Originally Posted by
bison1847
Ok Question related to this. I booked a QR turn where I arrive at 15:00 and leave the next morning at 01:00. Could I stay in the airport and not leave in order to not need to get the transit visa? As its returning to the same location I am afraid the 72 hour visa wont apply. What if I book another ticket (to HKG) get the 72 hour visa, fly back and cancel the HKG the next day?
Just trying to figure out creative options. Thanks in advance!
Please don't use the word "transit visa" as that is a completely different document that you get in advance. What you want is Transit Without Visa (TWOV). Memorize this term and use it. As for your routing: I assume you are talking about a turnaround at CAN. If you are returning back to the same country that you arrived from on QR, that is not a valid transit and you likely won't even be allowed to board the initial China-bound plane without a visa. If you book a CAN-HKG return ticket to nest in the middle and actually fly it, then you can qualify for a TWOV. You do have to fly it. If you use the CAN-HKG just to get past boarding the QR plane to CAN then arrive in CAN and cancel the flight to HK, it will be picked up by Chinese Exit Immigration that you tried to pull a sneaky and it could be rather unpleasant for you.
If you are arriving on QR nonstop DOH-CAN midafternoon, you can book and fly the evening CAN-HKG flight then return on the next morning HKG-CAN and take the wee hours QR flight, a day later than you originally planned. Each way you'd get 24 hours TWOV.
Another option is to fly the inbound to China as you'd planned, book a one-way CAN-HKG so you can use TWOV on the inbound, then change the return flight from CAN-DOH to HKG-DOH and not return to the mainland.
You'll have to decide whether the cost of changing the QR flight arrangements, plus cost of flying to/from HKG and possibly spending night in HK, is worth foregoing getting a Chinese visa. But you must do something, as your current plan is untenable.