Conditions for foreigners to apply for a 72/144-hour visa-free transit

Foreigners who need to urgently travel to China for short business visits, tourism, family gatherings can apply for a 72/144 hour visa-free transit.

Foreigners who apply for the 72/144 hour visa-free transit must meet the following three conditions:

First, they must be citizens of countries within the scope of the 72/144 hour visa-free transit.

List of the countries:

Member countries of the Schengen visa agreement: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Croatia;

Other countries in Europe: Russia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Monaco, Belarus;

Countries in America: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand;

Countries in Asia: South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar.

Second, they must hold a valid international travel document that proves their nationality and identity (document must be valid for at least 3 months) and meets the entry requirements of the third country or region they are heading to.

Third, depending on the duration of the visa-free transit applied for, they must hold a ticket or relevant proof showing confirmed flight dates and seats to the third country or region within 72/144 hours. They also need to fill out the temporary entry form for foreign visitors and undergo questioning by immigration inspection authorities.

Foreigners who meet the above conditions can apply for a 144-hour visa-free transit at the border control authorities of 20 cities or apply for a 72-hour visa-free transit at the border control authorities of three cities in China. This policy has not been implemented in other cities at present.

For example, foreigners can apply for a 144-hour visa-free transit at the border control authority in Qingdao, Shandong province to stay in the administrative area of Shandong province.