The Canton Fair in April this year has announced the full resumption of the offline exhibition, and has opened a global publicity and promotion campaign in advance, sending invitations to 950,000 domestic and foreign buyers, 177 global partners, 224 diplomatic and commercial missions abroad, etc.

The official invitation letter of the Canton Fair can be used as one of the documents to apply for a visa to China in some countries. For countries that cannot use the Canton Fair invitation letter, foreign trade enterprises can issue an invitation confirmation letter to assist their overseas customers to come to China. Perhaps your buyer has already contacted you to issue an invitation letter for him so that he can apply for a visa to China.

What should I do at this point?

1、Verify the buyer's credibility

For regular customers, this step can be omitted. For those who have never worked together before and come up for an invitation letter, make sure to check first, because most of the buyers who come for an invitation letter are now concentrated in Africa and the Middle East. Countries such as Nigeria and Ghana are not easy to get a Chinese visa. And when we apply for the invitation letter for our guests, the commercial department or the Trade Promotion Council will ask you to issue a letter of guarantee that the invited guests will not do anything illegal or criminal in China . Therefore, it is important to check beforehand!

2、Check entry requirements

After confirming the authenticity of the buyer, it is time to help the real client with the invitation letter. Firstly, assist the client to check the entry requirements at the local embassy of our country.

From 24 August 2022, China will allow holders of valid APEC Business Travel Card physical cards to enter China without having to re-apply for a visa to China; from 15 March 2023, China will resume issuing visas for foreigners to enter China; from 1 May 2023, foreign APEC Business Travel Card virtual card holders will be accepted to enter China.

The specific entry requirements can all be found on the official website of the Chinese Embassy in the client's location or on WeChat. If the client is not familiar with them, the foreign trade person can help to check them out.

3、Assist with the invitation letter

Since 16 April 2018, the "Letter of Confirmation of Invitation from Authorized Entity" has been officially renamed as "Invitation Verification Form", its use remains unchanged and it is still one of the supporting documents for foreigners to apply for visas to China

Guangzhou requires that the entity applying for a foreigner's invitation to China verification form is a Guangzhou municipal authority or institution, or an enterprise registered with the Guangzhou city or district market supervision and management department (must have been established for at least one year).

The documents required include invitation letter, itinerary, copy of business licence (copy), Letter of Guarantee, documents that prove the real business relationship between the Chinese and foreign parties and many more, check the official website of Guangzhou Foreign Affairs Office.

In general, it is recommended that the applicant submit the application at least 15 working days before the proposed date of entry of the invitee, and each applicant is required to log on to the system and submit the visa cancellation procedure to the Municipal Foreign Affairs Office within 10 working days after the departure of the invited foreigner (providing proof of the foreigner's departure, such as a scanned copy of the border inspection receipt page, etc.), as promised in the Letter of Guarantee.

The above is the process of foreign trade enterprises to assist customers to apply for invitations to China, it is recommended to collect it!