72 Hour VISA-Start at Midnight?
 

If I arrive at PEK and apply for the 72 hour visa, does ihe 72 hours start at the beginning of that day of when the visa is issued or the time I land ? Example: If I arrive at 2:00 PM on a Monday is it valid until 2:00 PM on Thursday or midnight on Wednesday? Does your next flight have to be scheduled departure before the expiration time or do you just have to check in and be through Immigration?

Thank you

Yes you need a confirmed flight that departs before your visa exemption expires.
And apparently, the 72-hour calculation now thats at midnight after you land.

It's 72hrs from scheduled arrival to scheduled departure....(for TWOV).

tb

It was recently changed, it appears that everybody is doing like Guangzhou now.

Has TIMATIC been updated? For most of us, what really matters is being allowed to board the flight.

Can you explain what they are doing ?

The "Guangzhou Rule" -- which I believe was publicised by China Southern but not reflected in any official announcement -- allows you to stay for the remaing day of your arrival, plus three full days more. Actually, that’s what the transit stamps used everywhere in China seem to allow, since there’s only a date and not a time on them. But unless you can show tickets that meet the 72-hour rule, then by the book you are not entitled to receive that stamp.

Since no one wants to be stranded at an airport on this question, there does seem a need for some sort of official confirmation if the policy is indeed loosening.

No, that's not true. The following are now using the Start-72-hour-Clock-at-Midnight 00:01 rule: Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai (Hongqiao and Pudong), Xi'an.

The following are still using straight 72-hours Scheduled Arrival-to-Scheduled Departure: Chengdu, Dalian, Guilin, Kunming, Shenyang.

This is already in TIMATIC systems, so somebody probably needs to update the Wikipost for this thread.

It's possible (probable) that in the future, all 72-hour TWOV transit points will go to the 00:01 +72 hours rule.

But this should answer TonyBurr's question above. At PEK, he arrives on Monday at 14:00 and his 72 hour countdown does not begin until midnight (technically, 00:01 on Tuesday). He needs to vamoose from PEK by the very end of Thursday (technically, 00:00 Friday).

Please note there is a dedicated TWOV thread here on FT in the China forum

The wiki at the top of that thread has been updated as of 20 November to include those cities where TWOV commences at 00:01.

TIMATIC has been updated (although not in the wiki on that thread). It would be a good idea to print your own copy of TIMATIC (based on your passport/citizenship) to have at check-in as the 00:01 rules are very new.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I haven't found any English language notification of the new timing on any of the Chinese embassy or consular sites, although this is not entirely unexpected as some of those sites contain outdated or ambiguous information as it is.

Travelchinaguide is using the information I wrote in the other thread (all cities but Beijing using 00.01).
I got my information from my wife´s friend, she works at Yanji Airport for Air China.

But as many rule changes in the past here in China, it needs some time to get confirmed informations. ;)

Didn't know that. For some flights coming in from Europe, that adds an extra 12hrs, which is quite significant.

tb

Here’s official recognition of the Guangzhou Rule in Chongqing at the press conference announcing the extension of the program to Chongqing, as posted on the State Council’s website:

"享受免签的时间计算，落地重庆当天不计入72小时，从落地重庆的第二天零点起算，在重庆停留的时间实际可 以达到4天."

"Calculating the availability of the visa waiver, it’s not 72 hours from arrival in Chongqing, it’s calculated starting from midnight the day after arrival, so actually the stopover time in Chongqing can be up to four days." (unofficial translation)

http://www.scio.gov.cn/xwfbh/gssxwfb...07/1349107.htm

I suspect that those cities that have no changed to the Guangzhou rule will do so very shortly. We'll just have to fait for the announcement.

Great news for many people. I was a little confused at first and then came around once I read this and the other thread on FT. Thanks and Safe Travels..

Thats not correct. The timer starts at 00:01 the day AFTER arrival. So you can effectively get more than 72 hours.