If you're dropping off your visa application, don't wait in the long line outside (that is for pickup). Just walk through the security door and grab a number. The actual office to apply for Chinese visa is on third floor of 500 Shatto Pl. building. Not sure why the address is off on google. We arrived at Friday 1:00 and was helped at 2:30. So set aside at least an hour or two for the wait. read more

No appointment needed. They accept walk In. Whole process is Quick and very smooth if you will bring all papers with you. No long lines at all. I was there at 8:30 (30 min before opening) and I first in the line. Do not forget to bring your mask ! read more

One word to describe this office is efficient! Before going there make sure your passport, & supporting documentation are correct and double checked; Otherwise you may have come back twice. Upon arrival the security guard has two jobs - first he scans my handbag and 2nd - he verifies the purpose of my visit. He asked 2 qualifying questions; applying or picking up? Applying, he provides a lucky number 088 and I walked into the waiting room with scores of other applicants. I came in to summit a visa application for a friend that is scared of driving in LA and has to travel for business to China. I was anxiously waiting among scores of people from all walks of life even families w crying newborn babies. Luckily I only had to wait for exactly 40 minutes. (Counting every minute). Once my number is called, the attentive & efficient representative takes the my number then she verifies all required documents. Everything is in order she provided a pink receipt in Chinese & verbally said "pick up on Friday" This took less than 4 minutes. It was Perfect! No additional questions - Nada! FYI-Don't lose the pink receipt! The receipt number is attached to the passport visa application. I came in on Tue, and found out that the parking spaces directly on the side of the building are marked as no parking on Tuesday. Because there was street sweeping on 5th street? this made it take longer to find street parking. I was lucky to find a 2 hour-parking spot directly across the street from the main entrance. However, this created anxiety & worry "what if takes longer than 2 hours" - Luckily it only took 45 minutes. 140.00 fee pay for multiple entries Pay with visa, Mastercard or check. Today, Friday I picked up the visa and paid 140.00 for multiple entries in this case visa is valid for 1 year because the passort is going to expire in 1 year. To pick up the Visa it took a bit longer even though I arrived by 9AM- it took 55 minutes. Its open Mon to Fri from 9AM to 2PM. Check the website for required documents. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Visa is 140.00USD ready in 2 days! - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

The Fee: For tourist visa, doesn't matter if it is one entry or multiple entries in 10 years.... all $140!! Regular pickup time is 4 business day. Express service, 3 business day pickup with an additional fee of $25. Rush service, 2 business day pickup with an additional fee of $37. The Application: - TYPED!!! Use their pdf file on their website to type out the visa application. - If you are traveling with a tour, ask your travel agency for your flight confirmation & detail itinerary. Those are a must document to include with your visa application. - a copy of your passport (photo page only). * they do have a copy machine there in case you need it. read more

Bring quarters for street parking, mindful of street sweeping signs, particularly for Monday & Tuesday = no parking. The place is very well organized, get your application papers and passport ready. If your name has changed, through marriage or naturalization, bring those papers too. When I went there the first time, only a dozen people sitting around, 4/5 windows open, waited maybe 10 minutes. 4 days later to pick up my visa, only 4 people waiting, on a Thursday. In and out in 15 minutes. read more

I just do a pick up and not sending in application on this trip. The big Chinese red flag on top of the building fool me. The visa office is adjacent to this building on the third floor. Both building had banners of Falun Gong in front of it. There were a lot of people in the office of the third floor and all of them wearing mask. Therefore, do not be an odd ball and go in without a mask. People coming here are not customer but applicant who request service from this visa office. There is no customer service here and the employee were trained to finish all the jobs in an efficient manner. They were not paid to do chit chat with the applicant. I was in and out in 15 minutes and no one gave me any attitude. The girl between the window was professional. I was happy. There are free parking on the street on 4th street which is quite near. read more

I'm so grateful for my experience here. It made me realize that the DMV is actually incredible and has a wonderful staff.

Obtaining a visa was very simple- now that a lot of restrictions changed on Jan 2024. I completed my application online and printed the paperwork. I also printed/obtained the required documents such as a copy of your driver's license- front and back, a passport photo, proof of residency, original passport with 6 available blank pages and more than 6 months of validation. Please see a list of items to bring as these items can change. Once completed, I went on a Tuesday in person. I got there at 8:50am and there was already a big line on the 3rd floor. There were 2 lines. The big line was for applications and the small one is to pick up your visa. I went through security and formed another line to obtain a number. Before you obtain a number, be ready to show your printed paperwork. They won't inspect it, they just want to see it. Then I proceeded to sit down. They will call your number like the DMV. The representative checked all of our documents and gave us a pink slip and told us to come back on a certain day to get our documents back. You do have to leave your passport. It took us 22 min to finish from start to finish. Anyone can come and pick up the paperwork as long as they have the original slip. It was a fairly easy process. Just make sure you have all the required documents, otherwise, you will have to come back another day. I am happy we got ours processed as we will in San Diego and would have to come back to LA. They are open Monday through Friday only. Parking can be a challenge, but we found street parking across the street! read more

