First Day of Arrival

11 June 2020

07:00am

Visa

Alternative 1: 144-Hour Transit Visa Exemption Policy

In 2016, China has introduced the 144-hour Transit Visa Exemption Policy in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other 16 cities. Under this policy, visitors who fulfil the following 3 conditions:

 i) coming from 1 of the 53 countries in the list,

ii) holding valid travel documents

AND

iii) have connecting flight tickets to a third country/region within 144 hours

are allowed to enter China through specific ports and stay in certain areas without a Chinese Visa for up to 144 hours in China. During the 144 hours in China, visitors can visit places in the administrative area without having to apply for Chinese Visa.

Note: Hong Kong and Macau are considered third regions from mainland China.

The conference will be held in Beijing, located in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Hence, under the policy, guests can enter/exit from any one of the 6 ports listed below.

It is highly recommended for guests to enter from the Beijing Capital International Airport to allow for a better coordination on your arrival.

Note that the 144-hour visa-free transit starts from 12am on the next day after entry, not from the time your flight lands in China.

For example, if your flight arrives in Beijing at 07:00am on 11 June 2020, the 144-hour time limit starts from 00:00am of 12 June. This means that you can stay in Beijing, Tianjin or Hebei till 17 June as long as you leave before 23:59pm on 17 June 2020.

Illustration:

Arrival Time in Beijing

Second Day of Arrival

12 June 2020

00:00am

Beijing

Last Day in Beijing

17 June 2020

23:59pm

Start of 144-hour visa-free transit

End of 144-hour visa-free transit 

144 hours/6 Days in Beijing

For the connecting flight to the third country, do take special attention that the country of embarkation before Beijing and the country of disembarkation after Beijing must be different. If not, you would not be eligible to apply for 144-hour visa-free transit. For example, if you came to Beijing from Australia, your next connecting flight should not be to Australia. In addition, your next port of disembarkation after Beijing should not be any city of China outside the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. For example, your next connecting flight should not be to Shanghai.

Country of Embarkation before Beijing

Australia

Beijing

Shanghai

City of Disembarkation after Beijing

Ineligible example:

Eligible example:

Australia

Country of Embarkation before Beijing

Beijing

Singapore

Country of Disembarkation after Beijing

Country of Embarkation before Beijing

Canada

Canada

Country of Disembarkation after Beijing

To apply for 144-hour visa-free transit, there are 5 steps to follow:

A. Notify the carrier that you are applying for 144-Hour visa-free Transit. They will convey your need to the immigration office. Do note that you need to report the visa-free transit request to the immigration authority through the airline company or personally prior to your arrival. 

B. Follow signs at the customs area and get to the dedicated counter for 144-Hour visa-free Transit applicants. Provide your document that shows the information of your confirmed connecting flight.

C. Once your application is approved, your passport will be stamped with a stay permit by the immigration officer, which shows the issuing date and the permitted duration of stay.

D. If you have a valid Chinese Visa, but you don’t want to use it this time, you should tell the immigration officer that you will enter and transit by applying for the 144-Hour visa-free Transit.

E. If you intend to travel to other cities not within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region or stay longer than 144 hours, you are required to apply for a new Chinese Visa from the local Public Security Bureau. 

For more detailed information on this policy, please visit https://www.chinadiscovery.com/chinese-visa/144-hour-visa-free.html.

Alternative 2: Apply for visa using the normal way

If you intend to apply for other types of Visa, please visit https://www.visaforchina.org/ to understand more.

Source: ChinaDiscovery.com