The Chinese Consulate announced a new requirement for the Chinese visa application in Houston effective September 1st 2016.

For any traveler with previous travels to the middle east or any potential conflict country, the new China visa requirements in Houston are additional documents listed below: 

1. Resume

2. Explanation Letter listing international travels for the last 3 years, letter must include:              

   1. Country traveled to

   2. Dates of travel

   3. Purpose of travel 

NOTE that the traveler may only apply 1-2 months before travel date and can also be asked to appear in person for an interview at the consulate. It is also likely that the applicant will not be granted a full 10 year multiple entry visa, a lesser validity visa will in most cases be issued. 

At this time there is no official list of countries that are problematic but we assume countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, UAE, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, even Nigeria are possible conflict countries.