Bad reviews at the Chinese Consulate for a reason! The website is garbage and no one answers the phone. The workers there were friendly but it was a wasted trip because I need to go to the embassy in DC. If only that was communicated!! You do need a copy of your passport, DL, and itinerary, just a heads up. read more

Filling up COVA was a challenge. Informations on family , occupation, travel histories , China tour company & license, flight and tour itineraries. None of those proofs was requested at the counter except passport & driver license( make photocopy) . Uploading photo is tricky . Go to photo studio for super white background, exact dimensions and file size . Photos I took at fingerprinting , UPS stores was not usable . LA office do not offer online appointment booking through AVAS . Only walk-ins . Was there 9:30 AM . Many street metered parking was available except Tuesday ,one side of road is closed for street sweeping. Was lucky , not many people waiting in the office , and several counters was serving . I was attended right away and was processed in 30mins . Will return in 3 days for pickup & payment . Exact amount not known till day off , was told to bring Visa or MC for payment method . read more

Greetings may I defect to the people's republic as a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist? I am prepared to immerse myself in Chinese language and national re-education and return as a sp...advocate for the CCP. You guys should do more ‍ advocacy stuff. America is a mess, we just kill poor people and people of color at random, at least the CCP harvests the organs of its executed citizens, so that other citizens may survive thanks to their sacrifices. Who will stand for World Communism now that the USSR and post-Stalinism has been overthrown by the US capitalist oligarchy and discredited with lies like the inflated death toll of the purges of Stalin & Mao. Sad face. Xi Jinping is getting it rough in the US media lately, he must be doing some good work. LENIN MARX STALIN MAO CASTRO CHAVEZ ...XI? TBD. read more

Here is what I learned so you will be prepared. I am writing this while standing in line to pick up Visas which are available usually 4 business days after you drop off your application. This line takes an hour at least.As you shuffle forward, join in with everyone else playing games on their cell phones, writing Yelp reviews, or staring off into space. Tourist Application form is available online and should be filled out online in ALL CAPS and printed out. For Visa length check the box 'other' for 10 year multiple entry which is $140, same price as single entry. Bring passport AND copies of drivers licenses when dropping off friends' passports if they didn't come with you to wait an hour in the chairs provided to submit Visa applications. The office is only open from 9 to 2, so get here early. Take Vermont exit off 101 and turn left on 4th, park at parking meters along 4th or Shatto (2 hour meters so fill the meter, you will need max time) or free parking a block away at grocery stores. Office is on 3rd floor of building with small sign on the window announcing Visas (see photos). Take a number to the right as soon as you pass security and have a seat while you wait for your number to be called ala DMV. Bring a large book to read, or a Tablet to look up photos of China to get excited about your upcoming China visit while you wait. Return on the date listed on your receipt and join me in line, no numbers available, no fast pass. Staff is friendly enough. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Outside. China visas - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Not going to lie. I was nervous about coming to the Consulate after reading so many negative reviews of waiting in endless lines and long wait times. Luckily I stumbled upon P C.'s review and all of her tips were not only super informative, but legit saved me sooooo much aggravation. Taking her tips and adding a few of my own: - If you arrive right when they open... it's gonna be insane. If you can, go between the hours of 12-130PM for the fastest results. To drop off my application, it was less than five minutes, to pick up the passport a few days later was about 30-minutes. Not too bad! - Read every step of the application process. Read it again. Gather all your documents and then read it again. Once you're 100% positive you have everything in order... read it one more time. I feel like a majority of the tie-ups are because people are missing something. Be super prepared and you'll have no issues. - Print out your flight itineraries, hotel confirmations and more. We even did a little Excel doc to print out with a day by day breakdown to avoid any questions (plus it kept us on top of what we wanted to do!) - There are meters everywhere, however, I felt that there was more free parking and meters that let you go up to two-hours off of Westmoreland (one block away). If you park in front or on the same street as the consulate, most are 30-mins and that's cutting it super close. Yes, it's true, the people that work here aren't the warmest bunch, but they're trying to get everyone in and out. I had no issues, but then again, I made sure we had everything in order. This isn't something you can just stop in and fill out an application, there's quite a bit of homework involved. You can pay a company to do all the work for you, however, every place we got a quote for was pretty pricey. Worth just driving to LA myself to drop off and pick up. read more

