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🇨🇳 Student visa guide

China Student Visa from Pakistan: X1 Visa, CSC Scholarships and MBBS

China student visa from Pakistan: X1 or X2, the JW201 and JW202 forms, CSC scholarships through HEC, the residence permit within 30 days and MBBS checks.

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Last checked against official sources on 25 September 2026

QUICK ANSWER

How much does a Chinese student visa cost from Pakistan, and how long does it take?

There is no visa fee: the Chinese Embassy exempts Pakistani ordinary passport holders from all Chinese visa fees, though the visa centre charges its own service fee. The embassy usually processes an X1 or X2 visa in 4 working days after it receives your passport, once your university's admission documents are in hand.

Checked on the official sites on 13 October 2026. Fees and times change, so confirm them on the linked page before you pay. Visa centre charges and any consultant's fee are extra.

Visa fee
None
Pakistani ordinary passports are exempt; the visa centre's service fee is separate
Embassy of China in Pakistan ↗
Processing time
4 working days
usual embassy time after it receives the passport
Embassy of China in Pakistan ↗

At a glance

What you are applying for

To study in China for more than 180 days you need an X1 visa, issued on the strength of your university's admission notice and a JW201 or JW202 form. Within 30 days of arriving you apply for a residence permit, which replaces it. Shorter programmes use the X2 visa.

The visa is routine for a genuine admission. The decisions that matter are the university and the programme — above all for MBBS, where practising in Pakistan afterwards depends on the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) recognising your university and on passing its registration examination. Check that before you accept a place, not after.

Most refusals come down to one of four

  1. A JW form that matches
  2. An apostilled police certificate
  3. Funds for the whole course
  4. A confirmed admission
Shanghai skyline
China · Student visa
Visa
X1 for study of more than 180 days, X2 for 180 days or less
Key forms
Admission notice, plus JW201 (government-funded) or JW202 (self-funded)
Where you apply
The Chinese Visa Application Service Center, for the Embassy in Islamabad
After arrival
X1 holders apply for a residence permit within 30 days of entry
Scholarship
Chinese Government Scholarship: Type A through HEC, Type B through universities
MBBS
Check PM&DC recognition before you accept a place

Is this the right guide?

Who it is for

Applying on the wrong visa is one of the quickest ways to a refusal, so read both lists before anything else.

You’re in the right place if you are

  • Holding an admission notice

    Students with an admission notice from a Chinese university.

  • Applying for the Chinese Government Scholarship

    Applicants for the Chinese Government Scholarship, through HEC (Type A) or directly with universities (Type B).

  • An MBBS student who has checked PM&DC

    MBBS students who have checked their university against PM&DC's requirements.

  • An engineering or science student

    Engineering and science students drawn by China's scholarship coverage.

Document checklist

Documents you will need

The base list for this visa. Your own checklist is built around your case — a salaried applicant and a business owner do not submit the same file.

0 / 10ready in your file

Tick as you gather — saved on this device.

Get my checklist on WhatsApp

For the X1 visa

For your university and the residence permit

Step by step · with timings

How to apply, and how long it takes

In the order it happens. Each stage waits on the one before it, so the date you start decides the date you finish. Ranges, not promises — the mission owns the clock.

  1. First

    Choose the university and check recognition

    For MBBS, check the university and the specific programme against PM&DC's requirements before anything else. For other degrees, check the university is recognised, since HEC equivalence depends on it.

  2. 2–8 weeks

    Apply for admission or a scholarship

    Chinese Government Scholarship applicants apply through HEC for Type A — the 2026–27 call closed on 5 January 2026 — or directly to universities for Type B. Since the 2026–27 intake, bachelor's applicants must also sit the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA) before applying.

  3. Receive the admission notice and JW form

    The university sends the admission notice and a JW201 for government-funded students or a JW202 for self-funded students. Check that your name and passport number match your passport exactly.

  4. 1–3 weeks

    Police certificate, apostilles and medical

    Get a police character certificate and have it apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs unless it has a verifiable QR code, along with any academic documents the university asks for. If your university wants the Foreigner Physical Examination Form, have it completed at a hospital in Pakistan.

  5. 4 working days

    Apply for the X1 visa

    Submit the online form and documents at the Chinese Visa Application Service Center. The Embassy generally needs four working days after it receives your passport, and Pakistani passport holders pay no visa fee — only the centre's service charge.

  6. Within 30 days

    Apply for the residence permit within 30 days

    The X1 visa only gets you in. Within 30 days of entry, apply for a residence permit at the local public security exit-entry office, usually through your university's international office.

Rather have it handled?University admission and student visa — from shortlist to boarding pass.Our Study Visa service

Money

What it costs

The official figures are in the quick answer at the top, as checked on 13 October 2026. They change without notice, so each line here says what a cost depends on and where the current figure is published.

  • No visa fee

    The visa centre's service fee

    Pakistani ordinary passport holders are currently exempt from Chinese visa fees. The visa centre charges its own service fee, published on its website.

    FIGUREThe visa centre
  • Covered by the scholarship

    Chinese Government Scholarship

    A full Chinese Government Scholarship covers tuition and accommodation and pays a stipend; partial awards cover less. The terms are published with each year's call.

    FIGUREEach year's call
  • Set by the university

    Tuition and hostel

    Self-funded tuition and hostel fees are set by each university and differ widely, especially for MBBS.

    FIGUREEach university
  • Paid to third parties

    Tests, certificates and medicals

    The CSCA test, police certificate, apostilles and medical tests are each paid to the body that provides them.

    FIGUREEach provider

Where the current rules and figures are published

LAST CHECKED 25 SEP 2026

This is general guidance. Rules change, sometimes without notice, and your case will have specifics this page cannot know about. Check anything decisive on the official pages, or send us your situation and we will tell you where you actually stand.

Read before you apply

Why China student visa applications are refused

The grounds that come up most on files from Pakistan. Most of them can be dealt with before you submit.

  • A JW form that does not match

    A JW201 or JW202 whose details do not match your passport, or a form the university has not properly issued.

  • A police certificate without apostille

    A police character certificate without the apostille, or one that does not cover your whole life to date.

  • First-year funds only

    Funding evidence that covers only the first year — the Embassy expects the sponsor's balance to cover the whole course.

  • The old legalisation route

    Pakistani documents legalised the old way where the Embassy asks for a Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostille.

  • An admission the university cannot confirm

    An admission notice that the university cannot confirm, including offers arranged by agents it does not know.

  • A missed 30-day deadline

    Missing the 30-day deadline for the residence permit after arrival, which leads to fines.

  • Already been refused?

    Send us the refusal letter before you do anything else. It states the grounds, and they decide whether applying again is worth it or would just cost you the fee a second time.

    Send the letter

Start here

Ask us about your case

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Straight answers

China student visa questions

What people ask us before they apply.

Ask us something else

Only if PM&DC recognises the university and the programme, and you then pass PM&DC's National Registration Examination to register. Check PM&DC's current position and its rules for students taking medicine abroad before you accept a place, because they have changed more than once.

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