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Asked by Gary from australia | Jan. 24, 2024 05:57
About:72-Hour Visa-Free Transit

Brisbane-Tokyo-Tokyo-Shanghai-Shanghai-Tokyo-Brisbane

Hello,
I have purchased a Brisbane (Australia) Tokyo return flight to travel to Japan in May.

Can I use the 72 hr free visa if I were to purchase a Tokyo to Sanghai Return flight, with the same airline and show proof that I have a booked flight back to Brisbane on a separate booking, 2 days after getting back to Tokyo?

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Answers (2)
Answered by Borut | Jan. 24, 2024 23:53
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No, unfortunately, your itinerary is not eligible for any kind of visa free transit scheme because a segment:

Tokyo - Shanghai - Tokyo

Is not a transit, but a return trip. In other words, the very basic rule of 144/72 hour visa free transit requires that an eligible itinerary has to have the immediate points before and after mainland Chinese destination in two different countries or eligible territories (eligible territories: Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau).

As you can see, your immediate points are in the same country - Japan. In order to be eligible, I suggest you to try to alter your itinerary to look, for example, like this:

Tokyo - Seoul - Shanghai - Tokyo

If you cannot alter your itinerary, you will have to obtain a Chinese visa in advance. I'm sorry.

By the way, using separate tickets and unrelated airlines is fine as long as your itinerary is in accordance with visa free transit rule.
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Answered by Gary | Jan. 26, 2024 16:57
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Thankyou Borut for taking the time to give this detailed reply,
I will take your advice and see if I can go via Seoul,
I will let you know if it comes to fruition,
Cheers
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