Epidemic Surges, U.S. And Germany Suspend Visa Services In China

On the evening of December 15th, the U.S. Embassy in China announced that the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the Consulate General in Shanghai would suspend all regular visa services to the U.S. due to a surge in the CCP virus throughout Communist China, which has impacted business operations. In addition, the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan, Shenyang, and Guangzhou would only provide emergency consular services until further notice. On December 16th, the German Embassy in China also announced that the Embassy’s visa and consular offices would be closed from now until January 6th, 2023.

Currently, the Consulate General in Shanghai is only offering some of the planned visa services and emergency passport services for U.S. citizens in China and all regular appointments at the Embassy in Beijing and other Consulates General have been canceled. The last suspension of visa services took place shortly after the epidemic outbreak in 2020 and lasted nearly a year. There is no timetable for the resumption of this suspension, which is currently expected to take at least three months.

German Ambassador in China, Patricia Flor, expressed concerns about the medical capacity of mainland China and warned that the epidemic could lead to further service disruptions. She believes that the unexpected policy shift of the Chinese Communist Party has left people unprepared.