Question

Asked by James Thornton from united kingdom | Nov. 26, 2019 02:01

About:240-hour Visa-free Transit in Wuhan

TAO - WUH - LHR

Hi!

I have been living in Qingdao for 5 weeks so far on a 60-day X2 visa. In December I fly to London on a single booking with China Southern via Wuhan where my layover is 14 hours. Naturally I would like to leave the airport to see the city

Overland entry to mainland China: 16/10 ~2pm
Flight to Wuhan: departs at 15/12 22:25
Flight to London: departs at 16/12 14:35

I asked for a 90 day visa because of this but was issued 60 days which should expire on the day I leave Qingdao depending on how it's counted. I have tried to find out the cost of a flight change and get some kind of 'ammendment' from the Visa centre - but no luck.

I need to cover this gap in my visa somehow. Any advice would be great
Do you think obtaining a TWOV will be possible even though my inbound flight is from China?
What is the official process for counting days of validity?
Is there a way of predicting the likelyhood of a fine?

Many thanks
James

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Answers (4)

Answered by James | Nov. 28, 2019 02:09

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Thankyou for this clever solution ZUPAN, it hadn't occurred to me. My visa is single entry. I assume the following won't be an issue but if you have any further advice please pass it on:
1. My flight to Korea won't match the original outgoing flight which I noted when applying for my visa
2. I understand that I must arrive after 14:35 on the 15th because then I will be in China on the transit visa for less than 24 hours. This is fine for me but others in the thread might like to know your reasoning for not applying for a longer visa free permit e.g. 72 hours?
3. Is it a problem that I will be transiting multiple cities (Qingdao & Wuhan) in China while on this temporary visa?
4. If facilities are available at TAO I may look into simply leaving some of my luggage there rather than taking it to Seoul and back

Many thanks

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Answered by ZUPAN | Nov. 26, 2019 13:18

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Part one:

James, unfortunately, exactly on 00:01 (0:01am) of December 16, you will enter in overstay. So, after you land in Wuhan, you will breach the law. I understand that you have tried to understand your departure from Beijing as final departure from the country, but in reality, your flight from Qingdao to Wuhan is just a domestic flight and the final stamp of the immigration will be given to you in Wuhan.

Unfortunately, if you don't want to breach the law, you will have to invest a bit and book a round trip ticket to one of the cheapest possible destinations in South Korea or Japan. Why?

Like this, you will depart from Qingdao to Seoul (or some other city) on December 14. By doing this, you will perfectly remain within the legal frames of your visa. You will make an overnight there and return by a chosen flight back to Qingdao, but be very careful to chose that this flight arrives after 14:35!!!

As you can see, your visa will be consumed upon your entry from China and after that, you will return tomorrow (December 15) traveling on 24 hour visa free transit! You will print out your flight tickets and you will declare in Seoul (or some other city) that you will travel to London via China using 24 hour visa free transit. After a short inspection of your tickets you will be allowed to board the plane for Qingdao.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Nov. 26, 2019 13:18

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Part two:

Upon arrival in Qingdao, you will approach 24 hour visa free transit counter where you will apply for a temporary entry permit to be allowed to collect your luggage and perform a recheck for your flight to Wuhan. You will be granted this permit and you will be also perfectly within the legal frames because you will not go in overstay because your visa has expired at the moment of your exit from China and even if this is not true, if we are talking about a multiple entry visa, you will declare that you are in transit because you will be in transit literally. In this case, your stay (transit) in China is not based on your visa that will expire at midnight, but on 24 hour visa free transit!

When you arrive in Wuhan, they will know that you are not traveling on your expired visa, but on 24 hour visa free transit because your journey has started in Seoul (or some other city). In the end, you will leave China perfectly legally and without any detail that could make you a problem with your possible future visa applications.

I understand that this is not the cheapest way to bypass the problem of unavoidbale overstay, but as I can see, you simply have no another choice. Of course, you can enter in overstay and pay the fine. Anyway, this will cause you a huge problem if you intend to apply for any kind of visa for a travel or a stay in China.

Again, your flight from Seoul (or some other city) has to arrive in Qingdao after 14:35!!!

OK, the solution is here and decision has to be all yours.

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Answered by ZUPAN | Nov. 28, 2019 09:50

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Thank you for your kind words :)

1. This is not an issue at all. You have absolute right to change your mind and to reschedule your exit plan as you wish. The only important detail is that everything is done within the legal frame, i.e. that your exit is still during the validity of your visa.

2. Actually, when you have two consecutive Chinese stops as you will in Qingdao and Wuhan, then you are limited to 24 hour visa free transit. In this case, you cannot rely on 72/144 hour visa free transit. If your flight from Qingdao departs directly to some foreign country, then you would be eligible for 144 hour visa free transit. In your case, you have an itinerary with two Chinese cities in different transit zones and you are limited to 24 hours.

3. 24 hours visa free transit (not temporary visa) is created to allow a transit for those having more than one Chinese stop in a row. Anyway, to disable or at least to limit possible abuses of the transit through more Chinese cities in a row, Chinese have instituted the limit of 24 hours.

4. You will have to obtain a temporary entry permit upon arrival in Qingdao because the next sections of your itinerary (Qingdao - Wuhan) is considered as a domestic flight. So, upon arrival from South Korea to Qingdao, you will approach 24 hour visa free transit counter where you will apply for a temporary entry permit. After this permit is granted, you will be allowed to exit the airport. Also, you will be allowed to collect your luggage that you have left it in Qingdao. This is, by the way, very good idea. This is your invention :)

Basically, this is it and if any other question arises, here we are.

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