24-hour Transit Visa

Since you will have 18 hour layover, you will be eligible for 24 hour visa free transit and you do not need any kind of visa. However, under 24 hour visa free transit the exit is simply not a passenger's right. However, Chinese immigration authorities have right to issue, at purely discretionary base, temporary entry permits to those traveling with small children, with physical disabilities and those with long layovers, especially those during the night time.

In other words, immediately upon your (second) landing in Shanghai, you will approach transit counter where you will apply for a temporary entry permit by presenting your flight tickets. It is highly advisable to print out your flight tickets and to have a printout at hand. The application is free of any charge. Based on years long experience, I would say that you have huge chances to be granted a permit and I am almost totally certain that this will be the case. By the way, having an accommodation booking helps a lot. Enjoy your journey.

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