Ridiculous. He will not even be allowed to board the first flight.

I do live in Michigan with an American passport so I will start searching for visa agent today. Thanks everyone for the advice!

Yeah, China is one place where you don't wanna muck around with their rules. Just get that visa ASAP.

I found a local place that can do 3-4 day expedite. The one thing they say in their application instructions is for tourism you must supply your round trip air tickets and hotel reservation. My stop is only for 2 hours and thus I won't have a hotel reservation... hoping this won't be an isse.

Just search online for any Beijing hotel and copy down the address. The address info is just formality to have your visa processed, but you absolutely need to provide it in the application or it will be returned.

You will be asked again for your intended stay address on the landing card during your flight. On that one, you can omit.

Excellent, you guys are a lifesaver for this rookie.

Particularly if they have a look at your documentation. The first question after "I change my mind" explanation will be "So why do you have a return ticket issued weeks/months before you booked your oneway to Singapore?"

Don't play around with immigration officers. The best case scenario is being thrown out. Worst case scenarios include a) arrested ,b) paying fines, c) sitting off jail sentences, d) having issues in the future when travelling to other nations (chiefly those asking you in the VOA/visa application "Have you ever been deported?"/"Have you ever been found guilty in a criminal case", etc), and e) deportation. Assuming that they let you on the plane in the first place...

[MENTION=857303]mtu_flyer[/MENTION]: Good luck in getting that visa and enjoy your 2hrs in China :D

Technically you can buy a refundable PEK-SIN ticket and take advantage of TWOV, but it is risky and illegal. The Chinese police won't arrest you for doing that, but you may face trouble when applying Chinese visa in the future.

As a Chinese citizen I once traveled to Taiwan without the special permit, the immigration officers were really mad on that.

I'm not taking any chances here... I'll pay the money for the expedited visa and chalk it up to a learning lesson.

Since the visa cost will be the same, do ask for what you--as a US passport holder--are entitled to by treaty, which is a 10 year, multiple entry tourist visa good for 60 days each stay. On the application form section 2.2 for "intended number of entries" check the "Other" box and type in "Multiple entry valid for 10 years" and section 2.5 "Longest intended stay" put "60." Most reputable agents will try to get this for their clients anyway, but it helps to fill out the form in parallel. As long as your current passport has at least 12 months of validity, you should get this visa and it will carry over into renewal passports. Consider it an investment, in case you want to do future visit or transits or mileage runs to China, you're covered for the next 10 years.

Make sure the agent knows that you want a tourist L visa, even though the purpose of your first visit is Transit.

It is my 2 cents. PLEASE TAKE THIS AT YOUR OWN RISKS.

In my opinion, while OP should get a visa, the visa itself will not be used. The purpose of the visa is simply to satisfy the airline (DL in this case).

Of course he'll enter using the visa.

And he certainly should. If he misses the connecting flight for some reason -- illness, traffic problem, etc. -- he won't have to worry about dealing with immigration because of overstaying his TWOV period.

As others have said, you cannot do this.

You will almost certainly get caught at some stage, and there have been data points of passengers getting physically taken off flights - even after they have boarded - when they have tried this. You then get questioned and possibly fined.

You may not be 'arrested' but you will be detained.

Visa scheduled to arrive a day before my flight... cutting it close so keeping my fingers crossed it arrives on time and they don't reject it.

All completed visa applications are accepted. I never heard any rejection from my friends. Good luck.