please help! :) 144 hour visa-free transit - busan (pus) to shanghai (pvg) to seoul

Question

Hi There! My partner and I are Canadian citizens and are planning to visit a friend (non-Chinese citizen) in Shanghai (Pudong District) during our trip to Korea. We will be flying from Busan Korea (PUS) and arriving in Shanghai (PVG) on October 12 at 9:30am. We will be leaving Shanghai (PVG) to Seoul Korea (ICN) on 18 Oct with a flight departure time of 13:40pm.Would the above be an eligible route? I have read on other forums that the country you fly from into China and fly out of both needs to be different, so would like to confirm. Thank you in advance! It is quite daunting to not know if you can obtain the 144-hour visa exemption transit until you arrive at the port. So we were contemplating if we should go through the process of obtaining a 10-year visa just to be sure our entry would not be rejected....   Appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!

Borut · Answer

Unfortunately, your plan is not possible because it is, by definition, a round trip and not a transit. Based on current rules, transit involves three different countries or eligible territories (eligible territories: Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau) and mainland China has to be in the middle of them. I'm sorry for bringing you these unfavorable news as far as your plan is concerned.However, you can use a bit of creativity and insert third country within your itinerary, Japan for example and create your definitely eligible itinerary. For example:Busan - Fukuoka (Japan) - Shanghai - SeoulI know, this implies a bit more expensive ticket, but like this you would be definitely eligible for 144 hour visa free transit valid for wider Shanghai area. Also, it is not correct that you do not know whether you will be granted a permit to enter the country. The reality is totally different. If your flight itinerary is according to the rules, you will be granted a permit. The only exceptions are those who are engaged in open activities that are hostile toward China and those who have active bans on entering the country. So, if you alter your itinerary, you will be granted a permit to enter Shanghai definitely.By the way, having a multi year visa, if you plan visit China in a more regular/often way, is really the best solution because you will be free from making creative itineraries and sometimes to pay more that you were supposed to.

Please help! :) 144 hour visa-free transit - Busan (PUS) to Shanghai (PVG) to Seoul

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