Does anyone know anything about the Shanghai 144 hour transit visa?

Hello,

Does anyone have any experince of using the 144 hour transit visa in Shanghai? I'm aware this is the only city in China that this is possible. However I've heard conflicting reports, and do not want to spent £350 on Chinese tourist visas needlessly if it is an option? Basically we are british flying into Shanghai pudong, spending 3 days in Shanghai before joining a cruise from boashan port heading to south korea and China. I can't seem to get a straight answer from cruise line, airline or visa centre. Does anyone have any personal experince of being issues one on landing? Any advice Would really help, thanks :confused:

See the Celebrity discussion thread, they are discussing the 144 hour rule.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2387180

As discussed on the thread, the ultimate answer should probably come from the Documentation Officer on your ship who coordinates with the port agent to apply the rules / regulations.

The 144-hour visa waiver scheme assumes that you depart from Country A, arrive in China (Country B) and depart within 144 hours for Country C and you have evidence to substantiate this A-B-C itinerary.

For your situation, it appears that you will departing from your home country (Country A), arrive in Shanghai, China (Country B) and depart within 144 hours by sea via the Baoshan Cruise Terminal for your next destination in Korea (Country C). So far so good with meeting the criteria for the visa waiver. You show your inbound boarding pass and your cruise itinerary upon arrival in Shanghai to get your visa waiver.

HOWEVER, you mention that your cruise includes Korea and China. You will need a visa for the visit to China on your cruise itinerary. I don't think the cruise line will let you board without a visa for China.

I would spend the money and get the Chinese visa...why take a chance....Our Chinese visa is good for 10 years. Not even sure the ship will let you on without a visa and I might misunderstand your post but you're entering China more than once...The visa is a small price to pay to make sure everything will go easily for your visit.

Which line/ship and full city itinerary please :confused:

Sorry I Mis typed 'heading to South Korea and China' which should of said 'heading to South Korea and Japan' we leave from shangahi and do not re enter China. The cruise is the celebrity milenium on the 9th October 2016 of that helps. With this correction, I'm hoping your ABC country theory would still stand?

I would think so if you do not re-enter China after transiting through Shanghai.

However as noted in a previous posts and in discussions in this forum as well as other travel forums, the best approach is to get a visa for China. For US citizen, the visa is good for 10 years, even if the passport in which the visa was put in become expired, you are allowed to continue using that visa in that expired passport along with your new passport.

Another often reported situation is ill-informed airline check-in counter personnel (and maybe cruise check-in counter personnel too) will insist that you must have a valid visa for China before you can board your trip.

With the expenses that you paid for your cruise, the often recommendation is get a visa and you have one less issue to worry.

This is the best explanation I have found.

Basically if you are arriving at one of the listed ports and leaving from another of the listed ports to another foreign country (not the one you have arrived from) you are ok to use the 144 hour visa. I have entered China previously on a long stop over with no visa but at the time I think it was 72 hrs?

If you're going to a different part of China, other than Hong Kong, you'll need a visa of some sort.

We to are Brits flying to Shanghai spending 3 days there before picking up a cruise that doesn't revisit China and therefore don't need a visa.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We are going to try this 144-hour free visa scheme.

From Cathammer on one of the Celebrity boards, this is a pretty concise rundown on how it works:

Here's the official link, again, to the terms:

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/emb...it-144hour.htm

I don't know your particular status, but I think some people are agonizing unnecessarily over this. Here's the basics (as I understand them...seems clear to me ):

1) You need to be a citizen/passport holder from one of the 51 countries noted as qualified for the program.

2) You can stay up to six days (plus day of arrival...144 hr clock doesn't start until midnight of arrival day) in the Shanghai area.

3) You have to have these:

Valid passport

Confirmed onward ticket

Visa for a third country/region (if needed)

A fully completed Arrival/Departure Card

4) Your first destination on departure from Shanghai can't be in the country (port) you last arrived from (Korea, for example), or a location in China.

5) You need to advise Celebrity, upon check-in for each cruise, of your intent to use the waiver program, and they will divert you to a "documentation officer" to handle the necessary paperwork, etc.

