Chinese consulates in the United States

China runs five consular offices in the United States: the embassy in Washington and consulates general in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. There are no honorary consuls.

There used to be six. The Consulate General in Houston was ordered closed on 24 July 2020 and its nine states and territories (Texas, Florida, Georgia and six more) moved to the embassy. Since then there has been no Chinese consular office anywhere in the American South, and the median drive from a Texan city to the office that covers it is over 1,500 miles.

The most searched question in the whole subject is whether an American needs a visa for China. The answer is yes, and there is no visa on arrival, but the 240-hour transit exemption covers a lot of trips and costs nothing, which is worth checking before paying $140.

The second thing worth knowing is that there is no appointment to book. Every Chinese office in the country has taken walk-ins since 23 October 2023: you fill in the form online, wait for approval and turn up. Sites charging to secure a slot are charging for something that does not exist.

And the third is that consular legalisation ended on 7 November 2023, when the Hague Convention entered into force between the two countries. An American document for use in China now needs a U.S. apostille and nothing else, though one consulate still publishes the abolished procedure. Our pages on how each office works and on fees and documents put the five side by side.

Where the Chinese offices are

Here are the Chinese consulates general in the United States

Each one accepts applications only from residents of its own district, and it asks for proof. Which office covers you is therefore the first question, not a detail.

Chinese Consulate General in New York

Chinese Consulate General in Chicago

Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco

Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles

And the embassy

The embassy in Washington is a mission to the United States, not a consulate for the country. Its own district was nine units wide, and then it absorbed Houston's nine in 2020, which is why it now covers eighteen states and territories, more than any other office.

Its chancery and its visa office are two miles apart.

Chinese Embassy in Washington

And the one that closed

Houston still has a Google listing with hundreds of reviews and 880 searches a month. The office closed in 2020. Its page explains where its district went and why the listing survives.

Chinese Consulate General in Houston (closed)

Other cities

There is no Chinese consulate in almost any American city. These have a page of their own: which office covers them, how far it is, and what can be settled without going.

State and territory flags from Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain.

Which office covers you

Pick your office and the three buttons take you to the page that answers the question you have.