My experience at the China Consulate. After reading through their website which is not organized clearly, I got an understanding of what I needed to bring (passport, one passport photo, round trip airline reservation, and hotel reservation). After parking on the street, I walked to 443 Shatto and read the sign that said the visa office is now at 500 Shatto, so I headed there instead. I arrived slightly past 12pm and saw the machine that disburses numbers. As you walk in, it's on the right hand side. There's 4 or 5 choices and I picked "Visa." I got number A159. There' s a security guard in his booth next to the machine and if you're confused you can ask him for instructions. I didn't fill out the forms at home, so I headed over to the far wall where all the forms are. I found the Visa form and filled it out, then waited for about 15 minutes for my number to be called. The woman checked the form and since I didn't give her my number, she asked for it. I obliged. She looked at the form and said I could pick up my passport on 11/4 (so 4 business days including when you drop it off). The Visa office hours are M-F, 9am to 2pm (at least this is what the phone recording says). She gave me a receipt for my travel documents. You pay when you pick up your passport. The fee is currently $130. There are other options to get your passport sooner, but you should go earlier than I did in the day if you want it same day. That was it. The woman didn't ask many questions and seemed to understand English perfectly well. FYI - The first line as you walk in the door (to the left) is for pick-up. (I do feel bad for a guy who flew in from Phoenix to get his China visa. However, he couldn't do it same day since he got there a bit before me and I overheard that he was leaving for Singapore on Sunday, then from Singapore going to China. Well, he may have a wee bit of a problem now. No China visa.) read more

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I have come here at least fourth times for my HongKong visa and the visa hasn't been ready yet. The reason is they never pick up the phone so I had to visit several times. The staff at window 4 is so horrible. I told her my flight is about 2 more weeks and I have very little time to wait for the visa. She suggested me to cancel the process. The third time I came with my husband at 10am. The same staff at window 4, she refused to let us know about my visa status. She asked us to come back on the same day at 2pm. We had no choice and decided to wait until 2pm. Okay, so that was 4 hours waiting. This staff could have let us know right away about my visa status but I guess that is the way they are trained to treat people. The fourth time I came myself to pick up my visa at 10am. I waited in the pick up line for an hour and found out my visa wasn't ready. I came back window 4 and asked. The same staff told me she would give me the visa on the same day and asked me to come back before 2pm. Literally I had no choice other than waiting. Guess what? I came back before 2pm and she asked me to wait at least 4pm to pick up my visa and pay extra $47 + $37 visa fee. I got so mad that she could have told me earlier so I didn't have to wait 4 hours. I decided to pick it up 3 days later to avoid paying $47. On my way back to home, the same staff she called and asked me to come back and pay $20 for the reapplied fee. I was shocked. She said I had to pay $20 so they can process. Also, I can pick it up 5 days later. I got so shocked. When did I ask for reapply and got charged $20. Anyways, didn't mind paying $20 and move on but I got so mad that why she didn't ask for the payment when I was there from 10 am to 2 pm. She wanted me to make 2 more trips. One is to pay for $20, another trip is to pick up. I had to tell her I don't have time to drive back and forth. Each visit is 4 hours of waiting. She finally agreed to let me pay at the end whenever I pick up. I had to take so many days off to deal with this visa. Hopefully I can pick it up this weekend; otherwise, I'm ready to cancel the trip. This is too ridiculous. The way these staffs treat people like trash. They don't care how busy you are, they want you to come back because they are too lazy to pull out the computer and help you. This is going to be the last time I visit HongKong. I had such bad experience with this service 2 years ago already. I strongly recommend whoever wants to apply for HongKong visa to find another better place. Don't come here, it will make you scream. read more

I was very apprehensive about going to places like this one or DMV. I was misinformed by one travel agency about submitting application form for the China tourist visa. So, I decided to apply in person. I did all the research: read comments from fellow yelpers, visited the consulate website, and talked to people who had prior experience. As it turns out, the experience is positive. 1) There are ample metered parking spaces along both sides of the streets. It costs 25 cents per 15 minutes. Be sure to put in the maximum two hours because you never know how long will be wait. If it takes less than two hours, consider the extra quarters will benefit the city of Los Angeles. 2) Follow the instructions listed at the Consulate's website to the T: http://losangeles.china-consulate.org/eng/visa/chinavisa/t1540780.htm a) Valid Passport b) Photocopy (black and white is fine) of the data and photo pages of the passport c) Visa Application Form typed in black capital letters. Hand-written application forms are not accepted. d) One recently-taken, color, passport photo. e) Itinerary with round trip flight booking and hotel reservation. Or, invitation letter and a copy of the inviter's Chinese ID. Check out the template of the invitation letter posted in the website. **if you plan to visit China via train or bus during your round trip stay at a city/country outside China (e.g. Hong Kong, Macau, ...), you NEED a copy of the hotel reservation confirmation. You can just do an online booking and submit the paper work. If you plan to stay with a friend/relative, then you bring the letter of invitation as described above. If you don't have both and show up at the Consulate, then go to the travel agency down the hall. Ask the agency to book a hotel for a fee of $10 per person. Be sure to have a copy for keepsake. The Consulate will keep copies of the flight and hotel reservation. f) Proof of legal status of non-American applicant. g) If you are applying for China visa with a new passport and had applied for China visa before, you MUST submit a copy of the previous China visa on the old passport and the old passport. 3) When you get to the third floor, go into the room directly across the elevator and get a ticket number. Go inside the lounge, sit tight, and wait for your number to be called. When your number is called, go up to the window and wait. It took about two hours and 15 minutes. Windows 3 to 7 are for visa application. Windows 1 and 2 are for pick up. Window 8 is for interview. 4) If you have all the paper work, it will take only a minute for the Consulate staff to take your application. You will be given a receipt and a date to return to pick up the visa. I submitted my application on Wednesday and told to pick up the visa on the following Monday. 5) I was advised by my friend to bring a copy of my driver license. I did. But the Consulate staff did not take the copy. However, my advice is to bring a copy, just in case. 6) If you forget to make copies, you can go to the travel agency down the hall to make copies with a fee! They also take passport picture for a fee. 7) On the pick up day, you don't need to get a number. Just go to the line for window 1. Pay your fee ($140 for a 10-year visa). You will get your passport with the visa and the old passport (if you submitted for the previous visa.) It took about 1 hour. 8) Advice: go to the Consulate after 11:30 am but before 2 pm. It seems that the number of people gets less. 9) If you apply for the visa in person instead of using a travel agency, you save yourself at least $40 per person! Update: after our visit to the Consulate, we got scam phone calls with area code 213 at least once a day during the first week and 2 or 3 times a week now. The phone number varies. A female voice speaking in Mandarin claimed that she was from the Chinese Consulate and we had a package, blah, blah, blah,... We always hanged up and blocked the number each time. The Chinese Consulate at LA posted a scam warning on its website. Best of luck and happy travel! read more

