Last edit by: moondog
Notice: This thread pertains strictly to visa free transit.
China (the PRC) has several programs that permit travelers with most passports to transit in China without the need to obtain a visa for periods of 24, 72, or 144 hours. These policies are commonly referred to as "transit without visa", "TWOV", or "visa free transit". They have almost completely replaced transit visas, but technically aren't visas.
This thread is functionally the same as its archived predecessor:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...er-thread.html
What's more, the information contained in the wikipost of the previous thread is still (as of 2024) reasonably accurate. However, since that wikipost had evolved into a long and tedious read, we decided to start anew.
Following are summaries of some of the key points:
1. "transit", in the case of all TWOV policies, requires entering and exiting China directly from different countries. For example, USA-China-Japan is okay, while Japan-China-Japan is not, even if you don't actually enter Japan in either direction (i.e. LAX-TYO-SHA is regarded as TYO-SHA).
2. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau are functionally regarded as separate entities for the sake of TWOV, mean routings such as Hong Kong - Shanghai - Macau are permitted.
3. 24-hour TWOV applies to most combinations of conceivable ports of entries/exits, whereas 72 and 144 TWOV is restricted to travel within specific zones (e.g. if you enter China via Shanghai, you are required to remain within the boundaries of Shanghai/Jiangsu/Zhejiang during your stay and must exit from an approved checkpoint within the same area).
4. Your first port of entry in China establishes your zone, and this is the case even for flights that make intermediate stops within China (e.g. CA154 HIJ-PEK stops in DLC, so if you want 144 TVOW, you need to terminate in Dalian and remain within Liaoning Province, and if terminate in Beijing, you'll need to depart China within 24 hours of your arrival in DLC).
5. Visitors to this thread are welcome to provide specific itineraries for us to comment on here, but we encourage you to query TIMATIC (there are numerous free TIMATIC interfaces available on the internet, some better than others) for your specific case first because approved ports change from time to time and there are some variances based on passport/citizenship.
6. In order to avail of TWOV, you should be prepared to demonstrate compliance with both your inbound transportation provider (almost certainly an airline) and at the arrival border checkpoint. Proof of onward travel within the applicable time frame (i.e. 24, 72, or 144 hours) is essential, so even if your plan is to walk across an approved land border upon exit, you may well be denied boarding if you fail to produce a confirmed onward plane/boat/bus ticket.
7. Proof of accommodation in China is not technically required, BUT reserving a hotel room, for at least the first night, is advisable because doing so preempts "where are you staying?" conversations and staying in a hotel will ensure compliance with the "all foreigners must register with a PSB within 24/72 hours" rule.
8. In some cases (e.g. daytime layovers within the same terminal facility), applicants for 24-hour TWOV might be permitted to transit, but denied permits to enter the country. There are a number of ways to minimize (or completely eliminate) the odds of being denied an entry permit.
China (the PRC) has several programs that permit travelers with most passports to transit in China without the need to obtain a visa for periods of 24, 72, or 144 hours. These policies are commonly referred to as "transit without visa", "TWOV", or "visa free transit". They have almost completely replaced transit visas, but technically aren't visas.
This thread is functionally the same as its archived predecessor:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...er-thread.html
What's more, the information contained in the wikipost of the previous thread is still (as of 2024) reasonably accurate. However, since that wikipost had evolved into a long and tedious read, we decided to start anew.
Following are summaries of some of the key points:
1. "transit", in the case of all TWOV policies, requires entering and exiting China directly from different countries. For example, USA-China-Japan is okay, while Japan-China-Japan is not, even if you don't actually enter Japan in either direction (i.e. LAX-TYO-SHA is regarded as TYO-SHA).
2. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau are functionally regarded as separate entities for the sake of TWOV, mean routings such as Hong Kong - Shanghai - Macau are permitted.
3. 24-hour TWOV applies to most combinations of conceivable ports of entries/exits, whereas 72 and 144 TWOV is restricted to travel within specific zones (e.g. if you enter China via Shanghai, you are required to remain within the boundaries of Shanghai/Jiangsu/Zhejiang during your stay and must exit from an approved checkpoint within the same area).
4. Your first port of entry in China establishes your zone, and this is the case even for flights that make intermediate stops within China (e.g. CA154 HIJ-PEK stops in DLC, so if you want 144 TVOW, you need to terminate in Dalian and remain within Liaoning Province, and if terminate in Beijing, you'll need to depart China within 24 hours of your arrival in DLC).
5. Visitors to this thread are welcome to provide specific itineraries for us to comment on here, but we encourage you to query TIMATIC (there are numerous free TIMATIC interfaces available on the internet, some better than others) for your specific case first because approved ports change from time to time and there are some variances based on passport/citizenship.
6. In order to avail of TWOV, you should be prepared to demonstrate compliance with both your inbound transportation provider (almost certainly an airline) and at the arrival border checkpoint. Proof of onward travel within the applicable time frame (i.e. 24, 72, or 144 hours) is essential, so even if your plan is to walk across an approved land border upon exit, you may well be denied boarding if you fail to produce a confirmed onward plane/boat/bus ticket.
7. Proof of accommodation in China is not technically required, BUT reserving a hotel room, for at least the first night, is advisable because doing so preempts "where are you staying?" conversations and staying in a hotel will ensure compliance with the "all foreigners must register with a PSB within 24/72 hours" rule.
8. In some cases (e.g. daytime layovers within the same terminal facility), applicants for 24-hour TWOV might be permitted to transit, but denied permits to enter the country. There are a number of ways to minimize (or completely eliminate) the odds of being denied an entry permit.
