Shenzhen TWOV question:
Found and promptly bought a great Seattle to Taipei fare on Xiamen Airlines:
Flight:
SEA -->
SZX (technical stop, not actually listed on my itinerary) -->
XMN(arr. 1/8 21:30, dp. 1/9 8:45) -->
TPE
If I'd done my research before buying the tickets, I definitely would have chosen a didn't flight. Alas. What I understand of the transit system so far:
- If the flight were actually SEA-XMN-TPE it would be a simple 24-hour TWOV situation
- 'Technical stop' is a misnomer. This is two flights sharing the same code. I will have to deplane and likely clear customs before re-boarding the flight for Xiamen. Chinese immigration care that's it's just a 'technical stop'.
- 6 months ago this would have been a non-viable itinerary without a visa
- TIMATIC gives conflicting information but it appears 24-hour TWOV is now (maybe) allowable in Shenzhen provided one's onward flight isn't to HK or Macau. Airlines must give advance notification to immigration.
- There are reports of travelers successfully transiting Shenzhen under 24-hour TWOV in the last couple of months. However an airport official has also said a visa is required in response to at least one inquiry.
Xiamen Airlines has been thoroughly unhelpful, telling me official policy is to redirect questions regarding visas to your local consulate and the Chinese airports in question. I understand the aversion to liability but am frustrated that I can't get a straight answer to whether they'd board an American passport holder without a Chinese visa. I called the Shenzhen airport once and speak enough Mandarin to have the conversation "do you speak English? "No, have a friend who speaks Chinese call us". I'm going to try calling again tonight to ask about the 24-hour TWOV policy but am not optimistic officials will be patient with my lousy Chinese/ I'll understand their response.
However, based on TIMATIC and traveler's experiences 24-hour TWOV is now possible in Shenzhen. Am I missing anything? Has anyone heard of people being denied boarding of TWOV in Shenzhen since this went into effect?