Do I need to apply for Visa to enter China?
1. According to bilateral agreements, citizens of some countries holding appropriate passports may enter China without a visa provided that their stay in China shall not exceed 30 days from the date of entry into China. While in China, they should apply to the department concerned for the extension of the duration of stay in advance if they want to stay longer.
2. Citizens of Singapore, Brunei and Japan holding ordinary passports may enter China without a visa through the ports of entry open to foreigners provided that they come to China for tourism, family visit, business or transit, and intend to stay in China for no more than 15 days, or they are holders of diplomatic or service (official) passports of Singapore and Brunei and intend to stay in China for no more than 30 days; However, the following persons of these three countries should apply for a visa in advance if:
- They are holders of ordinary passports, and come to China for tourism, family visit or business, and intend to stay in China for more than 15 days;
- They are holders of ordinary passports, and come to China for study, employment, permanent residence or on a news reporting mission; and
- They are holders of Japanese diplomatic or service (official) passports.
3. Foreigners holding ordinary passports of the countries having diplomatic relations with China and on a tour to Hong Kong or Macao, and participating in group tours to the Zhu Jiang River (Pearl River) Delta Area for a stay of less than six days organized by the travel services legally registered in Hong Kong or Macao shall not need to apply for a visa. The Zhu Jiang River (Pearl River) Delta Area refers to the administrative area of the 9 cities below: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, and Huizhou. For going on a tour of Shantou, the above-mentioned group is required to stay within the administrative area of Shantou and leave China from Shantou directly.
4. Foreigners who have confirmed onward tickets and seats on international flights and directly transit through China and stay for no more than 24 hours within the airport shall not need to apply for a transit visa.
5. No visa is required for citizens of the following 30 countries, who transit through China via Shanghai within 48 hours, no matter what types of passports they may hold: Republic of Korea, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Schengen states — Austria, Belgium, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.
6. Citizens holding ordinary passports of the following 21 countries and in group tours to Hainan Province for a stay of no more than 15 days organized by the international travel services approved by the National Tourism Administration of China and registered in Hainan Province shall not need to apply for a visa: Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, the UK, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Citizens holding ordinary passports of the following 3 countries and in group tours to Hainan Province for a stay of no more than 21 days organized by the international travel services approved by the National Tourism Administration of China and registered in Hainan Province shall not need to apply for a visa: Republic of Korea, Germany and Russia.
7. Part of the personnel of foreign resident airlines offices in China and crew members on international flight and trains are exempted from visa requirements or entitled to simplified visa application procedures in accordance with the agreements between the Chinese Government and the governments of their respective countries.
8. Foreigners holding the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card of the People’s Republic of China or the Residence Permit for Foreigners in the People’s Republic of China may enter China without a visa.
9. Foreigners holding the APEC Business Travel Card may enter China without a visa. With the passport and the card, the holder can enter into China for multiple times within 3 years and stay in China for no more than 2 months on each stay.
Except for the foreign citizens mentioned-above, all the other foreigners shall apply for a visa in advance.
For more information, please visit www.visaforchina.org.
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