documents required for 24 visa free transit

Question

Hi,I am planning to travel on this route Copenhagen to Guang zhou and Guang Zhou to Hanoi. The second leg is a different airline (China Southern Airlines). If I stay within the transit area, do I need to apply for anything and show documents? Since I fly on the different airline on the second leg, I wont have the physical boarding pass of this leg unless I go out and check in physically. And does the free transit 24 hour scheme is applied to non Chinese airline, which is my first leg's airline.If I want to go out to get my luggage and check in my luggage on the second leg, I have to apply for temporary entry permit, right? Is it possible to get it just for the purpose of getting and checking in my luggage? I heard that if the layover is not long, it may be difficult to get the permit. The whole process, will that take a long time? Will 3-4 hours layover be enough?Thank you so much in advance.

Borut · Answer

Victor, could you please clarify the situation with your statement that you will fly from Copenhagen to Guangzhou. We both know that there are no flights between the two airports, so it is impossible to determine your eligibility in this case.In any case, if your itinerary is eligible and you fly on separate tickets and unrelated airlines, this is fine and allowed as long as your flight itinerary is an eligible one. So, assuming that your flight itinerary is eligible, the first thing upon your landing in Guangzhou will be to approach 24/144 hour visa free transit counter where you will apply for a temporary entry permit because you have to exit the transit area and formally enter China to collect your luggage and to perform new check-in. There is no alternative for that. Here you will present your flight tickets and the permit will be granted to you because otherwise it would be impossible to perform all the formalities. This application is free of any charge. So, this is not a problem at all.When your permit is granted, you will head to the immigration, collect your luggage and perform new check-in and head to the gate for your flight to Hanoi. 3 - 4 hours are enough to perform all those formalities, but definitely not less than that time. One more detail... When asked on the flight that precedes the one that will take you to Guangzhou, you will declare that you will travel to Hanoi via China (Guangzhou) based on 24 hours visa free transit. This is something written in Timatic, so if you find not so well informed person at check-in, just be persistent because this is your right. Have a nice journey.

Victor · Answer

Hi. Thank you for a quick reply. The flight from Copenhagen to Guangzhou is via Belgrade with Air Serbia.

Borut · Answer

Victor, your itinerary is definitely and undeniably eligible for 24 hour visa free transit and you can continue with your travel plans with absolute peace of mind. Have a nice journey.

Documents required for 24 visa free transit

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