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Just been denied boarding by MU at MAD on MAD-WEN-PVG-KIX due to no transit visa, I was relying on the <24 hours transit visa waiver, but couldn’t find any information anywhere about this route being exempt from the waiver.
Has this happened to anyone else?
Where is WEN ? What passport do you hold?
Wenzhou maybe, WNZ. That routing wouldn’t be eligible for transit without a visa because you are leaving the area to travel within China.
Just been denied boarding by MU at MAD on MAD-WEN-PVG-KIX due to no transit visa, I was relying on the <24 hours transit visa waiver, but couldn’t find any information anywhere about this route being exempt from the waiver.
Has this happened to anyone else?
There are 15 cities that allow TWOV but I don’t believe Wenzhou is one of them, plus there are restrictions about where you can travel on these types of visa vs a full one and these two airports in China are not very close. I would expect MU to be entirely familiar with the Chinese rules.
This is the site the UK.GOV links to for China
https://www.visaforchina.cn/BER2_EN/generalinformation/news/283420.shtml
The list of cities is a permissive one rather than a list of exclusions. If your city isn’t listed thats a sign it’s excluded.
Interestingly I plugged it into Expertflyer (assuming British passport) and the first option is this which matches the instructions above too
TWOV (Transit Without Visa)
Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 24 hours. They can obtain an entry permit on arrival and they must have documents required for the next destination. Passengers with multiple transit stops within China (People’s Rep.) must have a total transit time not more than 24 hours.
This TWOV facility does not apply at Fuzhou (FOC), Huangshan (TXN), Mudanjiang (MDG) and Urumqi (URC).It then also goes on to list lots of cities that have the 72hr and 144hr schemes with their geographical restrictions
But by my reading of that assuming the OP was departing Shanghai within 24hrs of arrival in China should have been OK?
Oh dear.
For my peace of mind, could somebody kindly confirm that I’m ok to do the following:
Fly into Beijing Daxing with BA; spend five nights in Beijing including a day trip to the Great Wall; fly out of Beijing Capital on a Chinese airline to somewhere in Korea.
I won’t need to apply for any kind of visa and can just rock up as it.Thanks.
I’d start here
You need a visa to visit mainland China.
@Aston100 I’d say you’re fine as you are arriving and departing from the same 144 hour zone. You just need to double check that your Great Wall visit is in the same zone. There’s a really long thread on FT with plenty that are much more knowledgeable. If you stick your itinerary on there you should get more positive reassurance. It’s under the countries list for China and should be sticky near the top.
Obviously try to back this up from official sources.
Thanks guys.
Large parts of the Great Wall are within the allowed visiting area when arriving into Beijing.
My concern is mostly about arriving with one airline and departing with another, on separate tickets.
The official wording that I read stated “interline”. There is no interline between the two airlines.One of the Chinese airlines I’m considering for BJS to SEL is China Southern. I think they have some sort of link with BA, but I can’t imagine BA interlining with anyone.
First of all, the OP was seeking “Transit without visa” (“TWOV”), and not a “transit visa” (which does separately exist) or a “visa waiver”. For TWOV there is no visa involved whatsoever.
144-hours TWOV is available in a limited number of major cities, not including Wenzhou, and to a limited number of nationalities. But 24-hours transit without visa is permitted in almost every Chinese city (there are a few exceptions) to almost every nationality (there are again a few exceptions).
The key issue here is the time from scheduled arrival in Wenzhou to scheduled departure from Shanghai. If it is 1 minute more than 24 hours then a visa is required. That seems unlikely for this routing unless there was an overnight connection in Shanghai. Perhaps the OP could post the detailed itinerary.
@Aston100 your route is fine assuming a qualifying passport. Have your onward flight printed out if possible to show on check-in and arrival, and use the correct terminology (“transit without visa”). But do your own research and don’t rely on threads such as this one, which already contains a lot of duff information even from normally reliably posters.Thanks guys.
Large parts of the Great Wall are within the allowed visiting area when arriving into Beijing.
My concern is mostly about arriving with one airline and departing with another, on separate tickets.
The official wording that I read stated “interline”. There is no interline between the two airlines.One of the Chinese airlines I’m considering for BJS to SEL is China Southern. I think they have some sort of link with BA, but I can’t imagine BA interlining with anyone.
Different carriers and separate tickets are fine. Any mention of “interline” is a red herring. You just need a confirmed onward flight (ie standby is not allowed). And your passport must be from one of the qualifying countries too, of course.
Thank you Mr Jones
@Aston100 – re a trip to the Great Wall, pick the location with care. Some are impossibly crowded (eg Badaling), Mutianyu possibly less so but still busy. Simatai to Jinshanling (which isn’t always open) is better and more energetic. HuangHuaCheng is a good very uncrowded option and the only section that goes through a lake – very beautiful. It’s less organised and the very first part is a bit of a scramble, but thereafter you can walk a long way on the Wall and not see anyone.
@Aston100 I arrived with BA and departed with Vietnam Airlines. Even arriving into PVG and departing from SHA is allowed. Honestly you will be fine just sort out an offline mapping app, Maps.me worked well, a VPN and Alipay before you arrive.
We decided for our peace of mind to apply for a tourist visa (type L) for our trip to China this July. We submitted the application form online before visiting the visa office in Manchester. We were seen as soon as we got there, and were there for less than half an hour. Staff checked the print outs for hotel bookings etc., took our finger prints and told us the visa would be ready in less than a week. It cost £260 for two x multi entry visas, which will allow us to visit China as many times as we want for the next two years for stays less than 3 months.
@Aston100 I arrived with BA and departed with Vietnam Airlines. Even arriving into PVG and departing from SHA is allowed. Honestly you will be fine just sort out an offline mapping app, Maps.me worked well, a VPN and Alipay before you arrive.
Thanks Strickers
@Aston100 – re a trip to the Great Wall, pick the location with care. Some are impossibly crowded (eg Badaling), Mutianyu possibly less so but still busy. Simatai to Jinshanling (which isn’t always open) is better and more energetic. HuangHuaCheng is a good very uncrowded option and the only section that goes through a lake – very beautiful. It’s less organised and the very first part is a bit of a scramble, but thereafter you can walk a long way on the Wall and not see anyone.
Thanks JDB.
I may start a dedicated thread with relevant questions later in the yearI’d start here
You need a visa to visit mainland China.
Just below the bit you’ve quoted, it also says this:
Visa-free transit through China is permitted, from 24 hours to 144 hours depending on location.
I’d start here
You need a visa to visit mainland China.
Just below the bit you’ve quoted, it also says this:
Visa-free transit through China is permitted, from 24 hours to 144 hours depending on location.
Indeed it does but it’s not totally clear exactly how long Aston is going to spend in China. He said 5 nights which can be more than 144 hours depending on arrival and departure times,
OK I’ll bite.
Even if it was 6 full 24 hour days including 5 nights, 6×24=144 so not more than 144 hours if only 5 nights?
Indeed it does but it’s not totally clear exactly how long Aston is going to spend in China. He said 5 nights which can be more than 144 hours depending on arrival and departure times,
OK I’ll bite.
Even if it was 6 full 24 hour days including 5 nights, 6×24=144 so not more than 144 hours if only 5 nights?
On top of this, if entry to Beijing is like Shanghai, I don’t think the 144-hr clock even starts until midnight following arrival (e.g., so if you arrive at 9am, the 144 hours actually starts 15 hours after you get in), so five nights should more than comfortably fit.
On top of this, if entry to Beijing is like Shanghai, I don’t think the 144-hr clock even starts until midnight following arrival
My research suggests this is indeed the case.
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