China visa centre Abuja: everything you need to know

The China visa centre in Abuja is at Murjanatu House, Maitama. Address, hours, fees, what a trader from Kano or Kaduna faces, and which centre to choose.

Important: ChinaBridge is a private Nigerian company, not the Chinese Embassy, Visa Application Service Centre, or any government agency. We simply help you prepare and review your application. You submit it yourself and pay official fees directly to the Centre. No agent can approve or guarantee a visa.

If you are applying for a China visa from northern Nigeria, Abuja is usually the practical centre.

Applicants travel in from places such as:

Kano

Kaduna

Jos

Maiduguri

and other northern cities because China does not operate another ordinary-passport visa centre in the north.

The important thing is to use the current Abuja address, because older pages still circulate the previous Churchgate location.

Where is the China Visa Centre in Abuja? #

The current address is:

China Visa Application Service Centre
Murjanatu House, 3rd Floor
Plot 473, 1 Zambezi Crescent
Maitama, FCT Abuja

The Visa Application Centre's own contact page lists that address, and China's updated 20 May 2026 Nigeria visa guidelines now list the same Maitama location.

So if an old blog tells you:

Churchgate Plaza, Constitution Avenue

do not rely on it.

That information is outdated.

Abuja Visa Centre contact details #

The current official contact details are:

Telephone: +234 807 119 1134

Email: abujacentre@visaforchina.org.

If you are travelling from another state, email or call before setting out.

That is especially sensible around:

Nigerian public holidays

Chinese public holidays

or:

Canton Fair rush periods.

What are the opening hours? #

The Abuja centre currently operates:

Monday to Friday

excluding weekends and public holidays.

Application submission: 9:00am–3:00pm

Passport collection: 9:00am–4:00pm.

The centre can adjust its schedule around Embassy and public holidays.

Check before travelling.

Do you apply online first? #

Yes.

China changed the Nigeria visa process in 2025.

You now begin online:

1. complete the visa application
2. upload the required documents
3. submit the file
4. wait for the online review
5. go to the centre when the application reaches the passport-submission stage

The Chinese Embassy launched the online-first process in Nigeria from 28 April 2025.

Do not drive from Kano or Jos because:

“I have finished filling the form.”

Wait until the system tells you that the passport should be submitted.

Why the online-first process matters more outside Abuja #

If you live in Abuja, a missing document is inconvenient.

If you travelled six hours to submit the file, it is expensive.

The online review gives you a chance to correct issues before the trip.

That is why your sequence should be:

application first → review first → travel second.

Not the other way around.

What should you take to Abuja? #

For a normal business M visa, carry the documents required by your approved application.

The current Nigeria guidance includes:

• passport with at least six months validity
• photocopy of the passport data page
• completed visa application
• recent passport photograph
• required Chinese invitation documents
• six months of bank statements
• paid flight booking
• hotel booking
• any other documents requested by the consular officer.

For first-time visitors applying for an M visa, the current guidance also requires:

Invitation Letter (TE) or Verification Letter of Invitation

together with the normal invitation from the Chinese party.

Repeat China visitors are currently exempt from the TE/Verification Letter itself.

Use our China visa documents checklist before travelling.

What does a trader from Kano or Kaduna need to plan? #

The main cost is not only the visa.

It is:

transport + possible hotel + local Abuja movement + application fee + centre fee + possible return trip.

That is why you should try to make the physical submission trip count.

Before leaving home:

confirm the address

confirm the centre is open

confirm your application has reached passport submission

carry every original requested

carry a working debit card

and:

decide whether you want courier return.

That last one can save a second Abuja journey.

Can the centre courier your passport back? #

Yes.

The Abuja Visa Application Centre currently advertises an optional:

VIP 4 Courier service

for applicants who cannot return to collect the passport.

The current published price is:

₦74,500.

The passport can be sent to the applicant's address after processing.

That is expensive.

But if you live far from Abuja, compare it with:

another return flight

or:

another road trip + hotel + transport inside Abuja.

Sometimes the courier is cheaper than travelling twice.

Sometimes it is not.

Do the arithmetic.

Courier is optional #

You do not need to pay for courier if you prefer to collect the passport yourself.

The normal collection period is:

9:00am–4:00pm

on working days.

The centre also advertises optional paid services such as:

• VIP lounge
• prime-time submission
• form-filling support
• courier return

These are not compulsory simply because they appear on the website.

Fingerprints are currently waived for most traders #

This is useful in 2026.

From December 2025 until:

31 December 2026

China is exempting short-term visa applicants whose intended stay is 180 days or less from fingerprint collection.

That normally includes an ordinary:

M business visa

used for:

• Canton Fair
• supplier meetings
• factory visits
• sourcing trips

Fingerprints are still required for visa categories tied to residence permits, including:

D, J, Q1, S1, X1 and Z.

So a normal trader visiting China for two weeks should generally fall inside the current exemption.

Do fingerprints being waived mean you can avoid Abuja completely? #

No.

Fingerprint exemption is not the same as:

remote visa issuance.

You still need to follow the passport-submission process required by the Visa Application Centre.

The exemption simply removes one biometric step for qualifying short-term applicants.

How do you pay at the Abuja centre? #

The Abuja Visa Application Centre currently states clearly:

“This Visa Center only accepts Debit Card.”

So do not arrive planning to pay:

cash

or:

bank transfer at the counter.

