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, Kuwait, Bahrain, Russia, Sweden, Canada and United Kingdom. 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. Countries qualified for the 24/240 hours free Transit Visa in Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport now (Dec, 2024) adopts 240 hours free Transit visa to the holders of passports issued by the following countries: Canada, Indonesia, Chile, Czech Republic, Mexico, Macedonia, Monaco, Republic of Montenegro, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States.
According to our experience, some of the countries do not belong to the 240 hours visa free countries, but if you layover within 24 hours in Beijing, you still can obtain the visa free for 24 hours. Such as: India, Philippines, Vietnam, Columbia, Ecuador, Panama, Dominican Republic, etc.
2. Restrictions of the 24/240 hours free Transit Visa
It only applies to passengers who transit through Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. The destination and place of departure cannot be the same.(e.g Auckland – Beijing – Auckland).
3. About how to get free Transit Visa at Beijing airport
Please see details at: https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/beijing-layover-tour-tips/.
Even if you fit all the policies above, the immigration officers still have the right to object to you for some reasons (sometimes they will tell you the reason, sometimes they don’t).
If you want to be 100% sure, please apply for the visa in advance at the Chinese Embassy.
We found some reasons that cause you can not obtain the free Transit Visa.
1. The validity of your passport is less than 3 months.
2. Worked or been to Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan.
There must be more reasons but we just don’t know yet. (The latest updated on Nov. 17, 2023)
As a tour company, if we agree to arrange a tour for you that means your flight information, layover time and your nationality fit the visa free policy requirements.
But there are still some other issues that might happen that might cause you can not obtain the visa-free or can not get out of the airport.
We don’t take any responsibility if it happens. And according to our private tour refund policy, we will deduct our tour guide and driver airport transfer costs accordingly and refund the rest of the tour fee to you. (Most companies are non-refundable)
Hope for your understanding!
Hi,
Me and my boyfriend will be going to the Philippines on July and we have 4 hours stop over in Beijing. Do we need any visa to be able to go out from the airport? What can we see on 14 hours? Thanks 🙂
Hi Beatrice,
Yes, you can get visa-free stamp to get out of airport. Please see how to get it at: https://www.beijinglayovertour.com/how-go-get-the-visa-free-permit-at-beijing-airport/
Please provide us your flights details, then we will make a detailed tour itinerary for you. Thank you!
Hi,
My situation is similar to Ahmet. I will be in Beijing next month for 6 days. I will travel to Hong Kong for 7 days after with confirmed ticket. I am Canadian…I have read on the internet that Hong Kong does not require Visa, but my travel agent said it’s part of China. Can you please confirm if I need a Visa?
Thanks, Karen, Canada
Hi Karen,
If you stay in Beijing within 144 hours, then you do not need visa.
am a philippine passport holder and planning to go to hongkong with 1 hr 20 minutes stop over in beijing. am i required to get visa
Hi Tito,
No, you do not need visa if you do not get out of airport.
Hi,
I will travel to Beijing in april 2018, and will stay 96 hours in Beijing. After that, I will travel to Hong Kong. I already have a plainticket for Hong Kong. I do have a Dutch passport (Netherlands). Normally Beijing does have a 72 hour free entry without visum. Everywhere it says this is extended to 144 hours from 28 december 2017. But no official visum agency confirmed this until know on their website. Is the 144 hours free entry for sure in 2018?
thanks, A. Bozkurt, Netherlands
Hi Ahmet,
Yes, you can get 144 hours visa-free for sure.