BEIJING: After a two-year gap, China has lifted Covid visa ban on certain categories of people. This includes foreign nationals and their accompanying family members going to China for resumption of work and production in all fields.
"The family members of Chinese citizens and foreigners with Chinese permanent residence permit going to China for family reunion or visiting relatives. The family members include spouse, parents, spouses parents, grandparents and grandchildren,’’ according to a notification issued by the Chinese Embassy.
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, official activities in China or for humanitarian work, 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.
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It is estimated that there are over 23,000 Indian students enrolled across various Universities in China – mostly studying medicine. Most of these students have not been able to return to China for their praticals as the visas were not being granted, though online studies continued.
It will be a while before clarity emerges on how many students are allowed back. Though students from Pakistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka were permitted to return.
The current announcement also raises hope of the resumption of direct flights between India and China.
Meanwhile, one has to wait and see whether India reciprocates to this gesture as in April this year India had suspended tourist visas that were already issued to Chinese nationals. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was siting the surge of Covid in China as the reason behind this ban.