72 Hours Visa Free Stay for Tourists in China

China is considering a proposal that will allow the transiting foreign nationals to remain in Beijing for 72 hours without requiring visa in a bid to boost tourism in the country.

Currenlty tourists in Shanghai are allowed to explore the tourist attractions in the city for 48 hours without obtaining a visit visa. The South China’s Hainan province runs similar program for tourist groups for up to 21 days.

Visa free stay for 48 hours for the citizens of Republic of Korea, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland transiting through Pudong Airport or Hongqiao Airport of Shanghai is allowed.

The transiting passengers must hold valid passports, visas for the onward countries, final destination tickets and have booked seats in order to benefit from the visa free transit option.
The visa waiver for 72 hours is being introduced in the capital region after the success of the visa free stay option for tourists in Shanghai and neighboring cities Hangzhou and Wuxi.

The nationals of United States will safe $130 and citizens of other countries will save $30 in existing processing fees for transit visa.

More details such as the starting date of the programme and eligible countries for visa free transit in the Beijing are not available yet.

Tags: Beijing, China, Shanghai visa free transit, transit visa, Visa Free transit, Visit Beijing, visit China