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Asked by Karen from us | Aug. 16, 2025 13:37

About:240-Hour Visa-Free Transit

China Cruise TWOV?

US Citizen. SFO > TPE > NRT. Board Cruise ship that begins in Japan. 2 Stops in S. Korea. Then to China, first port stop is Shanghai, then Qingdao, Dalian, and ending in Tianjin. Disembark and transfer to PEK airport later that day.
PEK > YVR (Canada) > SFO. Does my 3 hour layover in Canada meet the requirement for entering a Third country for the TWOV? My Cruise line is requesting me to obtain a Tourist Visa.

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Answers (1)

Answered by Borut | Aug. 18, 2025 00:24

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Your immediate point before China is South Korea and your immediate point after China is Canada. This is the essence that definitely makes you eligible for 240 hour visa free transit scheme and you do not need a visa of any kind. As far as you know the very basic rule of 240 hour visa free transit requires that the immediate points before and after China are located in two different countries or eligible territories (eligible territories are Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau). As you can see, your itinerary has exactly that, South Korea from one and Canada from another side. No visa needed, guaranteed. Of course, a time spent in mainland China, starting from your scheduled arrival in Shanghai until your scheduled departure from Tianjin/Beijing should not exceed 10 days. Your company behave in a very opportunistic way and they want that you obtain a visa in advance because they simply do not like to put any effort in handling the situation that can be so easily handled by relying on 240 hour visa free transit. It is a shame that they will make many passengers to waste their time and money to obtain visas when they are definitely not needed. I hope you will persist and just point them to the fact that you do not need any kind of visa because you will be covered by 240 hour visa free transit. I wish you a wonderful cruise/journey.

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