THR

Hello,

I have a colleague who has purchased tickets from SYD-PVG, and then a few days later, onto PEK.

Unfortunately the PEK flight is routed via Tokyo (not sure what airport) : it is not a domestic flight. (No idea why.)

From PEK the route is back to SYD.

Supposedly the flight cannot be changed (will verify this part).

Would this require a double-entry visa into China? Supposedly a double entry requires proof of why you need to enter twice (in this case, only due to the flight going international via Tokyo).

Any input appreciated!

moondog

Depending on his nationality, chances are he qualifies for visa free transit on syd-pvg-japan.

But, imo striking the Japan detour would make a lot of sense. In this case, he would need a visa.

plunet

I'm not an expert in TWOV for China, but if the entries into PVG and PEK are within the stated number of hours for visits to those stations (noting that the timeclock starts at midnight GMT+8 on the day of arrival, the traveller might qualify for two lots of TWOV. That of course depends on their nationality, and that the transit in Japan between PVG and PEK are seen by the authorities in PVG as a destination and in PEK as an origin.

There's a pretty good write up of the TWOV rules on Wikipedia which does seem to infer that a stopover in a 3rd country qualifies, but doesn't go onto say if you can remain airside. But as always with immigration matters it's always better to seek advice from the nearest consulate or embassy for authorative information. For complete peace of mind and no arguments a double or multiple entry visa is probably the best way forward although that does cost money.

moondog

-you can do TWOV as often as you like
-Shanghai border control only sees, or cares that the inbound and outbound flights are to different countries; Australia and Japan are different countries, so no problem there
-citizens of 53 countries are eligible for 144 TWOV in Shanghai (plus Jiangsu and Zhejiang)

-he could remain essentially airside in PVG is he was flying in and out on MU on the same day, but they wouldn't let him stay there for "a few days"
-whether or not he remains airside in Japan is not of concern to Chinese officials
-consulates and embassies are generally horrible resources wrt to TWOV; better to call front line officials when in doubt
-as I suggested in post 2, I think the OP's friend should replace that PVG-NRT-PEK flight with a simple SH-BJ plane or train (much cheaper, and you don't waste an entire day); this does require a visa though if the total time in China is greater than 24 hours

https://flyertalk.com/forum/china/70...er-thread.html

moondog

I should also note that if the OP's friend is from a qualifying country, and is flying from beijing directly back to Australia (i.e. the CA flight that stops in PVG is a no no) within 144 hours, he won't any visa at all. (I'm assuming that a "few days" means less than 144 hours in Shanghai.)

THR

Thanks all - seems like a double visa may be required, given PVG is not a simple transit/stopover.

Will see what we can do re changing tickets.

moondog

As I mentioned in the post above yours, if his two China visits are less than 144 hours each, there's a good chance that he doesn't need any visa at all.

That having been said, I think getting a single entry visa, and simply scratching that japan flight is the most sensible path.

onuhistorian0116

Just throw that ticket away and buy a train ticket, a train ticket costs about 80 USD (they can be ordered and paid for with a visa or MasterCard on the English language travel site trip.com), and it is a comparable door to door time frame to a flight, the fastest trains take about 4:45. Also PVG is pretty far from the city, it is a long ride one the 2 line to get in. While Honqiao is not in central Shangahi, it is easier than PVG.

Having lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, and flying between the 2 cities twice and taking the train probably a dozen times, the are basically three reasons to fly, 1 you want a late night departure on the last flight out, the last non-sleeper train leaves at 19:00, the last flight leaves a bit before 22:00, 2, you are using miles to pay for the flight, 3, you want to collect miles to make status. Other than that, the train is so fast, reliable, and comfortable, it seems foolish to roll the dice on a potentially heavily delayed domestic flight, or take the very bizarre flight your colleague has booked.

TerryK

This is FT. There is a thread where a guy/gal flew SYD-LAX-HKG just to go from SYD to HKG. He/she needed UA status. PVG-TYO-PEK is just a minor detour.