ntjen

Does anyone know if I can obtain a visa right at the Beijing airport? A friend of a friend, etc. thought they saw a visa office on their last trip. I'd REALLY appreciate it if anyone has a tip on that!

PeterN_H

There's a visa office, but it's for the administration of group visa matters. There's no visa on arrival for individual travellers.<BR><BR>Hainan can be visited without prior acquisition of a visa as long as you are in a group organized by the local CITS and stay no longer than 15 days. You can get a visa valid for a few days in the Shenzhen area only at the Lo Wu border crossing. You can get a standard tourist visa or multiple entry visa at the crossing from Macau to Zhuhai, but that's just because a rather smart branch of CTS has an office just before Chinese immigration, and sorts it out for you in about half an hour. it's said that you can also buy a visa at Guangzhou East railway station if you arrive on the direct train from Hong Kong.<BR><BR>But at Beijing? One day maybe, but not yet.<BR><BR>Peter N-H<BR>http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

mckie5150

Peter,

On a recent post on this same topic you mentioned upon leaving the immigration / customs area of Beijing airport you are in the "public" areas and could just walk right out of the airport without a visa.

<<The official statement on most is that you can transit in Beijing for 24 hours without a visa as long as you don't leave the airport. But in fact it seems that you may leave the airport, since the visa waiver consists of a stamp on your departure card as you pass through immigration. Once you're through immigration you're in the public areas of the airport and free to go where you please.>>

Do they stamp your passport upon leaving immigration essentially giving you permission to leave?

You also mentioned you could get a stamp at the visa office upon exiting:

<<Never assume that you'll get accurate information from a tour company. While visa regulations do fluctuate, if your onward flight is an international one leaving within 24 hours (48 hours in Shanghai) you'll find a visa office on your way from plane to immigration where on showing your onward ticket you should be able to get a stamp allowing you out of the airport.>>

Can you or someone who may have already done this please clarify that if I have a nine hour layover before traveling back to the U.S., I can exit the airport?

I would also like to know if I did make it out of the airport do I need any information (visa?) to check back into the airport for my flight...thanks!

Chad

PeterN_H

I have not personally used this system, but the regulations have been published and are available on many web sites, and there are many accounts by those who have used the transit system in Beijing, and these match the description given above.

It is the landing card (departure card) you complete on arrival (or on the plane) that is stamped, and it is this you present when you return to pass through immigration and board your flight.

With any system in China the rules can change at no notice, or simply not be followed, but in recent times this seems to have worked well for those simply changing planes in Beijing, and fits with the promulgated regulations.

Peter N-H

PeterN_H

I think it should be said that your real authority on this should be your nearest Chinese consulate. Regulations vary over time, according to the airport through which you plan to transit, and according to passport. U.S. citizens tend to have more restrictions than most others, for instance. I've read of Americans having no problems making a side-trip during a layover at Beijing airport, but the regulations now seem to say that this is forbidden (except at Shanghai, where 48 hours is permitted). Of course, the system lets you out through immigration and there is no mechanism to prevent you from leaving the airport. If you don't need to check-in to an hotel, you'll have no requirement to show a visa at any point.

Another point to consider is that not having a visa may lead to arguments about whether you should be allowed to board a flight to China. It helps to have a print-out of the regulations in order to show the check-in staff.

Peter N-H