China lifts Covid visa ban, allows working Indian professionals to return with kin

NEW DELHI:  After a two-year gap, China has lifted the Covid visa ban on certain categories of people. This includes foreign nationals and their accompanying family members going to China for resumption of work. A notification issued by the Chinese embassy said the family members include “spouse, parents, spouses, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren.’’ However, the visa applications continue to be suspended for tourism and other private purposes.

Visa applications will continue to be processed for foreign nationals and their accompanying family members who engage in diplomatic or official activities in China or humanitarian work, or those making a trip for attending a funeral or visiting family members who are in critical care.

Though this notification doesn’t include student visas, sources say that the Chinese visa desk is processing student visas, though details for the same are not yet available. Over 23,000 Indian students enrolled across various universities in China.