China 24, 72, and 144 hour Transit Without Visa ("TWOV"), 2024 onwards
#301
Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 12
yes just use the first wing in the morning, then through first wing security, through the galleries first lounge, and on to the concorde room.
you should just be able to get the bps from the app tbh for both flights, but you will need to do your doc check at lhr at check in. they may give you both bps at GLA or just the GLA-LHR one, it shouldn't mater either way.
you should just be able to get the bps from the app tbh for both flights, but you will need to do your doc check at lhr at check in. they may give you both bps at GLA or just the GLA-LHR one, it shouldn't mater either way.
#302
Join Date: Jan 2024
Posts: 103
First might be a different ballgame, but even if they already provide you with both physical BP at Glasgow Airport, it might still be necessary to go through the Doc-Check at LHR.
Happened to me last year while flying VIE-IST-TFU. In Vienna they already handed me over the BP for both flights, but thank god I queued again at IST Airport, because they had to register TWOV before the departure of the actual China bound flight with Sichuan Airlines.
Happened to me last year while flying VIE-IST-TFU. In Vienna they already handed me over the BP for both flights, but thank god I queued again at IST Airport, because they had to register TWOV before the departure of the actual China bound flight with Sichuan Airlines.
#303
Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 12
First might be a different ballgame, but even if they already provide you with both physical BP at Glasgow Airport, it might still be necessary to go through the Doc-Check at LHR.
Happened to me last year while flying VIE-IST-TFU. In Vienna they already handed me over the BP for both flights, but thank god I queued again at IST Airport, because they had to register TWOV before the departure of the actual China bound flight with Sichuan Airlines.
Happened to me last year while flying VIE-IST-TFU. In Vienna they already handed me over the BP for both flights, but thank god I queued again at IST Airport, because they had to register TWOV before the departure of the actual China bound flight with Sichuan Airlines.
#304
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Southern Cali
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,046
Looking to visit Beijing in November as a US citizen for three nights and want to confirm if my flight booking will comply with TWOV rules.
Looking to book
HND-PEK/PEK-ICN using ANA miles. Since ANA rules require I start and end in the same country, I need to tack on a throwaway flight ICN-HND to make it work. Will book that flight as far out as I can which is end of April.
Since this will all be technically under one reservation, will I have any problems having that ICN-HND flight even though that last flight will be booked for sometime in April.
Looking to book
HND-PEK/PEK-ICN using ANA miles. Since ANA rules require I start and end in the same country, I need to tack on a throwaway flight ICN-HND to make it work. Will book that flight as far out as I can which is end of April.
Since this will all be technically under one reservation, will I have any problems having that ICN-HND flight even though that last flight will be booked for sometime in April.
#305
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PVG
Programs: MU Platinum, HH Diamond
Posts: 842
Looking to visit Beijing in November as a US citizen for three nights and want to confirm if my flight booking will comply with TWOV rules.
Looking to book
HND-PEK/PEK-ICN using ANA miles. Since ANA rules require I start and end in the same country, I need to tack on a throwaway flight ICN-HND to make it work. Will book that flight as far out as I can which is end of April.
Since this will all be technically under one reservation, will I have any problems having that ICN-HND flight even though that last flight will be booked for sometime in April.
Looking to book
HND-PEK/PEK-ICN using ANA miles. Since ANA rules require I start and end in the same country, I need to tack on a throwaway flight ICN-HND to make it work. Will book that flight as far out as I can which is end of April.
Since this will all be technically under one reservation, will I have any problems having that ICN-HND flight even though that last flight will be booked for sometime in April.
#306
Join Date: Jun 2023
Posts: 3
We hold US passports and have planned two flight iteneraries. Firstly, we're flying with CX from DPS to HKG, then to TFU (on same itinerary with a 2-day stopover in HKG). After spending 5 days in Chengdu, we'll be flying with Thai Airways from TFU to BKK. We're aware that this journey complies with the 144-hour Transit Without Visa (TWOV) policy. However, we are concerned that the check-in staff at DPS might not be familiar with the TWOV policy and could potentially refuse us boarding. Additionally, online policies (from United, Skyteam) still list CTU as the airport in Chengdu, despite all international flights now departing from TFU instead of CTU. This discrepancy might further confuse the check-in staff.
Has anyone had experience with TWOV procedures at DPS airport? Is there a risk of encountering issues while obtaining a boarding pass there? Is it possible for the DPS staff to issue the boarding pass for the first leg to HKG, and for the HKG staff to issue the pass to TFU? (We assume the staff at HKG might be more knowledgeable about TWOV).
Thanks in advance!
Has anyone had experience with TWOV procedures at DPS airport? Is there a risk of encountering issues while obtaining a boarding pass there? Is it possible for the DPS staff to issue the boarding pass for the first leg to HKG, and for the HKG staff to issue the pass to TFU? (We assume the staff at HKG might be more knowledgeable about TWOV).
Thanks in advance!
#308
Join Date: Jun 2023
Posts: 3
How do airlines check documents and visas for itineraries with long stopovers? Do they check each leg individually? Will the check-in agent at DPS not even care about my entry into mainland China?
#309
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,087
Airline check-in staff will check TIMATIC. You won't have to worry DPS-HKG, and, like the previous poster said, you won't get your HKG-TFU boarding passes in DPS due to the flight being 2 days later. CX at HKG will be familiar with TWOV.
#310
Join Date: Jun 2023
Posts: 3
#311
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Loews Platinum
Posts: 632
Turkey
So I shouldn't sweat a 1 night stay in Turkey stamp 5 years ago? Not worth trying to get a new US passport? Still have 4 years validity.
#312
Join Date: Jan 2024
Posts: 103
No need for a new Passport at all.
Last edited by wwtknoyb; Today at 11:48 am