Question

Asked by INAL1212 | Sep. 02, 2019 05:37

About:240-hour Visa-free Transit in Qingdao

Amsterdam- Paris- Seoul

Hello,

I live in Netherlands and has Dutch nationality..
I am flying from Amsterdam to Paris and from Paris to Seoul. Back ticket is from Seoul to Amsterdam.

I want to visit Qingdao for 2 days and go back to Amterdam like Qingdao- Seoul- Amsterdam..

Can I get visa for 144hours?

Thanks

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Answers (4)

Answered by ZUPAN | Sep. 02, 2019 15:33

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Look, the problem is with your arrival in Qingdao. You have presented the portion of your itinerary for your travel back from Qingdao, but we miss the part of your arrival.

I assume that you plan to travel on a return ticket from South Korea to Qingdao, so your itinerary would look like

South Korea - Qingdao - South Korea

An that is not allowed under any kind of visa free option because this is treated as a return trip or a visit to China.

So, you will have to obtain a Chinese tourist (L) visa in advance, rearrange your flights or simply forget about visiting Qingdao. When I say to rearrange the flights, you can do something like this at relatively affordable prices:

Seoul - Qingdao - Osaka - Seoul

This would be an eligible itinerary that would allow you to enjoy 144 hour visa free transit in Qingdao area.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Sep. 05, 2019 13:32

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Unfortunately, you simply cannot do that. Having a ticket as you have describe it, is again a return flight:

South Korea - Qingdao - South Korea

The rules of visa free transit for China clearly state that only the immediate points immediately before and after your Chinese destination matter. Everything before and after is irrelevant. So, again, your flight from Qingdao has to be a direct, nonstop flight to a third country and to to South Korea. It can be Japan, and even Taiwan because it is considered as eligible third country for visa free transit purposes.

I just hope you didn't book that ticket yet because it is useless and the South Korean authorities will not allow you to board the plane in the first place.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Sep. 05, 2019 13:35

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Just to correct this sentence that was incorrectly written above:

So, again, your flight from Qingdao has to be a direct, nonstop flight to a third country and NOT to South Korea.

South Korea can follow only after you have really departed for a third country.

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Answered by INAL1212 | Sep. 05, 2019 07:00

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Ok, thanks..

one more question. I found a ticket Qingdao to Fukuoka (transfer Seoul) and Fukuoka-Seoul.

What happends if I don't take the flight from Seoul to Fukuoka and just stay in Seoul? is that allowed?

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