China offers visa-free entry to travelers holding ordinary passports from Brunei, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Slovenia, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, Latvia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwiat, Bahrain, Russia and Sweden. Citizens from those countries are able to enter China without a visa and stay for no more than 30 days for business, tourism, family visits and transit purposes till December 31, 2026.
So if your nationality is one of those countries, you DO NOT need to follow below instructions to apply for the transit visa, just please go to immigration directly.
1. How to get the “24/240 Hours Transit Visa (Temporary Entry Permit)” and where to find our meeting point? (Please print it out or save it to your phone)
Apply for Temporary Entry Permit (Picture I)

Immigration (Picture II)

* Please follow below instructions if your flight landing at Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3.
Step 1: When you get off the airplane please follow the sign “Exit, Baggage Claim”. Please keep walking until you see “Temporary Entry Permit Application Counter”. (The opposite of the arrival gate E29) (Please see the picture I)
Please DO NOT stop on the way, such as: “Exit & Entry Certificate Service Office” and “Transit for international Flights within 24 hours”. You might never be allowed to come out.
Step 2: Please waiting for the line at the “Temporary Entry Permit Application Counter” you can get the “24/240 Hours Visa-free Permit ” (Temporary Entry Permit) there. You need to fill a form “Arrival Card for Temporary Entry Foreigners” (Blue one) while you are waiting. (You can get the form at the desk nearby)
Step 3: After you get the Visa-free, please walk to the left and pass through the “China Immigration Inspection”, waiting for the line for “Foreigners” to pass through the immigration. (Please see the picture II)
Step 4: After you pass through the immigration, there is an escalator. Please follow the escalator downstairs. Then you will see a little train station.
Step 5: Please get on the train, and get off the train at the terminal station (T3 C).
Step 6: After you get off the train at “T3 C”, follow the sign “Exit” you will see Exit “B“. Pass through the Exit “B”, there is a Starbucks coffee shop to the left. Our tour guide will hold your name and wait for you there.
* Please follow below instructions if your flight landing at Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 2.
Step 1: When you get off the airplane take a escalator up please follow the sign “Exit, Baggage Claim“. Please keep walking until you see “China Immigration Inspection“.
Please DO NOT stop on the way, such as: “Transit for international Flights within 24 hours”; “Entry Visa”; “Visa Application”. You might never be allowed to come out.
Step 2: Please walk through the “China Immigration Inspection” follow the yellow arrow on the ground “24/240 Hours Visa-free Transit“. At the “CHINA IMMIGRATION INSPECTION” there are several access for “Foreigners“, please go through those access. And then you can get the “24/240 Hours Visa free (Temporary Entry Permit)”.
You need to fill a form “Arrival Card for Temporary Entry Foreigners” (Blue one) while you are waiting. (You can get the form at the desk nearby)
Step 3: Continue follow the sign “Exit, Baggage Claim“ take an elevator down you will see “CUSTOMS“, through the “CUSTOMS”, you will see a Starbucks coffee shop opposite of the exit. Our tour guide will hold your name and wait for you there.
2. Flight delay/cancel & Refund? (Apply to private tours only)
If your flight delays and without your notice, our guide and driver will wait you till you arrives and finish the tour if possible. If there is not time to finish the tour, we will refund you the deposit after deducting the fee for the tour guide and driver.
In case that your flight cancels or delays, please let us know at least 4 hours in advance. This way, we can refund you the deposit in full.
3. How to book a layover tour?
Tell us the itinerary in the website you are interested in and also your modification ideas regarding to the itinerary, by filling an online inquiry form, by email, by phone or by fax. We are available 24 hours every day.
4. How to pay? (Apply to private tours only)
To book a layover tour, please pay 50% of tour fee as deposit in advance. We use PayPal online payment, which is more safe and convenient. Our travel advisor will give further details about it. The balance half could be paid upon arrival directly to the tour guide in cash, either USD or RMB. If you want to pay the rest of tour fee by credit card via PayPal as well, please pay before you landing Beijing.
5. Are these your best tour prices?
Yes, all of our tour prices are our best prices we can do. But if you can get more people join your tour, the tour price will be cheaper. You can see our Best Price Guarantee Policy at: https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/why-choose-us/.
6. How to assure a layover booking?
We will send you a Tour Confirmation via email (usually within 6 hours) after the receipt of your deposit, passport info and flight info. In this way, your booking is finally confirmed.
7. Luggage storage for the layover/Where to leave your luggage for the layover?
Leave your luggage with your airline. Passengers on layover tours arriving and departing from Beijing Capital airport will normally have their luggage sent to their final destination from their airport of origin.
Leave your luggage with us, load on our vehicle, our driver will watch for you while the tour.
If you’re looking to ditch your bags while you explore Beijing, the airport offers left Luggage counters at all the three terminals. You can leave your luggage for few hours to few days.
For example: A layover in Beijing in between flights from Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Manila, the Philippines. Luggage will be sent directly from Amsterdam to Manila. The information is only a guideline and it’s always recommend to check precise details with your airline.
8. Money exchange?
It’s advisable to exchange some money at the airport counters or ATM as you need to purchase meals or other personal expenses. Its handy to have some RMB when you arrive. There are 24 hour currency exchange counters at Beijing airport in all terminals as well as ATMs.
9. Visa-free Policy?
Please see details at: https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/visa-free-policy/.
10. What are the differences with other tour companies? What are the advantages do you have?
Please see this page about the differences between our company with others. https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/why-choose-us/.