Yep, this is basically exactly the same as what can be found in the link that I posted, although there is more information on that website.

If you go to the Celebrity Board the same question has been asked and wee basically got the same answers.

To throw away $500 for something that is not needed seems foolish to me. I will call Celebrity often to see

if they finally give a definate answer.

Kwar

Sorry I Mis typed 'heading to South Korea and China' which should of said 'heading to South Korea and Japan' we leave from shangahi and do not re enter China. The cruise is the celebrity milenium on the 9th October 2016 of that helps. With this correction, I'm hoping your ABC country theory would still stand?

Got blasted for asking this question, but I too think we do not need visas. I am on this cruise in January same itinerary. Please let us know how you make out, It will cost us over$500 for our two Visas, and I have no other plans to go to China. No one at Celebrity will send you anything, they did tell me just an agent, that is how it reads to her. Let us know.

Kwar

I'm the original poster and thought I would leave an update in case anyone else comes here looking for advice or answers. (Sorry this is a long and detailed post)

We have done our research. Including reading up on the Shanghai immigration website, phoning shanghais direct immigration helpline, phoning our airline - Lufthansa, phoning celebrity cruises and even double checking with the visa agency recommended by celebrity. Everyone was in agreement we will qualify for the 144 hour transit visa, and do not need to spend £350 for a tourist visa. Which is enough to put our minds at rest. I appreciate everyone's advise saying it's only £350 just pay it, however to me this is still a lot of money to pay if it isn't even needed. (Its more money to spend enjoying ourselves on holiday). The lady from celebrity cruises explained she has answered the same question countless times over the last few weeks, due to the upcoming cruise. She reassured us celebrity cruises are aware of it and will let us board at boashan port as they deal with the 144 hour visa all the time. We've been told the most common problem encountered is boarding the plane to shanghai from whichever country, so to pre-empt this issue we have already checked with Lufthansa that they will let us board without a tourist visa in the aim of getting a transit visa on arrival at pudong airport. However we plan to also arrive at the airport extra early just in case ;)

I think a lot of confusion unfortunately stems from the 144 hour transit visa only coming into effect from Jan this year. Then mixed with lack of information from visa agencies, airlines and cruise lines. Hope some of this info helps reassure people still worried.

Posts above seem to be missing the point. There is no use in contacting the cruise company. The OP will board the ship when leaving China, so the cruise company doesn't care at that point.

The poster clearly qualify as per the rules (official text here: http://www.sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4421). Most cruise companies know the rules and have updated their policies.

However, the poster is flying to Shanghai and needs to convince BA. Airlines rely on a database called TIMATIC. They are familiar with air-to-air transits and most airlines' database makes no mention of air-to-sea transit. They probably don't want to have anything to do with it simply because they cannot determine easily and for sure that the cruise will not make another stop in China immediately after departing. Not being able to determine if the transit is compliant, they just don't want to bother or don't want to risk it (they are facing important fines if they bring a passenger who is denied entry).

This is where BA determines your eligibility: http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/

This database makes no mention of departing by cruise ship. So, while you qualify, it is probable that BA will deny boarding if you do not have a visa.

Comments above about getting a "cheap" 10-year visa are irrelevant. The poster is not American and the visa is actually quite expensive in the UK.

Ok, seems we were typing at the same time.

Celebrity won't care about your visa as they are taking you to Japan for which you do not need a visa. One does not need a visa to leave China.

I misunderstood that you were flying BA. I can't find the visa page for Lufthansa. Hopefully the check-in staff is reading from the same "book" as whoever you talked to at the airline.

Good luck and please report back on your experience.

Ok, seems we were typing at the same time.

Not really. That post was 10pm and yours was 10am:p

And to clarify, OP, it is NOT a "144 hour transit visa" - it is a 144 hour transit WITHOUT VISA option.

Sorry I Mis typed 'heading to South Korea and China' which should of said 'heading to South Korea and Japan' we leave from shangahi and do not re enter China. The cruise is the celebrity milenium on the 9th October 2016 of that helps. With this correction, I'm hoping your ABC country theory would still stand?

