Dummy ticket (flight reservation) for China visa: the L visa from India

What the China checklist asks for

• A round-trip air ticket booking into and out of mainland China.
• Hotel reservations covering your stay.
• Or, instead of the itinerary, an invitation letter from a Chinese travel agency or an individual, with their residential proofs.
• Your application submitted at the CVASC that covers your state.
• Fingerprints, unless the exemption for short-term applicants (reported as extended to 31 December 2026) applies to you.

What the CVASC notice says, word for word

The Chinese Visa Application Service Centre’s notice for India, dated 20 August 2024, gives tourists two ways to show their trip. The first is “Tour Itinerary documents including air ticket booking (round trip) and hotel reservation, etc.” The second is an “Invitation Letter from Chinese Travel Agency Or Any Individual (residential proofs required)”. The general L visa guidance on the same site asks for an “air ticket booking record (round trip) and proof of hotel reservation”.

Two details matter. The word is booking, not purchased ticket, so an airline reservation held without payment fits the description. And it says round trip: a one-way booking into China does not fit, so the reservation should bring you back out as well. Hotel reservations should cover every night between the two flights.

Which CVASC handles your state

Chinese visa application service centres operate in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Mumbai (Mafatlal Centre, Nariman Point) handles Maharashtra and Karnataka. Kolkata (Sector V) handles Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. The New Delhi centre is on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place; check its jurisdiction list for your state before booking.

An online application system was reported to have been introduced in December 2025, and the fingerprint exemption for short-term applicants staying up to 180 days is reported to run to 31 December 2026. Reduced visa fees for Indian applicants are also reported as extended to the end of 2026. We could not confirm these on an official notice, so check the centre’s site before your appointment.

Timing your round-trip booking

We could not confirm a current processing time for CVASC submissions, so take the figure for your service from the centre when you book. Order the round-trip reservation for the day you hand your documents to the CVASC, or the evening before at most, and check the names and both flight dates before you go.

Whatever the centre quotes, expect the hold to lapse before the decision, because the airline sets it and can end it at any time. That is fine, because the booking documents your plan when you submit. Keep the names on the flight and hotel reservations exactly as they appear in your passports, and make the hotel cities match the itinerary: an arrival in Shanghai with the first hotel night in Beijing raises a question you do not need.

Transit, Hong Kong and flights

India is not on China’s unilateral visa-free list and is not eligible for the 240-hour visa-free transit, so you cannot plan a visa-free stopover in a Chinese city on the way to a third country. Hong Kong is separate from the mainland L visa: Indian nationals can visit visa-free for up to 14 days after completing an online Pre-arrival Registration.

Direct flights between India and China were reported to resume in late 2025, but we could not confirm current routes. Itineraries can connect through Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok, and the desk checks what is bookable for your dates.

Flying from India to China

Your reservation should follow a route you could realistically fly. These are common options; schedules change, so the desk confirms what is bookable for your dates.

Mistakes to avoid with a China application

• Sending a one-way booking. The notice asks for an air ticket booking (round trip).
• Hotel dates that leave nights uncovered between arrival and departure.
• Lodging at a centre that does not cover your state.
• Planning a visa-free stopover in China. Indians are not eligible for the 240-hour transit scheme.
• Mixing up mainland China and Hong Kong. Hong Kong has its own Pre-arrival Registration for Indians.
• Combining the invitation route and the itinerary route with dates that disagree.

Dummy ticket and hotel bookings, matched to your itinerary

We do not send one loose document. The desk matches the flight reservation and every hotel booking to your itinerary: the same dates, the same cities, and no night left uncovered. These are the real documents of one order for a Switzerland visa file, issued on 5 November 2026: one flight reservation and four hotel bookings that cover all 9 nights between the two flights. Personal details are blacked out; everything else is as issued.

• Flight reservationEtihad, Hyderabad (HYD) to Zurich (ZRH), status Confirmed
• Hotel booking, ZurichMEININGER Hotel Zürich Greencity, 3 nights
• Hotel booking, GenevaB&B HOTEL Geneva Airport, 3 nights
• Hotel booking, LucerneSeminarhotel Romerohaus, 2 nights
• Hotel booking, Zurich AirportLeonardo Hotel Zurich Airport, 1 night

Open the full documents and the day-by-day table: flight and hotels matched date by date

How to get your China flight reservation

China questions, answered