Chinese diplomats, like all diplomatic visitors to the United States, do have to obtain a visa (usually, an A-1 or A-2 u201cdiplomaticu201d visa, but a G series visa is used when if the individual is part of that countryu2019s delegation to an international organization that has facilities in the United States) for all official visits. The diplomat does not necessarily have to fill out the paperwork himself or herself, and I would imagine that the paperwork is chiefly handled by bureaucrats somewhere in the foreign ministry of the country sending the diplomat to the United States. Applications for A, G, and N (NATO) visas are processed u201cspeciallyu201d at the Department of State, in the sense that they get handled through different processes than the much more common visitor, student, and employment visas, but Chinese diplomats go through the same processes that any other diplomatic applicant would go through. There is no coninterview for most A or G visas (there may be for A-3 and G-3), instead, the current ambassador or charge du2019affairs of the country sending the diplomat (or if none, its foreign minister, head of government, or head of state) must certify (via a u201cdiplomatic noteu201d) that the applicant is a bona fide member of its diplomatic delegation or otherwise is acting in an official capacity for that foreign state. There are special processes that apply when a country sends a new ambassador, mainly ceremonial in nature: the new envoy must personally carry a u201cletter of credenceu201d formally addressed from the foreign head of state to the President of the United States, the Presidentu2019s ceremonial acceptance of that letter formally invests the envoy as an ambassador with the rights and privileges thereof.Even a visiting head of state or head of government has to obtain such a visa, in fact, heads of state and heads of government are required to obtain an A-1 visa for any visit, even if the purpose of the visit is purely personal. Applications for an A-1 visa for a head of state are almost always handled through expedited diplomatic channels.