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. We would like to travel from LAX to Hong Kong and layover for about 3 nights in Beijing on the way there or on the way back. Can we do this visa free? Do we check in with the airline as we check in at LAX?
Hi Amy,
According to visa-free policy and your flight itinerary, you can get the visa-free stamp when you landing Beijing.
Filipino Citizen flying Dallas – LA – Beijing – Manila – Beijing – LA – Dallas. Do i need to apply for the visa or do i qualify for visa-free tour? i’m trying to figure out how to make great use of the 13-hour layover. thanks
Hi Sal,
Thank you for contacting us!
According to your flight itinerary, if your nationality belong to any of the above country, you can get the visa-free stamp.
If I am flying Seattle (US) – Vancouver (CA) – Beijing – Vancouver (CA) – Seattle (US) do I need to apply for a visa?
Hi Tristen,
Yes, according to your flight itinerary, you would have to apply for a visa in Chinese Embassy in advance. You are not able to get the visa free.
I am travelling Stockholm – Beijing – Kuala Lumpur – Beijing – Stockholm. Do I qualify for the 144 hours visa free in Beijing when arriving from Stockholm ? I will stopover in Kuala Lumpur before onward trip back, Kuala Lumpur – Beijing – Stockholm. Is it ok itineary to eligible for 144 hours visa free?
Hi Lin,
Yes, according to your flight itinerary, you can get the visa free stamp.