Question

Asked by jn from Indonesia | Aug. 09, 2019 02:04

About:24-Hour Visa-Free Transit

transit in Xiamen

im an Indonesian and im gonna have a stop in Xiamen for 12 or 13 hours before reaching my final destination in France. im wondering if it is possible to get the TWOV before entering Xiamen ? im departing from Indonesia and it seems the branch of the airline company in Indonesia oblige me to have a visa. eventhough i didn't need it when I departed from Paris, i had transit in Fuzhou and got the free entry permit in the immigration check. Actually who apply for this visa ? is it the airline company ? because when i contact them it seems they were implying that they wouldnt give any assistance for visa application

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Answers (5)

Answered by Jn from Indonesia | Aug. 13, 2019 05:38

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Thanks for your response Zupan.

So, yes I completely agree that theoretically, I am eligible for 24 hours visa-free transit because my flight will arrive in Xiamen at 14.20 and my next flight will depart at 00.10.

Unfortunately, I cannot be relaxed, the information on the airline website is not clear, I did a little research about transitting in those two hubs, there are many people got confused about the 24 hours visa-free rules because there are people who got denied boarding because they have no Chinese visa. Interestingly, found another experience by another Indonesian about his trip with the same airline and manage to get TWOV in Xiamen but the departure country was the US. I kinda feel like it's related to the departure country, though I am not sure.

Unfortunately, based on my experience, I cannot say they take good care of the passengers. I'm not even sure if they made some sort of agreement with Fuzhou, because the airline office (in Jakarta) insists that every passenger need a visa for both Fuzhou and Xiamen. According to them, the reason I can have TWOV in Fuzhou was that I am returning to my own country but I don't buy this because some information they gave was contradicting, for example, the website referring to IATA for visa information in which according to that website I am eligible for TWOV, long story short, they keep insisting on the visa. So, I made the visa rather than being denied to take the flight (they have been denying people for this reason) :(

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Answered by Jn from Indonesia | Sep. 08, 2019 09:16

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Hi,
So, I have taken the flight and when I was in Xiamen the 24 hour counter was closed, nobody was there. Thus, I couldn't ask but based on what I understand there, you have 2 forms blue and yellow, blue if you wanna apply for the 24 hours permit and yellow if you have the visa; nonetheless, there was a board saying that you just need the yellow card even if you want the 24 hours permit,so this one is kinda confusing. Anyway, before I took the flight, a friend of mine called the immigration in the airport and they said they actually don't have any restriction (about the 24 hours permit) for the Indonesian citizens. So, I don't know whether the visa is actually needed or not.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Aug. 09, 2019 16:07

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Calling the airline is a complete waste of time. They will never give you any kind of answer regarding visa free transit or similar. They will always tell you the most difficult options for yourself, just to protect themselves.

In reality, if Xiamen is your only stop within mainland China, although I doubt so, you are eligible for 24 hour visa free transit.

It appears that you have already traveled through China using 24 hour visa free transit, so I'm a bit puzzled about your questions. You have already mentioned that you have used visa free option in Fuzhou and it functioned well. In other words, there is no reason to change anything. If you have tickets and the itinerary that is eligible for 24 hour visa free transit, everything you should do is to print them out and to declare in Indonesia at the check-in counter that you will travel to Paris via China using 24 hour visa free transit. They will inspect your tickets and allow you to board the plane.

So, assuming that you are flying with XiamenAir all the way, you should be really relaxed because this company, as is visible on your example and your previous transit in Fuzhou, takes good care of its passengers, but only after they appear at the check-in counter. Why do I mention Fuzhou? Fuzhou is the airport that in principle does not allows 24 hour TWOV, but XiamenAir has obviously lobbied that such an option is accessible to their passengers.

Now, if I were you, I would recheck my itinerary and calculate the entire time that you will spend transiting in China and you can also share with us the details of your flight itinerary. I'm almost confident that your entire itinerary is fine, but just one, additional check would be advisable.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Aug. 13, 2019 12:57

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Strange, really...

OK, now when you have a visa, you will travel with the peace of mind. Anyway, I would really ask you for a favor. You are right that in the past there were several contradicting information regarding Xiamen/Fuzhou hubs and for that reason, could you, please, make some sort of investigation during your transit by asking the relevant authorities, preferably those behind the 24/144 counters whether you were eligible for 24 hour TWOV or not.

I would be really thankful and you would be of great help for all future passengers traveling through the mentioned airports. Please, just write down a few sentences after your journey. Thanks :)

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Answered by ZUPAN | Sep. 08, 2019 11:41

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Jn, thanks for your kind feedback. Actually, I assume that most, maybe even all passengers had visas obtained in advance and maybe some of them were traveling on 24 hour visa free transit, but on through ticket, so there was really no need to fill out the blue form because all those in transit have remained in the transit (sterile) area. Never mind, really, thanks again. Very kind of you :)

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