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The U.S. State Department announced that U.S. consulates will be open in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang on Saturdays to accommodate the thousands of Chinese citizens applying for visas to visit the United States. This unprecedented response to demand for visa appointments has been dubbed the “Super Saturday Visa Program.”

Trade, commerce, people-to-people exchanges, and tourism between China and the United States have grown dramatically over the past couple of years. According to the U.S. State Department, in 2009, U.S. consulates in China issued more than 487,000 visas to Chinese travelers. Sixty-six percent of these visas were for business and tourism. Growth in 2010 has been even more dramatic. In 2010, the volume of visa applications received by U.S. consulates in China is up 28% over the same period last year.

To make a nonimmigrant appointment from within China, applicants should call the China-wide Visa Information Call Center at 4008-872-333. Callers outside mainland China should call 86-21-3881-4611. Appointments are available on a first come, first serve basis and applicants may make their appointment at any China post, regardless of the geographic district in which they live. 

 Please contact Colleen L. Caden, Esq. with any questions regarding scheduling visa appointments in China and anywhere in the world. 

To read a Legal Update (in both English and Chinese) authored by Caden on this subject and to learn more about Pryor Cashman's Immigration and China practices, please click here.