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Asked by Robert from usa | May. 07, 2025 18:30
About:240-Hour Visa-Free Transit

Question about traveling into China, then to Japan, back to China and finally, home to the US

Hello! I have posed this question to our embassy and have yet to get an answer so I am hoping you can assist. I have read about the 240-hour visa-free policy but I am unsure how it may apply to my situation.

We are looking at a tour that will have us fly into Shanghai on day 1 and depart for a cruise to Japan on day 2. On day 15 we would return to Shanghai from the cruise and would be spending 4 days in Shanghai before flying back to the US. My concern is that although we will only be spending 6 days total in China overall, our total trip would have us still being in and returning from China on our 15th day following our initial arrival.

I wanted to try and determine if a Visa would be necessary for this travel, or if departing then re-entering China during our visit constituted an acceptable use of the 10-day visa-free policy.

Thank you in advance for your help!

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Answers (1)
Answered by Borut | May. 08, 2025 03:51
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Robert, your itinerary is the following one: US - mainland China - Japan or any other country different than mainland China and US - mainland China - US. As you can see, this is perfectly within the rules of 240 hour visa free transit - twice. In other words, when you exit China, your first 240 hour visa free transit is terminated and the counting of days is over. When you return to China, brand new 240 hour visa free transit starts. Just to conclude, two 240 hour visa free transits are not related one to each other. They are totally separated and unrelated. Just to add one additional detail. In the eyes of the 240 hour visa free transit scheme and in the eyes of the Chinese immigration officials they look at your itinerary as two separate itineraries. One is US - mainland China - Japan. This is done and over. Totally new one is Japan or South Korea or Taiwan - mainland China - US. Both of them satisfy the basic rule of 240 hour visa free transit and that rule requires that the immediate points before and after your mainland China visit/stay have to be in two different countries or eligible territories (eligible territories are Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan). So, you are fine and you can proceed to plan your trip absolutely free from any visa requirements. Have a nice journey.
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