In what comes as a relief to several China-returned Indian students who have been stuck here due to the COVID-19-induced visa ban, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of India, via its website, has updated the 'Procedures and material requirements for foreigners' visas to go to China'.
"From August 24, 2022, the Chinese Embassy in India will optimise the visa application process and material requirements as follows...," it goes on to say.
Listed under Embassy news, the website then goes on to list that an applicant can log on to the website of the Chinese Visa Application Service Center in New Delhi and fill 'People's Republic of China Visa Application Form' and 'Chinese Visa Online Form Filling Confirmation Page' online. Then follows the other formalities like fingerprint collection, application materials, handling channels and so on.
Shah Nawaz, one of the students, says that, "After a long time of 2.7 years, a step has been taken towards the return of Indian Students back to China."
"After 35 countries, the Chinese embassy officially announced the visa processing for Indian students today," says Rachita Kurmi, a student of Shandong University in China, who has been campaigning for the return of students like herself back to China to complete their education. In fact, she goes on to add, "The application process for freshers is a cakewalk now as it has gone back to how it was during pre-COVID times."
Now that the official announcement has come from the Embassy, the pressure is on universities, she opines. Because if there are any delays from the university's side, the students can question them and so can the Embassy, she explains.
Rachita also highlights a few concerns for students as she says, "Getting NOC (No Objection Certificates) forms can be an issue. Secondly, days allotted by the Embassy for visa appointments in different cities are few in number. For example, in Delhi, it is done only on Tuesdays and Thursdays while in Mumbai, it's done only on Friday. But the working days might change depending on the number of applications," she suggests.
