Tourism Schemes (ADS, STV, OTC, PS)

Information for Chinese travel agencies that arrange tourist travel:

Certain Chinese travel agencies may arrange tourist trips and apply for visas to Denmark and the Schengen area on behalf of their clients. These agencies must be accredited by REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou and listed on the Ministry of Culture & Tourism list of approved travel agencies.
The travel agencies can arrange four kinds of tourist trips to Denmark. These are the Approved Destination Status (ADS), the Supplementary Tourist Visa (STV), the arrangement for Other Travel-related Companies (OTC) and the and Preferential Scheme (PS).

You can find more information on New to Denmark

Group tourism (ADS)

This arrangement allows agencies to apply for visas to a group of at least five people accompanied by a tour guide. The visa will have a single entry to Denmark and the Schengen area and a validity of maximum period of 30 days.

The Supplementary Tourist Visa Arrangement (STV)

This allows agencies to apply for visa on behalf of an individual tourist or groups for Denmark and the Schengen area. Visas will have a single entry and a validity of maximum 30 days. Furthermore it is not a requirement, that the tourists are accompanied by a tour guide. It is an essential condition that the tourist has purchased a package journey via an accredited Chinese travel agency, as listed further below. A package journey must at least include transportation and hotel reservations.

Other Travel-related Companies (OTC)

Travel-related companies other than travel agencies in Denmark are eligible for accreditation under the OTC agreement. Chinese travel agencies accredited to ADS tourism are automatically accredited to act as the Chinese agency for such tours. The accreditation of the Danish companies is done by contacting the Danish Immigration Service. This agreement makes it possible for hotels, cruise ships and the like, to be accredited in Denmark.

Preferential Scheme (PS)

The Preferential mean that applicants using a Chinese accredited travel agency (accredited by Ministry of Culture & Tourism and the EU) will experience reduced documentation requirements and experience a shorter processing time for visa issuance. Lad os slette det – der var under en promille blandt ansøgerne I 2018 og 2019 der brugte dette produkt.

The travel agencies must in all cases follow these rules;

The Chinese agency must be accredited by Ministry of Culture & Tourism as well as REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou.

How does a Chinese company become accredited? The travel agency (accredited by Ministry of Culture & Tourism) should contact REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou and request for ADS and/or, STV and/or OTC and/or PS. Accreditation documents checklist could be obtained by sending an e-mail to [email protected]

The following rules apply for submitting these special tourist visa applications:

Where does an accredited travel agent submit the visa applications? The application should be submitted at the country of the applicant’s main destination (i.e. where the applicant will spend the most time. If the same amount of time is spent in two countries, the country of first entry is the main destination).

Applications are submitted by the travel agencies designated courier.

The agency may submit all applications the Danish Visa Application Centres in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen and Xi'an.

Which Danish incoming travel agents can we cooperate with?
An updated list of approved Danish travel agencies, including their contact information, is available on this page.

What are the documentation requirements for applying for tourist visa?
Please see the document checklist for ADS tourism which also covers the STV and OTC. 
REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou may ask for additional documents or information from the Chinese accredited travel agency and has the right to call individual group members for an interview. All additional documents should be either in English or Danish.
Please notice, that presentation of the above-mentioned documents does not guarantee the applicant a visa.

Other important responsibilities of the travel agency

Visas are only valid for the period of the pre-determined itinerary as submitted at the time of application. If, for reasons beyond the control of the Chinese accredited travel agency, any changes are made to this itinerary between the application and departure, the travel agency has the full responsibility to immediately inform REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou by email.

It should be noted that changes to an itinerary may only concern points of minor detail, such as hotel bookings. In all circumstances, the group must travel as a group at all times and all members must stay in the same hotels. It is not permissible to change basic elements of the itinerary of the ADS, STV or OTC.

In the event that a member of the ADS group disappears during the trip the tour leader has the full responsibility to immediately report it to the proper authorities in Denmark, the responsible Chinese and Danish travel agencies as well as to REGIONAL VISA HUB DENMARK in Guangzhou.

ADS Sanction Manual

Denmark has its own ADS agreement with China but still cooperates with other Schengen countries about sanctions. For more information about the sanctions, please contact the EU Delegation in Beijing.