Why are there different Chinese visa processing times at each of the six Chinese Consulates (visa office)? The decision is up to the head of the visa office in each consulate, believe it or not. It would be easy to assume all consulates have the same visa processing time frames...unfortunately, this is not the case. As little as a couple of years ago visa processing was fairly uniform, with each consulate offering three processing times: "Regular 4-5 days" "Express 1-2 days" and "Rush Same Day." This is no longer the case. See the list below to learn how long it takes to get a Chinese visa in each consulate. (Updated Oct 2016)

Washington      Regular 5 Business Days    -   Express 2-3 Business Days
New York         Regular 5 Business Days    -   Express 3 Business Days
Los Angeles     Regular 4 Business Days     -   Express 24 Hours   
San Francisco  Regular 4-5 Business Days  -   Express 24 Hours  - Emergency (Rush) By Appointment
Chicago           Regular 6-7 Business Days -   Express 4-5 Business Days
Houston          Regular 4-5 Business Days -   Express 2-3 Business Days

Where your application is submitted for processing is based on your state of residence. This is referred to as a "Consular Jurisdiction." Several years ago, the Chinese government decided to break up the USA into jurisdictions in order to spread out the visa processing workload between each of the six consulates. Each consulate strictly enforces the jurisdiction requirement -- at this time there is no option to apply at a consulate other than where your state of residence falls.

Brazil and India also employ a jurisdiction requirement.

Travel Document Systems will continue to work closely with each visa officer to attempt to decrease the visa processing times and requirements for a China Visa.