As long as you are not flying into Shanghai from Korea, the 144-hour visa waver should apply

We are traveling from the US to Shanghai and also staying about 48 hours in Shanghai. The 144 transit visa according to the Chinese Consulate in the US is only good if you are going in and out of China. They made us show how we were leaving China as well as that we were not returning to China. On the website it showed that you have to leave the country by plane and were very specific about the 144 not being good if you were leaving by ship. I would reccomend that you check with the Chinese Consulate in your country. The visas only take a few days but EVERYTHING they ask for must be perfect. Good luck to you.

"...On the website it showed that you have to leave the country by plane and were very specific about the 144 not being good if you were leaving by ship...." - the official website clearly says the contrary and the website of some airlines has also been updated in the same manner.

The rules are very clear. The only problem is the ignorance of some airlines or some cruise operators. Some but not all.

So to determine if you qualify is pretty simple: country A - China - Country B. The real question is will YOUR airlines let you board the plane.

Understand that this visa exemption is used by several thousand visitors each year. It's not like it is some obscure loophole.

Dear Rita ,

Thank you for contacting Shanghai US Consulate.

*Effective February 2016, US citizens can transfer without visa in China through any of the following ports of entry, if they meet specific requirements: Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, Shanghai Railway Station, Nanjing Lukou International Airport, or Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Requirements include:

1. Show a valid international travel document

2. Show an onward air / vessel / train ticket to a third country (a country other than China or the country the traveler just left)

3. The confirmed departure date is within 144 hours of arrival,

4. Must remain within the administrative precincts of Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province.

For more details or questions, please check the public website of Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection http://sh-immigration.gov.cn/listPageEn.aspx?lx=40&id=4414 or call their hotline at 0086-21-51105100.

American Citizen Services (ACS) unit (SZ)

Consular Section / U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai

1038 West Nanjing Rd - Westgate Mall 8th floor

梅龙镇广场8楼 (Méi’lóng’zhèn guǎngchǎng)

http://shanghai.usconsulate.gov | http://travel.state.gov

TRAVEL SAFE – enroll in STEP to receive security and emergency messages from the embassy/consulate.

-----Original Message-----

We are traveling from the US to Shanghai and also staying about 48 hours in Shanghai. The 144 transit visa according to the Chinese Consulate in the US is only good if you are going in and out of China. They made us show how we were leaving China as well as that we were not returning to China. On the website it showed that you have to leave the country by plane and were very specific about the 144 not being good if you were leaving by ship. I would reccomend that you check with the Chinese Consulate in your country. The visas only take a few days but EVERYTHING they ask for must be perfect. Good luck to you.

This is not correct. If you look at the link I posted earlier in this thread you will see the exact terms of the 144 transit visa and several ports are included. The post above give the correct info.

If I understand all this,I guess I fail to qualify for the new visa free entry??We arrive in Shanghai March 23 from UK and board our ship March 25.Our first port of call is Beijing and we leave there on March 30.So thats 7 days (168 hrs) and still in China!Any experts out there confirm,thanks.??

If I understand all this,I guess I fail to qualify for the new visa free entry??We arrive in Shanghai March 23 from UK and board our ship March 25.Our first port of call is Beijing and we leave there on March 30.So thats 7 days (168 hrs) and still in China!Any experts out there confirm,thanks.??

Sorry no visa free entry. Looks like you'll need a multiple entry visa too. There's back and forth comments here on CC if you need a multiple entry visa, but better safe than sorry.

Port of call after Shanghai must be another country.

Also the 144 hr rule requires you to stay within the Shanghai area ;);) the entire time until you transit to another country.

Sorry no visa free entry. Looks like you'll need a multiple entry visa too. There's back and forth comments here on CC if you need a multiple entry visa, but better safe than sorry.

 

Port of call after Shanghai must be another country.

 

Also the 144 hr rule requires you to stay within the Shanghai area ;);) the entire time until you transit to another country.

Actually not. You can visit the province of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and can even exit the country there.

But if you are going to Beijing then it is not a transit, it's a trip to China, so you don't qualify.

Note that Beijing is inland and has no port. So the cruise is not going to Beijing. It is going to Tianjin a city of 10 million people 125 miles away from Beijing.