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Thank you Republic of China for making the visa process such a pain in the ass every time. I have been to this consulate several times already, and it never ceases to amaze me how stiff the workers treat me. Survival tip is to avoid that back office like the bubonic plague, if possible. Helpful Tips : 1. Be sure to bring a printout of your itinerary with your name on it! Your visa will not get processed without it, and you are left with going to the back office and asking somebody to print it out for you for $3 for the 1st page. (And $1 for each additional page). 2. Bring a Xerox copy of your passport. Otherwise you have to pay $0.25 per page to use their copy machine. 3. Passport photo & your real passport (Obviously, but it's easy to forget.) Single entry visa and multiple entry visa is the same price. So you might as well get the multiple... Anything to avoid this office for the whole year. If you expedite your visa for additional fee, you will need to come back in 2-3 days for pick up. Pick up line is separate-- You do not need to get a number for pickups. Just get in line. Update March 2018- Honestly, this is as much of a reminder as it is a review. If you have a green card, bring the OG green card as well as a copy of the green card. Also, if you're going for work, or visiting a company, be sure to bring the invitation letter from the place you are visiting. Seriously, they keep adding these requirements to make it more of a pain in the ass!! I think they take joy in turning ppl away to process visa on their 1st try. Their website gives you a choice of a 10 year visa, I wish!! It's a lie. Max visa is 12 months. Seriously, the year you don't have to renew your visa to China is your lucky year -- count your blessings! read more

Chinese Consulate General - So many newborn babies getting visas. - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Yelp 100 2017 Challenge 102/100 This review is for my second China Tourist Visa. Listen, many folks who complain perhaps do not read the other's reviews nor do not understand the Visa process. There is always room for improvement and the Visa process has IMPROVED A LOT since last time I came here three years ago. My advice: Be organized. Just read and follow the directions (5x) that experienced Yelp travelers who have detailed instructions and you should be fine. A particular note, if you have already received a Tourist Visa in the past make sure you bring the two color copies then highlight your name and dates. Also, highlight your names and dates in the flight & hotel itinerary confirmations otherwise he will make you return. Random Tips: - Be prepared - Be organized - Be patient - Black and white copies $0.25 each - Answer the staff's questions clearly - Try to find street parking off the 4th street which is free! - Ask the security guards for help - Arrive early morning to beat the crowds (I arrived Thursday morning 11 AM left around 12:30 PM easy peasy) - Be attentive. (I have seen people get passed since you don't show up at the window as soon as your number is called) - Be courteous. (Lots of young families have crying babies so being courteous goes a long way and much appreciated :) ) - Pickup Visa does not need a ticket number I am sad the chicken curry lady is no longer there which was replaced with another office life moves on I guess. :( I recommend to everyone. read more

Chinese Consulate General - 2017 Holidays! - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Needed turn around in one day! Parked on 6th st. Walked around the corner and bam we were there. Had all our paperwork in order per website and was in and out within 15 minutes and the just returned to pick up. Cost was 170 for rush processing same day. They even had it done early for us! No complaints, very efficient. read more

Arrived this AM at 10:51, they were working on #70 something and i was #112....I was out of there by 12:10 PM. The line was moving fast considering... about 80 people there. My papers were good and I'll be picking up the visa Monday (today is Wednesday). read more

