Question

Asked by Thae from united kingdom | Oct. 20, 2025 23:50

About:24-Hour Visa-Free Transit

UK travel document- London to Japan with Shanghai layover ? Need G visa

Hello,

I am flying from London - Shanghai - Tokyo and Tokyo - Shanghai - London but as I don’t hold the British passport I am instead travelling using UK travel document (refugee) and have obtained Tourist Visa for the intended trip to Japan. Am I eligible to use the 24 hours period of visa-free that is offered or do I need to apply for a G-Visa ? I saw in the previous post that I don’t need visa. But when I contacted to Shanghai border, they said I need a G-Visa. I am flying on the day after tomorrow and I don’t have enough time to apply G visa. Any suggestions or thoughts?

Thank you for your time

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Answers (1)

Answered by Borut | Oct. 21, 2025 03:24

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Your situation is very simple. If you travel on a through (single) ticket via Shanghai, you really do not need any kind of visa and you will be covered by 24 hour visa free transit. Again, it is absolutely essential that you travel on a single ticket (single PNR number) that will allow you to stay all the time within a transit zone (airside) of Shanghai airport. In this case your luggage will also be tagged all the way to Tokyo. When you travel on 24 hour visa free transit and a single ticket you do not have to perform any formality nor to fill out any forms as far as the Chinese side is concerned. You will just walk from one to the other gate and between those gates you will just cross a brief security check (metal detector and similar, so usual stuff). However, if you travel on separate tickets and on a flight itinerary that requires that you exit the transit zone of Shanghai airport, in that case you would have to obtain a Chinese transit (G) visa. So, just double check the type of your ticket and if the ticket is a single type one, you are good to go. I am more than certain that you have bought your flight ticket as a single one and based on this I wish you a nice and stress free journey.

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