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!
Hello – if I have two 8 hour layovers in Beijing can I obtain entry (VISA) to China twice? 1st layover Feb 3 (Los Angeles-Beijing-Bangkok) the 2nd layover Feb 18 (Phuket-Beijing-Los Angeles)
I wanted to do 3 tours Great Wall, Forbidden City & Pandas. Is it possible to see all 3 in the two layovers?
Hi Crystal,
Thank you for your message.
Yes, you can get temporary visa twice at Beijing airport. Many our previous clients did two layover tours with us. Could you please provide us your flight times? Then we will know if you have time to do these tours.
Hi! I’m a Philippine Passport Holder with a US Permanent Residency card (green card) and will be travelling with my mom who is a Philippine Passport holder with a valid US Visitor’s visa. We have a 15-hour layover in Beijing (Houston-Beijing-Manila). I was wondering if my mom needs to apply for a transit visa ahead of time. Much thanks.
Hi Vincent,
You can apply for a temporary visa when you arrive in Beijing airport. Would you like to book a layover tour?
hi,
I am travelling to India from Auckland in Nov 16. I am on Indian passport, can I get a transit visa to visit city etc.? If so what is the cost? Can I apply for transit visa online before arriving?
Thanks
Hi Sanjay,
Thank you for contacting us!
Since the Indian is not belongs to “72 Hours Visa-free” 51 countries. If you would like to take a layover tour, please apply the Chinese entry visa from your local Chinese embassy before you landing Beijing.
We arrive in Beijing at 1am from Thailand. Upon going to Thailand we experienced that not much is open in this airport during this time. Can we get our visa online somehow?
Hi Kristene,
Thank you for contacting us!
Normally, you can get 72-hour Visa-free at that time. Our clients did that before.
There is no Visa-online service in Beijing.
Would you like to book a layover tour?
By the way, your email address is incorrect. We are not able to reach you by email.