Visa for China

My husband and I have UK passports. On 3 January 2019 we are arriving in Shanghai by plane and staying two nights in a hotel. We board the Sapphire Princess for an Asian cruise on Saturday 5 January 2019. Does anyone know whether we require a China visa or do we come under their visa exemption laws.?

I had to have one for a P&O cruise that stopped in Shanghai... I’m American, but I’m almost positive it’s the same. You don’t need a visa for Hong Kong and there are other exempted areas, but Shanghai isn’t one of them.

I had to have one for a P&O cruise that stopped in Shanghai... I’m American, but I’m almost positive it’s the same. You don’t need a visa for Hong Kong and there are other exempted areas, but Shanghai isn’t one of them.

Not true. Shanghai has a 144 hour exemption for tourists passing through, whether by air or sea. However, Princess may still require the Visa. They did when we sailed from Singapore to Shanghai, even though Shanghai didn't require it.

The Visa is a 10-year Visa and costs about $150, plus whatever fees your agency charges. For us, it was about $500 total for the two of us.

The 144 hour exemption should apply to you. You are restricted to staying within the Shanghai area but maybe you don't intend to travel further within China. Chinese visas are expensive so I hope you don't have to get one. It would be best to check with the Chinese Embassy or the China Visa Application Service Centre. As recently as last year Princess was not up to date on the visa requirements for China and insisted everyone had to have one. I suggest you take a print out of the advice you get from an official Chinese authority. I am not sure if the China Visa Application Service Centre is a business or a government agency. If it is a business, they might try to sell you a visa even if you don't require one.

Do you have a direct flight to Shanghai, or is there a stopover/change before Shanghai? You cannot arrive in China from a country, and leave going directly back to that country on a 144 hr visa. Some people have a problem because they have a stopver in Japan, and then their first port is Japan, which negates the 144 hr visa. EM

If you fly to Shanghai direct from the UK (or have a stopover to simply change planes outside of China) and your first port of call is also outside of China, then you will be fine with the 144 hour visa. For example, fly London - Dubai - Shanghai, then cruise with first port being in Japan, then you qualify. You need required documentation which includes boarding passes for each person for your flights into Shanghai and documentation showing your itinerary/tickets from the cruise line which shows your first port of call. You will also need to show where you are staying in Shanghai.

If you fly to Shanghai direct from the UK (or have a stopover to simply change planes outside of China) and your first port of call is also outside of China, then you will be fine with the 144 hour visa. For example, fly London - Dubai - Shanghai, then cruise with first port being in Japan, then you qualify. You need required documentation which includes boarding passes for each person for your flights into Shanghai and documentation showing your itinerary/tickets from the cruise line which shows your first port of call. You will also need to show where you are staying in Shanghai.

Agree with all this, we just returned from the Majestic Shanghai to Sydney cruise.

Have all your documents as stated above ready to show when you board your flight and then in China.

I was amazed at how many on our flight were told by Travel Agents "you dont need a visa for China" so didnt have their documents ready.

The airline your flying with needs to see you are applying for the Visa Waiver on arrival, then on arrival they need to see that your travel plans comply.

Ours was a fiasco and a 2 hour wait, mainly because staff were not prepared for 200 people on a flight needing it, also people were not prepared with the required docs.

Ours was a fiasco and a 2 hour wait, mainly because staff were not prepared for 200 people on a flight needing it, also people were not prepared with the required docs.

Ours was 90 minutes with considerably less people in the line - the delay was caused by the small number of people scratching around for documentation and the one couple who somehow managed to get to China but weren’t eligible for the 144 hour visa - lots of crying and pleading until they were quietly led away. Without all the time wasting we would have been through in 20 minutes.

My husband and I have UK passports. On 3 January 2019 we are arriving in Shanghai by plane and staying two nights in a hotel. We board the Sapphire Princess for an Asian cruise on Saturday 5 January 2019. Does anyone know whether we require a China visa or do we come under their visa exemption laws.?

We are on this cruise and fly out on 3rd from Birmingham with Air France. We only have one hotel night as we arrive on 4th at 7.am. I think I am going to get a single entry visa to be on the safe side. I think you can apply at the Chinese Embassy in Manchester but not too early in advance.

As UK citizens you don’t need a visa provided you do not leave the Yangtze delta area and stay less than 144hours in Shanghai.

However when you arrive at PVG you will be required to show the immigration officer your confirmed ticket for leaving Shanghai, so make sure you carry your Princess boarding pass with your Passport,

You should find confirmation of this in Cruise Personaliser / My Account.

Go into your booking and click on Calendar & Planning then scan down to the bottom where you should find Notification including one on Chinese Visas and exemptions. Unfortunately they start off in a generic ‘catch all’ manner with the words”We recommend a single entry visa” but then in the second sentence they go on to set out who does not need a Visa.

My husband and I have UK passports. On 3 January 2019 we are arriving in Shanghai by plane and staying two nights in a hotel. We board the Sapphire Princess for an Asian cruise on Saturday 5 January 2019. Does anyone know whether we require a China visa or do we come under their visa exemption laws.?

Methinks much, much better to ask the Foreign Office or, even better, a Chinese consulate or official website.

Methinks much, much better to ask the Foreign Office or, even better, a Chinese consulate or official website.

I contacted Air France, the Chinese Embassy and looked on FO web site, couldn't get a answer that I could travel TWOV. Let me know how you get on!

I contacted Air France, the Chinese Embassy and looked on FO web site, couldn't get a answer that I could travel TWOV. Let me know how you get on!

ACK! Sympathies, but you are not going to get a more authoritative answer here.

Were it me, I'd get the visa because it's apparently up to the customs folks on duty at the time,

and who knows what they'll decide. :eek:

I had the 144hr visa coming from Mongolia going to USA through Beijing. It was NOT a matter of the customs personnel on duty; it was a matter of finding the correct line and being given the right form, standing to the side filling it out, returning to the line to wait for personnel to take the form away (copying it?) and returned to stamp or OK the non-visa visit. Yes you did have to have your out-going ticket as well as customary documents. Yes it was VERY inefficiently carried out -- if they had the forms at the start of the line (and presumably a copymachine handy to the counter), it would have taken perhaps half the time. This is not the Chinese way!!!

So...a little off topic, but still in the ballpark....

I know I will need a Visa to visit China....US citizens flying into Hong Kong a day or 2 before the cruise starts and 3 days in Beijing during the cruise. From what I have learned, it looks like the 10 year visa is the way to go...that may be the only one offered anymore.

My question is, what is the best service to get this Visa? It looks like there is a Chinese Consulate in Chicago where I am. Can I just go there? The private tour company we are working with gave us a link to the Embassy's site but it only shows one in New York.

I know I still have time to get this done, but this is the one thing that makes me nervous...if this doesn't get done, there is no vacation. I just want to make sure I have the correct documentation and understand the process.

Thanks

I did one of these in Shanghai for a Kuala Lumpur - Shanghai - Detroit itinerary.

Not a big deal, you need to have printed airline itinerary or boarding pass for your next flight or whatever.

BUT, the line moves very slowly, even if everyone has their documents. So if you like standing in line for an hour or more, fine.

Otherwise, get the visa, and no wait. :D

I do disagree with one previous poster, a change of planes. If your flight into China comes from X country, you cannot leave China with country X as your first stop. They do no look at where you started from, just where the last flight was from.