Like the DMV but much easier. Make sure you have all of your paperwork and make sure it's correct. Seriously, I triple-checked and was good to go! Also, make sure your Visa application is typed in. They don't accept handwritten applications. I got there around 12:30pm on a Thursday and was out of there within 2.5 hours. Not bad. Luckily they have a cute panda video on loop to distract you. Plus there is good cell signal. Make sure to grab your number on the right, right after you go past security. They close their doors at 2pm but finish up with the people inside. When I went to pick up my visa 2 weeks later (it was ready the next week but I was too busy to go) it took me maybe 30 mins to stand in the line and retrieve my passport with the visa. I arrived at 10:30am on a Friday and was out by 11:15am. The first time I parked in the Pay lot across the street so I wouldn't have to worry about the ferocious parking enforcement but to pick up I found free 2 hour parking up the street by the park and tennis courts. It's now at 500 shatto pl on the 3rd floor instead of 443 like the yelp page says. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Need a new passport, mentally ready for a month long wait time, uploaded scanned documents in the app, then got approved online in few hours. The next day I sent them few more things in a mail, got approved same day as they delivered, new passport was made & showed up in my mailbox same week. Just WOW. DMV should hire these people or at least ask them how they did it. read more

Open from 9am to 2pm on weekdays. My review is based on my experience in applying for Chinese visas. If you are here to renew or to apply for a Chinese passport, it'll be appointment only, in which appointments can be made online. The visa office's address is actually 500 Shatto Pl. and it is located on the 3rd floor. Upon walking in, security will scan your bags and you'll be given a ticket number to be added to the queue. Have all of your documents prepared prior to arrival!!! Prepare, prepare, over-prepare!!!! The workers lack compassion and are NOT understanding, so if you are missing anything at all, well....let's just say you'll regret it. To reiterate, double, triple, quadruple check your documents!!! Bring copies of EVERYTHING. Mobile photos or emailed pdf files will not be accepted. If you forget to make copies, then you'll be directed to the copy/computer room down the hall, and will be charged $3 for the first copy, and then $1 per copy thereafter (CASH ONLY) to print from their copy machine. The sadistic workers here seem to find pleasure in finding errors in your work!!!! Monetarily, they really capitalize on applicants' desperate needs to use their printer. Ugh!! Required items if you're applying for a Chinese Visa: If you plan to travel with children and are obtaining Chinese visas for them, bring colored copies of their birth certificates (just have the hard copies with you too - just in case). - Visa application. Requires a completed, typed in caps (not handwritten), and signed application (the signed portion requires wet signatures). Make sure to attach the recent passport photo & have it glued onto the application where required. - A copy of your hotel reservations, or your invitation letter (from friends or family residing in China). - Your plane ticket (round trip) and a copy of your flight itinerary. - Tour company's letter (if you're going on the trip with a tour group). - A color copy of current ID or driver's license (front and back) - A color copy of your passport (just the pages with your photo and signature line- make sure it's signed!) AND have your actual passport, too. Parking: On Shatto St, there are metered parking spots (2 hours. Don't forget to pay!). On 4th St, there are residential parking spots (free). There are 3rd party companies that specialize in handling your visa and passport needs. I've decided to hire and pay $200 to $300 for 3rd party services because I absolutely despise going to the Chinese consulate for anything!! However, if you do have everything organized and ready to go, the process should be pretty smooth overall. I personally just dislike the workers' attitudes there. I also dislike driving through the LA traffic. Conclusively, the Chinese Consulate is such a depressing and unwelcoming place!!! read more

This is home for the rudest customer service personnel. Yes, a 10 year multiple 60 day visa costs $140. Yes, you can fill out the form on line. Yes, you can get your photos from CostCo that work great. Yes, you can get a visa in 4 working days. All these things we did. Now for the miserable part of the story. The consulate is located in a part of LA where the nearest public lot is 6-8 blocks away. There are street metered spots which have 2-3 cars waiting for them to clear all during the day. There are 2 hour spots and 1 hour spots. Careful, you may need a 2 hour spot. If you go on a Friday - you are screwed. The wait to submit your paperwork can easily exceed 90 minutes. There are runners who are processing scores of visa applications for visa service companies. They clog up the lines forever. The female behind the glass window who accepted our visas could not understand why when looking at a ship's itinerary why there were no airplane tickets. Each port we are visiting was clearly spelled out with the date and times in each port. It showed that our arrival at the first port was from Japan and that our exit from China was back to Japan. She demanded in a most surly way that I had to give her copies of plane tickets. I said, "no" at least 8 times pointing to the itinerary in front of her. All she could do is repeat, "where flights to Mainland China?" Finally she asked the agent next to her and got a lesson on how boats do not fly. This must have been news to her. Then she turned into the nastiest person on earth and refused to answer any questions I had regarding what happens next. She took our stuff and told us to get away from the window. I told her I would not until I spoke with her supervisor about her attitude. This automaton finally answered my question which was when will the passports be returned. 4 days later on a Wednesday the place was empty. Do Not try to pay cash for the Visa (when you pick it up). No dollahs accepted. Credit card only. If we thought the application girl was rude and nasty, it was clear the girl in the visa pick up window is the trainer. BIG HINT. They close at 2 pm every day. All you have to do is be inside the room before that time and they have to process your visa or allow you to pick up. So 1:45 any day of the week is a great time, especially Wed/Thurs. Takes less than 5 minutes at that time. read more

