auckland - shanghai - harbin - russia flights

Question

Hi! I'm travelling with my 5-year old son from Auckland, New Zealand to Vladivostok, Russia in June. We are flying to Shanghai and from Shanghai to Harbin with Air New Zealand and their partner airline within China. We have one itinerary for the China flights and don't need to pick up bags in Shanghai - the luggage will go straight to Harbin. We also don't need to leave Shanghai airport during a layover. However we have a 12 hr night layover in Harbin and probably need to change terminals from domestic to international. I'm hoping we can use the 72 hour visa free transit in Harbin to go to a hotel. Can you please let me know if the stop in Shanghai airport can affect this type of visa? Should I apply for transit visa beforehand in New Zealand instead?

Borut · Answer

Katie, you should do the following:- Please, calculate the time from your scheduled arrival into Shanghai and I assume that you will arrive at 06:55 (6:55am), since you mentioned your arrival by Air New Zealand, until your scheduled departure from Harbin. If your departure from Harbin toward Russia is before or at 06:55 (6:55am), you will be able to travel visa free based on the rules established by 24 hours visa free transit.- In case, if your total transit time in mainland China is longer than 24 hours, you will have to apply for a Chinese transit visa beforehand. - As you can see, the rule called 72 or 144 hours allows only a travel via just one Chinese transit region and you have two (Shanghai and Harbin). This is why you can rely only on 24 hours visa free transit and even then, just if your total transit time, as explained before is less or exactly 24 hours. If you are not certain, you can present your flight itinerary and we can calculate it for you.

AUCKLAND - SHANGHAI - HARBIN - RUSSIA flights

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