Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco
San Francisco covers Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and the northern half of California. It is the office with the widest reach in the country — Anchorage is 3,077 miles away by road — and the one with the lowest rating on Google.
Do you need an appointment at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco?
Walk in. Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco abolished appointments in October 2023 and has not brought them back, whatever a paid agency may tell you.
You upload the documents at home and deliver the passport to Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco in person — or send somebody else with it, which is allowed.
There is no charge for turning up. The fee is paid on collection, and only with a Visa or Mastercard.
Two sets of hours apply: the office works 9:00 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 17:00, but the visa counter only 9:30 to 14:30. Turning up at 15:00 gets you nothing.
How to cancel at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
Cancellation does not apply here: Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco keeps no calendar.
If the passport is already in and your plans change, deal with the file, not with a calendar entry. The pick-up slip is the only proof Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco recognises.
How to get to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
Head for 1450 Laguna Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, and give yourself margin — the busiest hours are Mondays, Fridays and the first working day after a holiday.
1450 Laguna Street in Japantown, with the visa entrance around the corner on Geary Boulevard.
Real reviews of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
Below, what people actually report about this counter.
San Francisco has the lowest rating of any Chinese office in the country: 2.5 stars over 823 reviews. Almost every account mentions the same two things — the queue outside, and the second trip.
Two trips from Sacramento, one to hand the passport in and one to collect it. Arrived around nine both times and the line was already down the street.
Nathan H. · 3★
Much smoother than a decade ago. You apply online and wait at home for the preliminary review — about two and a half weeks for a first visa, a week if you have had one before.
Lin W. · 4★
Come earlier in the week. Dropped the passport off on a Thursday and the whole thing, inside and outside, took an hour.
Grace O. · 4★
Opening hours of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
The building and the counter do not keep the same hours, and that is where most wasted trips come from.
Office: 9:00–12:00 and 13:30–17:00, Monday to Friday · Counter: 9:30–14:30, Monday to Friday
Phone number of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
+1 415-919-6008. The switchboard does not process applications: it answers questions.
What the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco handles
Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco handles the visa, the Chinese passport, the travel document and the notarial certificate — and sends you elsewhere for an apostille.
Visas, Chinese passports and travel documents, notarial acts and consular protection for seven western states and northern California.
What you can settle without going to the consulate
- check the validity, entries and duration on a visa you already hold before assuming you need a new one
- book nothing: since October 2023 the five offices take walk-ins and there is no appointment to make
- send someone else to hand in your passport and to pick it up for you
- fill in the whole visa form and upload your documents on COVA, without leaving home
Details verified on 10 September 2026.
Nothing here is official. Confirm any fee or rule with the office that will handle your file.
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