Originally Posted by
mnredfox
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Transit Without Visa (TWOV)
This applies only to Chinese airports, not land borders or seaports. The biggest issue is not going to be the Chinese, it is convincing your originating airline that TWOV is legal. It is in the TIMATIC database should your airline want to look it up. In general, the Chinese airlines are up to speed on TWOV; other foreign carriers, just depends on the savviness of the check-in agent. Key features of TWOV:
• You must be in international transit A-B-C with B as the China airport and A and C two DIFFERENT international origin/destinations. A-B-A is a no-no. A1-B-A2 (the A’s different cities but in the same country) should also be considered as ineligible.
• There are some routings that are A-B-C-D with B, C being two different Chinese transit airports and B-C technically a domestic segment. It is actually legal to do this but may present some head scratching, especially if there is a change of airline in the middle somewhere.
• Nearly all nationalities are allowed up to 24 hours to accomplish an international transit without a Chinese visa, as measured by your scheduled arrival time in China to scheduled departure time heading out of China.
• Certain nationalities only are allowed up to 48 hours and only at Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Hongqiao (SHA) airports. Currently the extra allowance is good for citizens of: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, USA. The UK and Ireland are not on the 48-hour list, stick with 24 hours. ETA September 2011: Passport holders of Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland have apparently been added to this list of foreigners permitted 48 hours' transit at PVG/SHA. Please check with the nearest Chinese Embassy to confirm.
• Guangzhou (CAN): As of summer 2011, there have been a few anecdotal reports that this particular airport may be experimenting with a new policy for intl-to-intl transits that will send the passenger back to airside, and not permit leaving the airport unless the passenger has a Chinese visa. Until more and consistent information is available, please be aware of this possibility if you are scheduled with an international transit at this airport.
Procedure:
• At present, you are required to go through Chinese immigration when arriving. Assume there is no option to get off the arriving flight and “stay airside.” At immigration, look for desks signed “international transit” which may be separately located or at one end of a bank of counters. If there is nothing specially signed, use any desk for foreigners.
• Have your confirmed (e-)ticket and onward itinerary available for inspection along with your passport, boarding pass if you already have. Your Arrival Card handed out to you on the arrival flight should be marked “transit” as your visit purpose. There should be no problems, and you will receive a hexagon-shaped stamp in your passport for TWOV (this is not a regular entry stamp for those with visas and it is not a transit visa).
• After you leave the counter, you may return back through exit immigration, security then airside for your onward flight. Your airline should already have told you at origin whether you need to pick up baggage and then recheck (different Chinese airports have different policies on international transit bags, it’s not solely under airline control). With a long layover or an overnight, you may wish to leave the airport and go to a hotel, or into town for sightseeing. Leaving the airport is explicitly allowed in the Chinese regulation, regardless of the incorrect interpretations that you might see in other posts or forums.
• Make sure you leave enough time to get to your outbound boarding gate: including check-in (if needed), exit immigration (you’ll be stamped out), and security.
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