Greece has officially resumed operations at its six Schengen Visa Application Centres across mainland China as of February 24, 2026 www.visahq.com. Following a scheduled two-week closure for the Lunar New Year festivities, facilities in major hubs including Beijing, Chengdu, and Shenyang are once again accepting submissions www.visahq.com. This restoration of service covers both short-stay C-type visas for tourism and long-stay D-type visas, ensuring that the full range of entry permits is available to Chinese nationals and residents.

The reopening is a critical development for international mobility, particularly as the European trade-fair season approaches. By restoring visa processing capacity, Greece facilitates essential business travel and tourism flows that were temporarily paused during the Spring Festival. This move is expected to alleviate the backlog of applications and support the broader recovery of travel between China and the Schengen Area, which remains a high-priority corridor for both commercial and leisure sectors.

Prospective travelers must now coordinate their applications through the authorized outsourcing partner, GVCW, as direct walk-in appointments at the embassy are no longer permitted. Due to an anticipated surge in demand following the holiday hiatus, experts recommend that travel managers and individual applicants secure appointment slots at least four weeks in advance. Utilizing digital services for document pre-checks and online form completion can further streamline the process during this period of high volume.