Beijing to Extend Visa-Free Transit

Beijing to Extend Visa-Free Transit: Beijing will extend the 72-hour free visa transit to 144 hrs by the end of 2017.

The visa-free transit in Beijing has been limited to 72 hours for some time now and has been available to citizens of 51 different countries who have a flight out of Beijing, Tianjin or Hebei within 72 hours of their arrival in the area. The condition is that the onwards flight can’t be to the same country to which the passenger originated before entering China. Therefore, travel documents showing a confirmed onward booking to a third country is mandatory and must be shown to officials at Immigration.

The government is now planning to extend the 144 hour – or six-day – transit permit to Beijing, Tianjin, and the surrounding Hebei Province. The terms will be the same as the current six-day transit permit that is in use for the Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Province area along with Guangdong Province.

The announcement of the doubling of the current 72hrs visa-free stay was made by the vice-mayor of Beijing. It was announced that by the end of 2017 there would be a 144-hour transit without visa program in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei. However, a release date has yet to be confirmed.

Private crew can also benefit from this policy but will need special clearance letters for Immigration when arriving on a commercial flight and leaving on a private jet (and vice versa).

UAS has dedicated staff in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu to assist the crews on arrival and departure.