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now that applications will be pouring in, at such a rate, processing all of them will take months. Some solution needs to be in place for this,” Rachita says.
Apart from these issues mentioned by her, there are a couple of others as well.
4) Direct Flight – There is no direct flight to China yet. The returning students would have to opt for chartered flights which are highly expensive and a cause of concern.
5) Certificate of Returning to Campus – This is a necessary document for returning to Chinese varsities. It is issued by the concerned universities. But many have not sent it to their students yet and there is no clarity on when they would send it.
So, what should students do?
The concerned students are advised to closely follow updates from the Chinese embassy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and their respective universities. Students are asked to mail their universities the details on batches and the Certificate of Returning to Campus, among others.
Newly enrolled students (who would go to China from the current academic session) should be thorough with the rules and ask their universities in cases of uncertainty.
Is the ban being lifted for students only?
No. The embassy has also lifted the ban on the M-Visa, issued to those who intend to go to China for commercial and trade activities; for the F-Visa, issued to those who intend to go to China for exchanges, visits, study tours and other non-commercial activities and for the Z-Visa, meant for those who intend to work in China. The dependants of the people working in China can also apply for visas.
