The Consular Department of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macau SAR (MFA) has announced that it will no longer directly accept visa applications from ‘ordinary passport holders’ starting from December 16, with applicants now having to go to the Visa Application Center at the Nam Kwong Building.
Since March 15, Macau foreign residents – including permanent and non-permanent – are once again allowed to apply for all categories of visas associated to mainland China via the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs office in the SAR in Av. do Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues.
Applicants will now have to log onto the Visa Application Center website to fill in an online application form and make an appointment from now on and go to the 1st Floor of the Visa Application Center at Avenida Dr. Rodrigo Rodrigues – where the China Travel office is located – to process at the appointed time, Nam Kwong Building, No.223-225.
The application center is open Monday to Saturday from 9:00am-5:00pm, and applications for express service must be submitted before 11:30am. Applicants can contact the centre either via phone number 87998117/87998118 or email [email protected].
The MFA underlined that the Visa Application Center has no decision on visa approval process, with the consular officer of the Commissioner’s Office will decide whether to issue a visa, and its validity, duration of stay and number of entries based on the applicant’s personal circumstances.
‘The consular officer may request the applicant to provide other supporting documents or supplementary materials according to the specific situation, or an interview,’ it added.
Applicants holding diplomatic or service (official) passports or applying for Chinese diplomatic, courtesy or service visas may still submit applications directly to the Consular Department of the Office without an appointment.
The Consular Department of the Office will continue to accept applications for consular authentication, passports and travel documents for Chinese citizens.
Currently, non-residence work permit holders, known as ‘blue cards’ can only be re-hired after leaving and re-entering the SAR due to new labour regulations enforced last year, with several non-resident workers opting to apply to mainland tourist visas to comply with the requirements, with local employment agencies assisting in the process.
This has led to most time slots available for tourism visa applications being overtaken by non-resident workers attempting to comply with the new requirement.
Since October non-resident foreign nationals in Macau who have been inoculated with the mRNA BioNTech vaccine were allowed to apply for visas for all categories of visas to mainland China, while before only those inncoulated with inactived Chinese-produced vaccines.
