Question

Asked by Roger from australia | Jun. 21, 2019 18:21

About:240-hour Visa-free Transit in Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu

I am flying direct from Sydney Australia to Shanghai, taking a 5day tour, then flying back to Sydney

I am flying direct from Sydney Australia to SH, taking a full 5 day tour, visiting the city, Hangzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou Nanjing then flying back direct to Sydney. Arriving part day and leaving part day, in total equivalent of 6 full days.

Am I eligible for a visa free exemption ?

Reason I'm asking is that several references on this site refer to arriving from Country A, staying in Country B(PRC) then exiting to a third country C.

Question : Can country C be the same as country A (in my case Australia).

Based on some replies, the inquirer was told they are not eligible. I seems strange that in the interpretation of the 144' visa, you must exit to a third and different country from which you initially entered from.

If this is the case, you force the tourist to extend there journey by taking a 2 leg return journey home. I have seen replies suggesting exiting via Hong Kong or Macau, then flying back to original country. Very strange, especially if the 144' exemption was put in place to encourage local tourism.

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Answers (5)

Answered by Saul | Jun. 22, 2019 01:08

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It couldn't be clearer: you must by definition be in transit to a third country to benefit from transit without visa. Note that this is NOT a visa. It's a visa-free transit. Your visit to China requires a visa in advance. The transit rules have developed over time (for example, from 48 to 72 and now 144 hours, and the range of passports has slowly increased). It wasn't especially put in place to encourage tourism but that's become a useful by-product. In fact it is a much more generous scheme than many other countries - check the very strict transit without visa rules for Australia, for example. It's also somewhat clever because it encourages people to travel on Chinese carriers.

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Answered by Roger | Jun. 22, 2019 02:55

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I know it is very clear in what is published in tourist information sites like this one(which is not an official source of Chinese Immgration policy, but the compulsion to exit to a third/different/country does not make sense.

If you read some chinese govt sites news releases, you might get the impression, that the expansion/extension of teh policy over the years, was to the benefit of local tourism............which you would make sense.

So if I want to gain exemption, I should not select direct flights, but consider cheaper flight alternatives on leg only(fwd or retn), that in many cases could comply with a third country provision, seeing it's would merely be a transit stop , to final destination back home, albeit probably longer, but may not benefit any local Chinese carrier as there are plenty of alternative carriers, offering such and as said before in some replies, Chinese Immigration only look at last country and next country(not your actaul destination) long as you have booked flights from Country A and Country C where A does not equal C.

As for Australia having strict visa/transit policy, tourism is secondary to the Governments attempt to protect our borders, making it more difficult for illegals or queue jumpers, but even then, we still we still have a larger number of overstaying visa holders .........once they get through the border, they disappear....into our multicultural society....which has come about from very generous and compassionate legal immigration/refugee settlement programs.

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Answered by roger | Jun. 22, 2019 15:39

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Sorry but we are talking about a 6 day visa exemption for all countries that qualify....not abolishing visas for Australian. Where did you get that from. Get real.

I have travelled to China too many times on a Visas, some single, some multiple and even extended 2 year visa so I know how the visa conditions are applied.

What's the difference between flying direct and a flying indirect route on one leg.............and spending exactly the same time and actively participating in a Chinese Tour group.

When you think about it, a six day "transit"............is a very long wait between flights and would be considered more a "break" in a journey,

I don't think you grasp the anomaly of the interpretation. ...............maybe not your decision but the logic is questionable.

So if I must get a visa, I will...........maybe a 2 year multiple......like I used on previous trips...just didn't have one at the time.

By the way, the information from our local Embassy, Consulate and their visa processing centre is so out of date(does not include the 144') and as all inquiries must go through the processing centre, when asked, they claim not to know anything about the 144' exemption(maybe they only advise on visa provisions).

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Answered by ZUPAN | Jun. 22, 2019 04:02

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Frankly speaking, you are requesting China to abolish visa requirements for Australian citizens.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Jun. 23, 2019 08:41

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The only way to accomplish 6 days absolute visa exemption is a reciprocity from the country that also wants to introduce 6 days visa exemption for Chinese citizens. When Australia decides to do such a move, be more than certain that China will do exactly the same thing. Until then, you have very generous 3rd country visa free transit option.

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