With the 24hr visa-free transit visa, do people have experience on what to provide the agents at the departure airport do you don't he denied boarding? Would an itinerary showing that your scheduled to depart within 24 hrs sufficient? Thanks

As long as the itinerary has actually been ticketed (they do check with the airlines sometimes), you should be okay.

Print out the page from the Chinese Embassy in Washington's website. Many airline agents are clueless about this.

I have had a few visas over the past years, and my last one expired last September. I am about to apply again and the form is different than previous. The 2011 form has a lot of somewhat invasive questions regarding family etc. Any experiences on whether we need to fill it out in all it's gory detail? I guess I will, but somehow feel a little antsy about it.

My passport service does a lot of China Visas and they say you that they really do verify the family info.

If they are still antsy ask them to read Timatic which has the correct information and is accessible to all checkin agents.

Thanks. I will be going to the DC Embassy to get one-day turnaround and didn't want to have any issue.

Here's my visa experiences to give some more perspective.

I used mychinavisa.com to get my visa. Prices were as shown on their website and I followed their instructions shown online for filling out the forms and for what I needed to include. Sent my application out on a Monday using a USPS flat rate express envelope ($16) guaranteed to the visa service office in San Fran the next day by noon. The office received my visa and promptly began processing my application. I chose the slowest processing speed (4~6 days) and the 12 month multi entry visa. I got a confirmation email from their office automatically when my passport was received. My passport with my new 12 month multi entry visa was back in the mail that Friday and I received it on Monday!! A week from the time I sent it out to the time it was back in my hands.

Very easy process and I was always encouraged to contact them if I had any questions or concerns. When I called the one time to ask a clarifying question they answered their phone very quickly and were helpful. Definitely recommended! :D ^

Timatic is anything but accurate. It often is inaccurate and out of date. Anyone who knows anything about country entry requirements knows not to trust an ill and sloppily (at best) maintained tool such as Timatic and instead refers to the country consular officers, or official information channels, instead. Case in point, Timatic makes no mention usually of the 48 TWOV in Shanghai for many nationals to whom it is available, and unless you have a printout from China Embassy describing that, airline staff who cluelessly just use Timatic may not give you your BP or check you in (speaking from a personal bad experience with clueless check-in staff, and the floor supervisor, at HKG who have no idea of the PVG 48 TWOV - good that I went to check in many, many hours before the flight and had the China Embassy 48h PVG TWOV printouts in hand).

I take issue with this post, in extremis. What IS often inaccurate are websites and information from the various Chinese Embassies and Consulates around the world. Timatic is actually kept pretty well up to date at least for China. For a long time, it certainly has included the 48 hour TWOV at Shanghai. Timatic is not always put in an easy to read format, however. Like it or not, Timatic is the source that most airline check-in agents will refer to when making a determination.

Any floor supervisor at HKG for any airline, who does not know the TWOV regulations for China (including the 48 hour at Shanghai and nationalities to which it applies)--needs to be relieved of duty.

+1

Hmm.. Timatic is what the airlines use so it is probably a good idea to comply with what Timatic says like it or not.

I have never met a checkin agent in Hong Kong who does not know the rules regarding TWOV. I fly through HKG about 15 times a year.

Am I doing a study abroad program through my school next semester. Went to China visa office in LA today and submitted my application with an acceptance letter from the school. The worker looked at my application and asked "single entry?" and I told her I'd like to get a multi-entry because I am planning to travel in and out of china. She responded that I could get only 6 month (even though 12 month is the same price). I've also gotten a single entry and double entry china visa before so thought I'd have no problem getting a 12 month with my documents but I guess not.

But what if what Timatic says is just plain wrong and out of date? (I checked, now it does mention 48h TWOV at PVG and SHA, but back a few months ago it still did not.)

This was at the Kowloon station check-in, if it makes a difference. Still the same contractor there servicing most airlines though, so the same staff and training they undergo as at HKG airport I would think.

That same agent/floor supervisor also stole my credit card info (it's the only place I used it in HK, so I am pretty sure of that; that, and the fact that she went to some back room with it for some 5 minutes, vs. used the CC machine right there at the counter), and then it was used for a number of other airline ticket purchases or changes -- all serviced by the same Jardine Airport Services. I suspect those pax paid in cash, but she charged it to my stolen cc info, and kept the cash. I of course not only charged those transactions back, but alerted this Jardine Airport Services of it (giving a clear description of the person, their employee, whom I suspect did it), but they didn't really do anything about it other than "investigate it"...so ultimately they seem to implicitly allow such theft by their employees. Lesson learned: never use a credit card when checking in or changing tickets at any airlines in HK serviced by this Jardine Airport services, as there is a real chance its detail may be stolen.
(Sorry, a bit OT, I know. But this is useful knowledge and experience to share, IMO)

In short then, both knowledge and training wise, as well as ethics and honesty wise, Jardine Airport Services staff at HKG leave a lot - A LOT - to be desired..:(

It's been on TIMATIC for as long as can recall (years, not months). I have been participating in these various PRC visa discussions for over a decade now, and people often post lingo directly from TIMATIC (usually the delta.com or KVS interfaces). If you search for "Shanghai TIMATIC" by post, you can see for yourself.