If you’re a Chinese citizen you can now come to the UK for up to 30 days as part of a tour group through the approved destination status agreement (ADS)
This is good news for both the people of China and the UK.
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China fingerprint flag
The following information can now be found on the GOV.UK website:
You can come to the UK for up to 30 days as part of a tour group through the approved destination status agreement (ADS) if you’re a Chinese citizen.
To qualify you must enter the country as part of your tour group (minimum 5 people) and stay with the group for the whole of your visit.
Your tour must be organised by an ADS licensed Chinese tour operator.
The visa cost for a Chinese citizen visiting as part of a tour group is currently £93.
This is on top of improvements the government has already made to the visa service for Chinese applications, see below what has already been improved:
- "Extending the reach of our popular on-demand mobile visa service in the country. This service allows customers the convenience of providing their biometric data at one of 17 locations of their choice rather than being required to travel to a visa application centre.
- Offering 2, 5 and 10 year visas to Chinese customers who travel frequently to the UK, including business visitors. In 2014 there was a 20% growth in demand for these visas.
- Upgrading our 12 visa application centres and offering out of working hours appointments.
- Extending our 3 to 5 day priority service.
- Introducing the passport pass-back service, allowing customers to apply for the UK and Schengen visa at the same time.
- The launch of a new online application form, with fewer questions, translated guidance and giving the option of pre-populating a Schengen form at the same time.
- Offering Premium service lounges in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou visa application centres, reducing waiting times for applicants and offering personalised assistance at every stage.
- Developing a dedicated team based in the British Embassy in Beijing which supports business, tourism and education sectors with their visa needs.
- Reducing documentary requirements for the Chinese government-endorsed Approved Destination Scheme (ADS) for Chinese tour groups and repeat travellers.
- In June 2015 the UK and Belgian governments announced a new pilot scheme to further streamline visa application processes for Chinese visitors to the UK, Belgium and the wider Schengen area. Under the new UK-Belgian Visitor Service, Chinese customers are able to submit visa applications for both countries during a single visit to a UK visa application centre (VAC). The new scheme means visitors from China are able to obtain a visa for both the UK and the Schengen area – of which the UK is not a part – without having to visit 2 different application centres."
Visiting Britain will now be easier than ever for the people of China, which will only go towards making British shores a very attractive place to come.
VisitBritain is the name used by the British Tourist Authority to promote everything British and their website is getting more and more popular.
The Chancellor launched the next phase of VisitBritain’s 'Culture is GREAT campaign' in China to promote memorable moments visitors can only get in Britain. The campaign will invite Chinese visitors to create, share and upload images of their own experiences.
Catch that image!
Known in China as ‘Enjoy the GREAT fun times in Britain,’ these images will be shared globally by VisitBritain to inspire fellow travellers to come and experience all that is GREAT about Britain.
The £1.3 million social media campaign aims to reach more than 100 million people.
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The campaign aims to reach more than 100 million people