Hello, my I ask. I watched on the internet that arriving passengers have to scan the passport and fingerprints at the airport, they have a machine to do it on your own. Does it also include people who are applying for the Temporary Entry Permit? Thank you. I’m trying to apply for the 24-hour entry permit by the way.
Hi Lee,
Yes. You will have to scan your fingerprints after you get the visa free stamp (temporary entry permit).
Hi I’m Indian passport holder having layover in beijing for 21 hours while travelling from india to newark. can I get temporary stay permit on arrival or do I need to apply for visa before I travel?
Hi Dr. Swaminathan,
Please see visa free policy at: https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/visa-free-policy/.
Thank you!
I’m Indonesian passport holder interested in spending time to Great Wall and Forbidden City during my 7 & 11 hours layover (on go and return trip) for 5 persons. Before making reservation to you, I’m still not sure about TWOV 24 hours, can we get it? I think I’m not willing to pay transit visa as the fee same as the full visa so I hope there’s assurance for us to get TWOV. Please advise.
Secondly, if at the end the immigration refuses to give us the exit permit, can we get a refund? How many did Indonesian clients you have, get refusal of TWOV? And for what reason?
Thank you.
Hi Deddy,
Thank you for contacting us!
According to our experience, all of our Indonesian clients all got out with no problem so far.
According to our policy:
1. If you want to cancel the tour or your flight is delayed, please inform us 4 hours before the scheduled pick-up time. Then we will refund you in full.
2. If you are not able to get out of the immigration control for some reason. Or if you did not show up on time at the meeting point and there is not enough time to finish the tour. We still can refund the land service cost (excluding guide and driver airport transfer cost) to you.
You can see our previous Indonesian clients’ layover time frame on our Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1083540658256732160
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1076398848401002496
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1076032935050932224
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1065892431202140160
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1064026464075431937
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1025635399035543558
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1018318059071651840
https://twitter.com/BeijingLayover/status/1006344350563909632
I fly from VietNam to United State and transit at Beijing Airport about 11h30m, this is a transit fly. That case can i get free visa layover, i want short tour around Beijing? I am Vietnam citizen.
Hi Le Duy,
We arranged many tours for Vietnamese passport holders with visa-free. But the airport have right to stop you in the airport without any reason even was happened for the US passport holders. So if you want to be 100% sure, please apply for the Chinese entry visas in advance in Chinese Embassy.