Frentquently Asked Questions

Chinese Embassy Passport Renewal Application Form

How do I renew my passport?

Generally, you can contact the Education Section first. The Consul in charge of NWU is Consul ???. Useful addresses:

Education Section
Consulate General of P. R. China in Chicago
3322 W. Peterson Avenue, Chicago, IL 60659

Visa Office, Chinese Consulate 100 W. Erie Street Chicago, IL 60610
Telephone: (312) 803-0096 (Answering machine) (312) 803-0098

How do I obtain a certificate of Single Status?

If you are going back to China to get married, you need a certificate of single status from the Visa Office of the Chicago Consulate. To obtain such a certificate:
Step 1: You need to obtain such a certificate from the local notary public.
Step 2: The certificate from the local notary public should be approved by the clerk of court of the county in which the notary is commissioned.
Step 3: Mail the certificate to the Secretary of the State in which the document is executed for further approval.
Step 4: Mail the certificate along with some fee to the Visa Office of The Chinese Consulate.

How do I send funds back to China?

There are several ways to do so.

  • Using your personal check.
    Most people use this method. It's simple and easy. Just write one check as you usually do, payable to the person you want to send money to, then mail the check to him/her. After he/she receives it, he/she can cash it in a nearby Bank of China. However, the recipient might need to wait for some time(1-3 months) and pay a fee.
  • Using money order/cashier's check.
    Obtain a money order/casher's check from the post office or your bank, and mail it to the recipient. It's similar to the first method, however, it is supposed to be faster than the first one.
  • Using cable if it's urgent.
    You go to the bank in which you open your account and ask the CABLE service. But you need to know the detailed address of the branch of Bank of China which the money will be sent to. The money will reach the branch of Bank of China in 3 days. They will inform the receiver to take the money. The cable fee is $30-40.
  • Some people even sent small amount of cash (e.g. $200) via registered mail.

How do I get a returning visa before I go back to China?

As far as we know, there is no way for F-1 or F-2 to get returning visa in the US before going back to China. It might be possible if you pay some lawers big money. But F-1 usually do not have problems getting return visa in China.

The other alternative is to get an entry visa into the US in either Canada or Mexico. Because you can use each visa twice. so you use it once when you enter from Canada/Mexico into the US, and then use it again to enter the US from China. However, the visa ususally expires after six months.

There is no guarantee for this either. And as more and more people use this route, it might have become more and more difficult. The big obstacle is to call US embasy in Canada/Mexico to make an appointment for the interview within three weeks. Sometimes it is very hard to get appointments when it is busy. And there seems to have some change in the law on this. Please be very careful on this.

What do I do if my spouse was rejected to get an F-2 Visa?

There are some ways you can try.

  1. In addition to get the proof of your assistantship, go to the bank and ask for a certificate showing your personal fund.
  2. Get a letter from your department or advisor to show your current student status, your assistantship or that your family reunion is important both to you and to your project.
  3. Go to Internatioanl Office and ask them to write a letter to support your wife to get F-2 visa, or to notorize that you do have enough money, or ask them to fax a letter to the Consulate, or whatever they can do to help.
  4. Write a letter to the senator of Illinois (named Tom Ewin) and ask for his help.
  5. Write a complain letter to Beijing American office and next time your wife/husband goes there, shows them your letter first.
  6. Prepare well for the second time, and don't be too hurry to apply for the second time.
  7. There are too many F-1 visa applications in June, July and August, so try to avoid this period.
Maintained by Xuefeng Bai. Last Modified.