phuket-shanghai-london

Question

Hi, I (UK passport holder) am planning on flying from Phuket to London and would like to break the flight up myself by booking one flight from Phuket to Shanghai, and then booking a separate flight from Shanghai to London less than 24 hours later. Would I be able to leave the airport and explore Shanghai on my layover with my 24-hour visa-free transit, or does this visa-free transit only apply to remaining in the airport? Also I read that in some places, you can only do this if the layover is part of the flight offered by the airline, as opposed to booking your own separate flights and therefore creating your own layover. Is this the case?Thanks in advance for your advice.

Borut · Answer

Probably the best option for you would be to make your layover in Shanghai longer than 24 hours just for one minute. The situation of this kind would grant your a status of 144 hour visa free transit and you would not be in a position to bother yourself about the doubts you have written.In any case, if you decide to travel on 24 hour visa free transit, it is true that the only right is to travel through China is visa free transit and a stay airside in the transit area. However, as already mentioned several times, Chinese authorities have decided to make exceptions when a layover is very long, during the night and to passengers with small children. They are usually granted temporary entry permits... In your case, you simply have to be allowed to exit the airport or better to say to cross the immigration because you will have to collect your baggage and to perform new check-in and other formalities and you cannot do that while staying airside. In other words, you will be granted a temporary entry permit and you will be allowed to make some exploration of the city. So, you are advised to print out your flight tickets and your hotel booking confirmation if you plan to stay overnight at the hotel. Immediately upon your landing you will apply for a temporary entry permit by presenting the printouts I have mentioned at the transit counter or directly at the immigration. This application is free of charge. After the permit is granted, you will cross the immigration and after that proceed on your own.

Phuket-Shanghai-London