Question

Asked by Daria from usa | Jun. 19, 2019 14:20

About:72-Hour Visa-Free Transit

Entering on a different passport than your arrival ticket

Hi,
I'm a dual Russia-USA citizen.

Would I have any issues enjoying the 72-hr visa-free policy if:
1) I will be arriving to Shanghai on a flight from Russia purchased using my Russian passport (in Russia you MUST leave using your Russian credentials).
2) I will use my USA passport to enter China and take advantage of the transit visa.
3) I will leave China to USA on a plane ticket bought using my USA passport.

Would China immigration care?

Thank you!

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Answers (4)

Answered by John Doe | Jun. 19, 2019 16:53

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Information sent to Chinese immigration should be consistent. If possible, you should check in at the airline counter with the US passport and present both the Russian passport and the US passport to Russian border control. As such you can enter and depart Shanghai with an US passport. (It is my understanding that Russia legally allows dual citizenship so presenting both passports should not be a problem in Russia. China, however, does not, so you should refrain from entering and departing China on different passports.)

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Answered by Judd | Jun. 19, 2019 23:18

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China is an API country and it will raise a flag on arrival if you present a different passport from the one that the airline has sent in advance. Why do you want to enter China on your USA passport anyway, and not the Russian one?

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Answered by CDKING | Jun. 20, 2019 04:57

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Shanghai is part of the 144 hour transit, not 72 hour. Also Russian Passport is eligible for the same 144 hour transit program so no need to use USA passport to transit China.

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Answered by John Doe | Jun. 20, 2019 06:01

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Because US citizens must enter the US on an US passport. The API system of the US would not send an "OK BOARD" instruction until an US passport or a Green Card is used at check-in. Therefore airlines are not able to print a boarding pass when using a Russian passport without a GC or a visa. Keep in mind here that China also uses the same API data to process outbound passengers. As such, a person showing up at immigration with a Russian passport (assuming she used said passport for entry at Pudong) but a boarding pass with nationality indicated as "USA" might be pulled aside for additional inspection.

There is also a more subtle difference: Russian passports for persons born before 1992 all had their places of birth listed as "USSR" in English regardless of which "republic" they were born in. US passports will list the actual name of the country as it currently exists instead. Differences in passport information is another headache for passengers and immigration alike because it makes it harder to verify whether it's the same person.

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