This place can be hell if you are not prepared or know what you are doing before hand. The people working here are very rude and are not patient at all. The only people that are nice would be the people working security. If you are planning to make a visit either come really early ( like 30+ min before opening) or have your schedule open to be here for awhile. Make sure ...you have all your paperwork required. I believe new protocol has it that you cannot turn in anything handwritten, everything has to be typed and printed. ...you have your itinerary printed out if you're planning to apply for a visa. .... you have photo copied your passport(s) , ids, and any documents ** its better to over copy all your documents and forms than not have it with you. They charge you an insane amount if you print it at the office down the hallway ( it's crap you can read my other review about it ) ... you pay attention to your number when you are called. only grab a number when you are ready. they do not wait for you to take your time to get to the window. If there's no response in 20 seconds they move on to the next number. no kidding! I had to grab numbers 3 times because I was helping my mom put our paperwork together. ... you know how to park parallel because there's little to no parking in the area and if you do find one, squeezing into a spot will be a challenge. Overall, come prepared or get ready to be yelled at and running around to get everything together. read more

Very impatient, unhelpful, rude, unreasonable, disrespectful and misleading. The person who answered my call was not willing to give me any information that I was looking for and told me to look at their website which does not contain the information that's needed. Very disappointing. read more

Things to bring. Applications filled w all caps letters, N/A, and photo attached. Read the directions on the application and follow it. Copy of visa (info section), your trip itinerary (flight train hotel bathroom schedule.. they are through), ID, Visa, and big helping of patience. Goto 3rd floor. 1. Parking is a mess. 1 hour parking and loadings (read the signs carefully) this is the city issue 2. Don't come on Mondays or Fridays. Wait is insane, but almost non existing during Tues to Thurs (according to security guard) 3. Building doors opens at 8:30, and office opens 9 am. 4. Even the visa pick up window had lines. Don't expect even with rush to get your visa the same day. You pay 140 when you pick up. Visa or mastercard. 5. No ac or heating outside of the office. So dress accordingly if you plan to come on Monday or Friday. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Friday. 845 am. During heat wave. No ac. Smells wonderful like sewage - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Must have application typed by computer & in all CAPS. For children you also need the original birth certificate besides the passport. Bring copies of passport, flight & hotel reservation. read more

Got in at 12:00pm, got out at 12:45pm on a Wednesday to drop off my application. Wait was about 44 minutes, I was at the window for about 1 minute as they were checking my paperwork and immediately gave me my slip to come back Monday to pick up my passport and visa. Things to bring: 1. passport 2. copy of passport (photo page) 3. copy of ID (just in case) 4. visa photo (follow new guidelines per website) 5. copy of visa photo (just in case per past yelp reviews) 6. flight itinerary 7. hotel confirmations and/or invitation letter if you booked through a tour company 8. visa application typed all in CAPS completely I parked about 2 short blocks away and there were plenty of parking on the street. Probably better to come later in the day than in the morning for parking. Went straight up to 3rd floor and it's right in front of the elevators. Grab a ticket from machine to your immediate right when you past through security. Sat down and waited for my number to be called. Thank you past yelpers for the tips! Process went smoothly and the wait wasn't too bad. I'll update on pick up process when I come back. read more

One week before China trip, I needed to get visa. I was misinformed in the past that: 1. Chinese visa takes couple weeks to process 2. Chinese visa is only valid for 1 year only! 3. Chinese visa cost a lot of money ($200+) We nearly cancelled our flight and ate a penalty. Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth and I got my Chinese visa in less than 24 hours at this Chinese Consulate General that is good for 10-years! Here was our situation: 1. Person 1 is US Citizen - never had Chinese visa 2. Person 2 is US Citizen - had 2 prior Chinese visas No rap sheet! When I showed up, I got the lady at window 4. Previous Yelp review say she is strict. I was scared but my feelings were unfounded. This was all that occurred: 1PM Monday (waited 2+ hours) 1. Gave my passport. 2. Gave color photocopy of my passport. 3. Gave my application. 4. Gave the flight itinerary. 5. Gave the hotel stay info. 6. Repeat the same for Person 2 only for 1-3. Even though Person 2 had two prior Chinese visas, she did not ask for the old US Passport with the two Chinese visas inside. She did not care for it even when I volunteered. I did not need driver's licenses, old passports, or old visas. 6. Asked for RUSH next day service. 7. Showed up next day Tuesday at 11AM and picked up both passport with Chinese visas inside within 3 minutes of waiting in line. Good for 10-years! Cost $165 each! DONE! SIMPLE. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. One key pointer: The photo is NOT a U.S. standard 2x2 inch square. It is 33 x 48mm rectangular portrait. I had to take it home and trim it precisely. I did see some people bring a 2x2 but those are NOT the correct specs per the consulate's website. Even Walgreens told me that they do not support the Chinese photo size specs so I'll have to trim it. read more

