Soon! 6 Days Visa Free Transit In Beijing

China announced this week that the existing 3 Day  Visa Free (72 Hour) Transit Program for the Airports Beijing & Tianjin will be upped to 6 Days Visa Free (144 hours) by the end of the year.

A vice mayor of Beijing made the surprise announcement this week while promoting economic activities in the region and to ‘further open up the capitals service industry’.

As of right now, visitors to Beijing who transit into a third country within 72 hours are able to stay visa free in the vicinity of the city where they entered.

Travelers entering China under this scheme are not allowed to leave the greater Beijing area which makes certain excursions such as to the Great Wall a bit complicated even though there are some areas that I guess can be counted towards Beijing, a city which has a massive range.

The cities of Beijing and Tianjin, along with Hebei province, will allow 144-hour visa-free entry for nationals from certain countries and regions by the end of 2017. Currently, the maximum stay in Beijing and Tianjin is 72 hours.

In 2016, Shanghai, joined by Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, took the lead in permitting 144-hour visa-free entry, which gave foreign visitors from 53 countries and regions more than enough time to travel or attend conferences in the region.

Presumably, this new Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei policy will apply to passengers from the same 53 different countries and regions around the world who have a valid international travel document and onward travel tickets out of mainland China within 6 days of arrival. Check to see if you are one of the lucky ones:

Schengen Countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Switzerland.

Other European Countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland, Macedonia, Republic of Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, UK, Ukraine

America: US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile

Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

Asia: Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, UAE, Qatar

Keep in mind, to be eligible you have to TRANSIT to a third country and cannot go back to your country of origin. You are also NOT allowed to leave the city you arrive in. Here is an example:

Not allowed:
USA – Beijing – USA

Allowed:
USA – Beijing – Hong Kong – USA

This is an extremely valuable improvement that for sure will be very popular. 3 days is a bit short but 6 days is exactly the right time.