Take a working debit card.

For an out-of-town applicant, carrying a second usable card is sensible.

You do not want to make another Abuja trip because your first card declined.

How much is the China visa fee? #

China's reduced visa-fee policy for Nigerian citizens currently runs through:

31 December 2026.

The current consular visa fees are:

Single entry: ₦10,500

Double entry: ₦15,750

Six-month multiple entry: ₦21,000

One-year multiple entry: ₦31,500.

Those are the visa fees.

They are not necessarily the complete amount you will spend at the Visa Application Centre.

The centre also charges service fees #

The Visa Application Centre charges its own service fee separately from the Embassy visa fee.

Its live Abuja visa-fee page directs applicants to the current service-charge schedule rather than displaying the full table directly in the page text.

So before travelling, check the live Abuja fee page or email the centre for the current regular service charge.

Do not budget only:

₦10,500

and assume that is the total cost of a single-entry application.

It is not.

Optional Abuja services can be expensive #

The Abuja centre currently lists several optional services at:

₦74,500 each

including:

VIP lounge

Prime Time

form-filling support

and:

courier service.

Again:

optional means optional.

Do not pay for a premium service because somebody tells you it improves your chances of visa approval.

It does not change who decides the visa.

How long does processing take? #

China's updated 2026 Nigeria guidelines state:

Regular: 4 working days

Express: 3 working days.

But do not read that as:

“Start application Monday, visa guaranteed Friday.”

The full journey also includes:

online application

online review

possible correction

passport submission

then:

consular processing.

And a consular officer can ask for additional documents.

Apply earlier than the minimum.

Abuja or Lagos: can you choose? #

The current China visa guidance lists both:

Abuja

and:

Lagos

as application-centre locations for ordinary applicants.

We could not find a published state-by-state rule saying:

Kano must use Abuja

or:

Rivers must use Lagos.

So do not assume geography alone legally assigns you to one centre.

However, if you intend to submit at a centre far from where you live, confirm with that centre before making non-refundable travel arrangements.

For the Lagos alternative, use our China Visa Centre in Lagos guide.

Which centre makes sense for northern applicants? #

Usually Abuja.

Not because there is a published rule saying:

“Northern states belong to Abuja.”

But because it is normally the practical option.

A trader in:

Kano

Kaduna

Jos

or:

Maiduguri

usually has no reason to travel all the way to Lagos unless there is a specific advantage to doing so.

The visa requirements and consular visa fees are the same national system.

Choose the centre that makes the full trip easier.

Plan for one Abuja trip if possible #

A sensible plan looks like this.

Before travelling #

Finish the online application.

Wait for the online review.

Correct anything returned.

Confirm the passport-submission stage.

The day before #

Check:

centre address

opening status

payment method

and:

documents required.

Submission day #

Arrive early.

Carry:

passport + application documents + debit card.

Then ask about:

courier return

if travelling back to Abuja for collection would cost more.

Now you have reduced the process to one physical trip where possible.

Do not book a tight same-day return #

Submission officially runs until:

3:00pm.

But Abuja traffic and application delays are not under your control.

If you are flying in, do not book your return so tightly that one long queue makes you miss the flight.

Give yourself room.

Especially during:

Canton Fair season.

If you are going to Canton Fair #

The correct visa for a genuine buying trip is normally the:

M visa.

Canton Fair itself can provide an invitation route for registered overseas buyers.

Get the invitation before building the rest of the application.

Then make sure:

fair phase

flight dates

hotel

and:

visa application

all tell the same story.

Use our Canton Fair invitation guide.

And if you are starting from northern Nigeria, see Canton Fair from Kano.

What should a Canton Fair applicant carry? #

For a normal business application, think:

PASSPORT

✓ Six months validity?

✓ Blank pages?

APPLICATION

✓ Online review completed?

✓ Passport submission requested?

INVITATION

✓ Correct Fair/supplier invitation documents?

FINANCE

✓ Six months of bank statements?

TRAVEL

✓ Paid flight booking?

✓ Hotel booking?

✓ Dates match the Fair phase?

PAYMENT

✓ Working debit card?

RETURN

✓ Collect yourself or use courier?

If those are sorted before you leave home, the Abuja trip becomes much simpler.

Do not use an old Abuja address #

This is the biggest practical correction.

Older Chinese Embassy material listed:

Churchgate Plaza, Constitution Avenue.

But the current 2026 official guidance and the Abuja Visa Centre itself now list:

Murjanatu House, 3rd Floor, Plot 473, 1 Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, Abuja.

Use the current address.

The short answer #

The China Visa Application Centre in Abuja is currently at:

Murjanatu House, 3rd Floor, Plot 473, 1 Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, FCT Abuja.

Submission:

9:00am–3:00pm

Collection:

9:00am–4:00pm

Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Apply online before travelling.

For most short-term M business applicants, fingerprints are currently waived until 31 December 2026.

The Abuja centre says payment is by:

debit card only.

And if travelling back to Abuja just to collect the passport is expensive, the centre currently offers optional courier return for ₦74,500.

For the full application, continue with how to apply for a China visa in Nigeria.

Then check documents for a China visa in Nigeria.

And if your trip is for the Fair, use Canton Fair invitation for Nigerians before travelling to Abuja.

First published 23 Sep 2026. Last checked 27 Sep 2026 by The ChinaBridge desk. Something here out of date? Tell us in the comments and we will fix it.