I come to get a new Chinese passport instead of visa. (Don't read this if you're getting a Chinese visa , cause these are different lines and procedures) I got there at 9am right when they opened and letting people in. There were two lines, one for visa with lotssss of people, one for passport, very few and I was the sixth. However front I got on the line, I got out the place at 11:20am. Things to know if you're getting a Chinese passport(not Chinese visa) here: - they have passport photo service there, and it's better to take the picture there cause they know all the standards. It costs 25 dollar (comes with 2 photos and a disk (they required the photo must uploaded to a DISK, first, it's not stated on the website, second, wth... is it the 80s and 90s now, a disk?) and they only only take CASH for photo and printing service there. Make sure you prep at least 100 bucks in the pocket that day. I in fact have passport photos with me that I took in UPS, but the lady said it's not white enough and she needs the photo to be upload to a disk, so I have to retake it again there. Few things about passport photo is that 2*2 inch size is okay, but the background has to be super white not white/grey or dim. No earring, hair back and tied, show ears, must be collar shirt. - once you hand in all the paper works( also NO hand written application, all must be printed), the right photos with a disk, then the worker would give you a paper to fill out . After filling out the paper, the worker said I don't need to get in the line again, just go to her. Don't wait, just go right in. Otherwise, you'll be left out and people keep getting in front of you. TBH, there is no discipline there, messy with lots of people around, confusing, waiting. - after handed in all the materials, you'll go to the next window for finger print and signature, then the worker told me to wait for somebody to call me in for getting the receive, lots of people were waiting for call in. So that was an hour of waiting (wth, why want us to wait for so long in a tiny place only for a piece of paper receive). Few things I think that make it a one star experience for me is that: - the embassy website is outdated, and information is not complete: it doesn't say I need to upload passport to a disk, and it only require one Photo instead of 3, but prep extra is better. -the room for getting Chinese passport is very tiny, not enough seat for the amount of people ( at least for the day I went on a Thursday. Tho I went early with few people in line, lot more people come later on , and the tiny room was packed with people, tiny room where pregnant women children and elderly don't have seats to wait. -the workers are decent to me, cause I have everything ready. But for people who are not so prep or have lots of questions they seem very impatient even to elderly; One of the worker is a lady and she talks so loud and fast in her microphone to everyone in her window. - last thing is that after waiting an hour, a worker finally came out and call people in for getting the receipt, he called the names by order backward, the people who came late got the receipt first , and those who came first were the last to get and had to wait longer. Wth I've been to various embassys for passport and visa, but this one so far has been the worst. read more

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They are almost always busy. Plus they are not the friendliest people you meet. Here are some tips to save your precious time. There's only meter parking and its almost always full. Be ready to park and walk! Park on the next block and walk - wear comfortable shoes!!! (Make sure you put enough coins, parking enforcements love this row and they give out ton of parking violations here) Prepare all documents before you go: 1.your app for visa fully filled out (For 10 year travel visa leave it blank and just let them know) 2. Make passport ID copy 3. Passport photo (cheapest at Costco) 4. Your flight itinerary copy 5. go early around 8:50 or after 1:30pm to avoid lines (you'll thank me) For pick up, go 1:30-1:50pm. There's usually no line!!! Take a credit card to pay your $140 visa fee. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Hours (as of Mar 2017) - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Update Monday Oct 16 2019 845am I missed the long line outside building, as I arrived about 850am in the waiting room on the 3rd floor. Security guard ask me purpose of visit, "visa" and he printed me a number. They start calling numbers at 9am. My number was called 9:45am and I was done in about 5 minutes. 1) TYPE completed application 2) Trim passport photo to fit 3) Unexpired passport 4) Color copy of information page with photo (passport) 5) Flight itinerary (email from airline) 6) hotel reservation in China (booked on orbitz- email confirmation) I had color copy of my drivers licensed but it was not needed. Just in case get a color copy. As for color copies, other reviewers mentioned it, so just to be safe I made color copies. Overall painless, total wait time about 1 hour. read more

They sell my information or some one who works there stolen my information and Open a bank account apply for loan I found out cuz some one using my passport picture to apply for a job . don't know if anyone else has the same problem like me. Just be careful read more

