Shanghai visa?

[meryll83]

Has anyone stayed longer than the 72 hours free you can get if transiting elsewhere?

I'd love to do Shanghai Disneyland at some point, but just wondered whether I'd need to get a visa?

 

[Karin1984]

You now have a 144 hours visa, I am using it in August to see the city 2.5 days and 2.5 days in Disney. It is short, but I didn't want to spend the money for a visa for a day or 2 more. Plus I was too lazy for the hassle with embassies etc

 

[meryll83]

Is that the same for UK citizens do you know?

 

[Karin1984]

Just google '144 visa' + China and you will find the rules. Or just click the link below UK is included. However, I would advise you to check with the Chinese embassy if Brexit makes a difference to this. I don't think so, but you never know.

http://www.sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4414

 

[meryll83]

Thanks for the advice.
I'm sure it'll actually be quite some time before we do this trip, so it may well have all changed by then!

 

[Agent 86]

On our trip in April, we used the 144 hour visa.

It was relatively easy and would have been easier with appropriate signage and more helpful staff members, but what can you do.

My recommendation would be to try and be as quick as possible. We went to an area marked "visas", but were told to go to a separate area for the 144 hour visa (the first area only did the 72 hour visa). We then lined up in the next area, after checking the area for any necessary forms and finding none. We got to the desk and were then given forms, so we had to leave the line, fill in the forms and then re-join the line. Even though there was only three people (including us) for the single staff member to process - he took a LONG time.

By the time we were both processed and went to baggage claim, we found that a stranger had loaded our bags (along with a couple of other bags) onto a trolley and appeared to be about to walk out of the airport with them. That person did NOT appear to be an airport official and simply appeared to be someone who loitered in the baggage claim area to steal luggage. We quickly grabbed our bags and walked away from him, although he did initially yell at us for taking the bags.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Is that the same for UK citizens do you know?

It's the same rule for anyone wanting to go to China. It works the same for the Aussies as well.

Just make sure you check the rules for what constitutes "transit" and route your flights to meet the criteria.

 

[Karin1984]

It's the same rule for anyone wanting to go to China. It works the same for the Aussies as well.

Just make sure you check the rules for what constitutes "transit" and route your flights to meet the criteria.

Just to add for others readers, not anyone can use this 144 hours visa. Only 51 countries can, which is most of the Western world, but most countries in Asia, Middle East, Afrika and South America can't. Please check the list to see if you can use it.

 

[Flossbolna]

Also, there are reports that sometimes the agents at check-in at your starting airport might not be knowledgeable about the 144-hour transit without visa.

Flyertalk (a forum that is about airlines and mainly visited by frequent flyers) has a very good thread about all the different visa exemptions for China: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...it-without-visa-twov-rules-master-thread.html

The things I have learned from there are:
1) tell your check-in agent that China is not your destination, but your transit country
2) be sure that you have confirmed flights for the destination you travel to after China (which must be different from the country you visited just before entering China)
3) verify that you can travel without visa on Timatic (which is the info system the airlines use). I just googled Timatic and found access points to it.
4) never call the 144-hours transit without visa a "visa". It is not a visa, you do not need one if you comply with the rules. Calling it a visa can only cause misunderstandings
5) make sure that you are at check-in as early as possible before your first leg.
6) if you connect on your flight to China, ask to be at least checked in to the next airport from where the flight to China leaves and try to get it resolved there.

We are going to attempt this in early summer. I will report back on how it worked.

We are going to fly with Swiss Airlines from Germany, connecting in Zurich in Switzerland. Swiss actually has info on immigration regulations on their website: https://www.swiss.com/de/EN/prepare/travel-regulations/immigration-regulations-worldwide It has a link to what I think is ultimately the Timatic database. I have tested it and if I enter Japan as destination and China as transit I get the following info:

Visa required.

Passengers transiting only are exempt from holding a visa when:
Nationals of Germany holding confirmed onward air, cruise or train tickets to a third country, arriving and departing from any one of the following locations: Hangzhou (HGH), Nanjing Lukou (NKG), Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) or Shanghai Pudong (PVG) for a maximum of 144 hours, starting from 00:01 on the day following the day of entry.

This also applies to passengers traveling from/to Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal and Shanghai Railway Station.

I intend to print this out and bring this as well.

To be honest I am quite nervous... The good thing is that thanks to European law if they make us miss our flight because they don't understand that we can travel, we will get 600 € each (assuming that this will lead to a delay of arrival of more than 4 hours). But we really don't want to miss any of our rather short time in Shanghai...

 

[Agent 86]

Also, there are reports that sometimes the agents at check-in at your starting airport might not be knowledgeable about the 144-hour transit without visa.

Very true. We flew from Osaka, Japan to Shanghai, China. The check-in agent in Osaka initially refused to check us in because we didn't already have a visa to travel to China. We explained that we planned to get a visa upon arrival. They then spent a long time calculating how long we were going to be in China (i.e. how many hours). They then called over some other people. It took a very long time. It appears that they understood that only a 72 hour visa was available. We quickly "googled" details of the 144 hour visa on our phone, showed it to them on the phone and the check-in process went smoothly after that.

I'd recommend having a print-out of the 144 hour visa information on-hand to provide to the check-in agent.

 

[disney144]

We used the 144 hour transit on our recent trip. Our visas were checked at our first airport, but not during our connection (we flew Indonesia to Malaysia, then on to Shanghai). Visas were checked in indonesia but not Malaysia.

In Indonesia, they asked for our visa and I told them we were transiting. We flew air Asia if that makes a difference. They collected our flight information (including our flight leaving Shanghai on a different airline) and took it to their managaer. It probably added 4 minutes to our check in time. Easy!

To be safe, I did print the information from the Chinese embassy site, and I found information about it on the air Asia flight. I didn't need to use any of this information, but I would recommend bringing it anyway.

When we arrived at PVG, we weren't sure what to do about immigration. You do not need to fill out to forms they pass out on the plane. Follow overhead signs for the 144 hour visa line (for us, it was all the way at he very end on the far left).

You need to fill out a specific transit visa paper (for each person, not party). Look around on the counters there to see if they set them out. If not, you'll need to wait in line for the form. This line moves very slow. Be sure to have printed versions of all your hotels and flights. They will photocopy them.