China offers visa-free entry to travelers holding ordinary passports from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, 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 and Japan. 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, 2025.
Updates: To further facilitate cross-border travel, China decided to include more countries in its visa waiver program and extend the visa-free policy to ordinary passport holders from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay on trial basis from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026, and from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain on a trial basis from June 9, 2025 to June 8, 2026. Ordinary passport holders from the above-mentioned five countries can be exempted from visa to enter and stay for no more than 30 days for business, tourism, family/friends visit, exchange and transit purposes.
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 54 countries: Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Macedonia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Republic of Montenegro, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, 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,
I’m from Switzerland and I will be travelling with the transsibirian train to Beijing via Russia and Mongolia. Then I would like to visit the Great Wall and fly to Vietnam. I won’t stay longer than 3 days in China. Can I apply for the 144 hours visa?
Hi Malina,
Sorry, we do not think you can get the visa-free. Please apple the Chinese visa in advance.
Hi,
I am a canadian and here is my itinary:
Montreal to Tokyo transiting in Beijing Sept. 29th to Sept. 30th.
Seoul to North Korea transiting again in Beijing Oct. 8 to Oct 10.
North Korea to Montreal transiting another time in Beijing Oct.14 to Oct 15.
Can I get three 144h visa-free in two weeks?
Thank you,
Hi Yoan,
Yes, you can get the visa-free in two weeks for sure.
Traveling from London – Beijing- Abu Dhabi – London. How long do you have to stay in Abu Dhabi to qualify for the 144 hr visa free in Beijing and what do you have to verify the layover
Hi Debbie,
You can got visa free in Beijing if you fit our 144 hours visa free policy above, no matter how long will you stay in Abu Dhabi.
Hi,
I am a German passport holder and my question considers the transit visa requirements for the 144 hours free visa in Beijing. My boyfriend and I will be traveling from Frankfurt International airport to Hanoi, Vietnam. There we will be staying for about two weeks to continue our journey to Beijing. There we will be staying for 4 days. Afterwards we will fly over Hanoi (only transit stay for 3 hours) back to Frankfurt International airport.
Does the 144 hours free visa apply for us as well?
Thank you for your answer in advance.
Greetings from Germany
Anni
Hi Anni,
Thank you for asking!
If you coming from Vietnam and going back to Vietnam, you can not apply for the free visa. According to Beijing visa-free policy: The destination and place of departure cannot be the same.