For parking, you have to look for street parking . There are 1 hr and 2 hr meter parking. On mon, there is street sweeping in the morning until 11am for 1 he meter parking. Street sweeping for 2 hrs parking is on tues. So make sure you READ THE SIGN. I see security cars going around once in a while! Insert enough coins and time yourself, so you don't get a ticket. I have been here many times, but it is getting more difficult to get VISA. U have to go through security check on 3rd floor, then get a ticket! MAKE SURE YOU GET A TICKET NUMBER. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL WAIT FOR NOTHING. Usually for Visa, the ticket number starts with A. Now they are really strict about the documents required. If you are going to China for vacation and you are staying at Hotel, make sure you have the hotel reservation number!!!! I had to go up to window 3 times just for this. I had my trip planned through agency and didn't have the hotel confirmation number with me. I wasn't able to reach my agent in the beginning and even I tried to call my hotel in China, coz of time difference, only the front desk was available ( their business was not open yet), which they were not able to email me a confirmation number until later on. Also, make sure you have a copy of your passport, photo, flight ticket too. If you need to take photo,print, photocopy, there is a room all the way down on the hallway that provides these services. For printing, they charge $3 each page, additional page for $1. But you have to email them, you can't use USB. If you have a choice, I suggest not to print there because you are emailing them, which they can keep a record of your info. Security people are nice but staff there depends. There are many people there everyday, so sometimes staff can be overloaded and feel cranky. You can expedite for next day pick up, which is 160$. read more

Chinese Consulate General - U can photocopy it print file at the end of hallway - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Like mentioned below the visa office is actually at 500 on the 3rd floor. I walked in. Scanned my bags with security and got a numbered ticket. I had all my documents ready to go and from the minute I walked in to the minute I was done, was less than 10 minutes! It was insanely fast. Everyone was very friendly. No appointments can be made for Chinese visa so don't bother. The office closes at 2pm and I walked in at 1:35pm and there was no problem. read more

Chinese Consulate General - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

No problems .. got there at 830am on Monday already a line of 20 or so .. go thru metal detectors- to your right a small block box and hit visa and get your number .. sit down watch and listen for your number - go quickly , cause they do .. have all the documents they need .. ask for 10 year tourist visa . Got a slip come back in 4 days .. out the door by 930 am Went back on Friday same time at 830 for visa pickup . More people waiting for door open . You don't grab ticket -go straight in line for visa pickup ., ., have your slip , ID , and credit card or cashiers check ready ., out at 930am I see many people don't research all that's needed for visa .. with internet not many excuses of what is needed .. but yet still some show up clueless .. come prepared and with some patience and no big deal ., if it is a hassle for you pay for a visa company to help you ., read more

Chinese Consulate General - Line to the left is when you bring back your slip to pick up your visa. - Embassy Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Be on the lookout for this place when you get there. There are no big signs outside that say Chinese Consulate or anything like that, so it's easy to miss. In fact, the actual Chinese Consulate office is down the street at 443 Shatto Place. Just look for the big sign that says World Mission University and it's right next door. They run this place pretty efficiently. I got there about 7:00 AM and there were already a few people waiting to get in. I was #10 and once I got in, I waited and was out in 30 min.! They were telling me to avoid Mondays and Fridays. As others have stated, make sure you have all your documents in order! And double and triple check them. I think sometimes it's the luck of the draw and depends which clerk you get. Some appear to be more lenient than others. One thing I didn't know and couldn't find anywhere where it states this, is if you're traveling with children and you're also getting a visa for them, you also have to bring a copy of their birth certificate. The clerk also asked for a copy of our flight reservations and hotel reservations. All I brought was the letter from our tour company, which stated all the hotels we were staying at, but no flight info. I thought this was enough. Again, I guess she was lenient about that and she said it was OK. If you don't mind getting there way before they open, that might be the best time to go. There was also plenty of metered street parking at that time. read more

Got ticket at 1:28 they still let people in as long as you get in by 2:00 I saw someone come in for visa like 5 minutes before they still let them in. I got number 216 they were on 188. Called up at 2:01 finished 2:08 so took about 5-10 minutes as long as you have all your papers. I did for 3 people me and my parents. They didn't need my parents drivers license photo only mine guess person picking it up only needed. Just papers make sure all capitalization 2x2 photo passport and copy black and white. And your good. I pick up Thursday or later so takes 3 days ago to process. Good luck everyone !! PS the young lady I had was very nice and polite! read more

Applying for our L Chinese Visa at the Chinese consulate was a breeze. We arrived at 500 Shatto Place at around 1:15PM, came into the building, went up the 3rd floor, came through with security, and finally got our ticket. The consulate closes at 2PM, but per some of the Yelpers' suggestions, we came later in the day to avoid large crowds on a Monday. The place wasn't as crowded as we had feared, and there were plenty of empty seats. It took only 25 mins before we were called. We handed in all the documentation required according to the website, and the woman at the window looked through every document and quickly approved our applications! I handed in the following for myself: - an invitation letter from travel agency, including roundtrip flight tickets to China and hotel itinerary. - a photo that is 33mm x 48mm as required - Chinese visa application - my passport - 1 color copy of the data page on my passport Please note that passport photo size (2inch X 2inch) may not be accepted and in fact, I saw a girl getting denied for having an incorrect photo size. She was directed to another room down the hall to re-take her photo with the right dimensions. Picking up was easy as well, and we picked our passports up on Thursday. You will not need a ticket but simply go to Pick Up Window 1 and wait in line to pick up. The fee per 10-year visa application is $140. read more