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Question: Asked by Andy from usa | Apr. 13, 2024 21:52

About:24-Hour Visa-Free Transit

2 visa-free transit opportunities?

After traveling from Europe directly to Beijing and visiting the area during a 144-hour visa free transit, I plan on exiting China on a direct flight to South Korea. Several days later, my next flight is to New Zealand that includes a 17-hour layover in Shanghai. Will the prior 144-hour visa-free transit preclude the subsequent 24-hour visa-free transit?

Travel appears to satisfy both visa-free requirements, but I want to clarify anything that a humble traveler might be missing, while avoiding a 17-hour layover in an airport. Thank you.

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Answers (1): Answered by Borut | Apr. 14, 2024 23:55

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Andy, your both journeys are eligible for respective visa free transit schemes and they are totally unrelated. When you leave China after your first stay in Beijing, this segment is done/over and closed.

On your second journey, you will be eligible for 24 hour visa free transit and you do not need any kind of visa. Also, your previous journey does not have any influence on this one. However, you have to be aware that, although you have right to travel absolutely visa free via Shanghai, 24 hour visa free transit implies a waiting airside for your onward flight. Now, a good news... Chinese authorities have right to grant temporary entry permits to those traveling with small children, physically disabled passengers or those with long layover, like yours is, in order to allow them to exit the airport and to have a decent rest in the hotel outside the airport.

In other words, upon your landing in Shanghai, the first thing you will do is to approach the transit counter where you will apply for a temporary entry permit by presenting your flight tickets. This application is free of any charge. After a short check, you will be granted a permit and you will proceed to the immigration and outside the airport building to spend your time on your own.

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2 visa-free transit opportunities?