Not China’s H-1B: The Rocky Road Ahead for the K Visa |
More than two months have passed since China’s new regulations on the so-called “K visa” formally took effect on October 1. Yet the frontier has been strikingly quiet. The visa category remains absent from the Chinese Visa Application Service Center’s official list, and despite official assurances that detailed implementation measures would be released through embassy and consulate websites, there has so far been no mention of the K visa on any of them.
What was billed as a significant step in China’s effort to attract global talent remains, for now, largely theoretical. For many young STEM professionals closely tracking developments around the new visa, the silence has been puzzling. Why has implementation moved so slowly?
The contrast is striking when set against China’s recent unilateral visa free policies for short-term visits such as tourism and business in parts of Europe and elsewhere since late 2023. In those cases, announcements were often made just a week in advance, with policies taking effect almost........