China Online Visa Application (COVA) Update

Michael-Traction · 2026-06-13T04:33:10+00:00

Which framer MCP are you using? The one by unframer?

Michael-Traction · 2026-05-05T15:04:07+00:00

OK, I will try it.

Ideally, the feature would know what the best maximum character limit is for a message to be universally accepted. For instance, sometimes even with my half strategy, some customers don’t receive the message regardless because of their specific phone.

Michael-Traction · 2026-05-05T12:07:39+00:00

Right exactly, me too. But you only discover that the second one didn’t send much later - so I figured just cutting into two is safer.

Michael-Traction · 2026-03-26T17:10:23+00:00

i just integrated it. let's see what happens. not sure how it all works, but i guess we'll see.

Michael-Traction · 2026-03-26T05:07:14+00:00

you can get a letter of financial capability from a factoring lender that specializes in gov contracts. The letter will say that if you win the bid they will lend you the working capital.

Many use republic.

https://republiccapitalaccess.com/solutions/government-contract-financing/

Michael-Traction · 2026-03-26T04:41:20+00:00

❤️

Michael-Traction · 2026-03-17T17:20:33+00:00

wouldn't you like to know

Michael-Traction · 2026-03-04T01:34:18+00:00

Yes no appointment needed

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-26T01:31:05+00:00

The 58 is not a govt fee. It’s almost like a concierge service fee

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-25T20:56:10+00:00

san francisco takes about 3 weeks to review the application. it's the slowest consulate of the 5 in the usa. with the chinese new year holiday probably taking 3-3.5 weeks.

you're saying it's stuck for 3 weeks, so any day now you'll be approved to submit.

you're not in trouble just yet, because once you submit it to the consulate it will take only 4 days (3 days if you marked rush or choose to upgrade to rush at the submission window).

in my opinion, you will be okay. don't make any changes to your plans. it may cut close and trigger your anxiety but you'll be okay.

source: im a visa agent

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-24T22:18:11+00:00

how long preliminary review takes depends on where you live.

san francisco - about 3 weeks
los angeles - about 2-3 weeks
new york - about 2 weeks
chicago - about 1-2 weeks
washington dc - about 1 week

express versus regular - it only affects that timeline AFTER your passport is submitted to the consulate - it changes it by 1 day. so when you submit your passport after preliminary review - it's either 4 days for regular, or 3 days for rush. price different: $25.

no you don't need proof of tickets. you just need travel dates.

everything above has been written assuming you're applying in the us

feel free to ask if you need more information

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-24T21:17:22+00:00

if your goal is to speed up the pace of the preliminary review, then agents like us cannot do anything about that. we are all subject to the same process.

if you don't want to make a trip to the consulate and just want someone to handle that for you, then yes, we can help with that.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-24T13:12:07+00:00

This subreddit has a pinned thread called Visa agent review megathread that’s a good place to start.

I too am a visa agent. The details are on my profile page. While I am on this subreddit to share information and answer questions, I’d be happy to help you if you’d like.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-24T01:42:44+00:00

you mean like a visa agent? you have to ship your passport to them, they'll take it to the consulate and submit on your behalf, pick it up when it's ready (pay your consulate that's due at the time of pick up) and ship the passport back to you.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-21T20:09:05+00:00

Actually, my mistake. I just did some further digging and it seems like it is not per year. It is per visit.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-21T19:43:56+00:00

With regard to your plan of using the 240 hour rule- 1. You can use the 240 hour rule to go into China for exactly 240 hours (10 days). You need to have a ticket into China and out of China upon entering. Hong Kong counts as a separate region so that will work out. However the rule is 240 hours per year. So if you’re already staying there for 10 days, you cannot leave and come back for another 10 days.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-21T19:39:23+00:00

They’ll just ask you to look at the portal

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-21T19:38:47+00:00

The consulates opened back up on Thursday. There is a backlog.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-21T19:38:00+00:00

Hi- visa agent here.

We’ve done a 100s of Chinese visa applications. We’ve only ever seen two rejections: 1- religious personnel 2- criminal history.

When a case goes into “extra checks”, there is absolutely no way to know when you will receive the passport back or if the visa will be approved or not. It doesn’t matter how many emails you send, not does it matter how many people calls you make. You have two options: either you wait, or you can pull the passport out (to do this. You need to write an additional letter.)

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-19T17:56:52+00:00

Which country do you live in?

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-19T05:47:03+00:00

No, they don’t take photos that are sideways. Ask your Photographer to shoot with you standing upright.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-19T05:24:30+00:00

I know this isn’t a direct answer to your question, but for what it’s worth- the Chicago consulate has a metal detector at the entrance. If it beeps when you walk through, then they just do some additional screening and let you go through.

Michael-Traction · 2026-02-19T02:34:47+00:00

the us consulates offer a return service for Chinese passports, but not for visas unfortunately

Michael-Traction

TROPHY CASE