Tool · Visas
240-hour visa-free transit checker
China lets 57 passports transit for up to 10 days without a visa — if your itinerary follows the rules. Check yours.
Policy verified October 2026 · NIA Announcement No. 4 of 2026The rules this checker applies
- Passport. Yours must be one of 57 eligible countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, most of Europe, Japan, Korea, and others).
- Third-country rule. You must leave mainland China for a different country or region than the one you arrived from. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan each count as separate regions.
- The clock. Your 240 hours start at 00:00 on the day after you arrive — landing at 11 PM effectively gives you a bonus day.
- Where you can go. 24 provinces are open, and you can cross between them freely. Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Jilin are not covered by this policy.
At the airport
- Book the onward ticket before you fly — airlines check it at departure check-in and can deny boarding without it.
- On arrival, look for the lane marked 24/144/240-hour Transit Visa-Free, not the regular foreigner queue.
- Hotels register you with police automatically. Staying with friends? Visit the local police station within 24 hours.