China Transit Without a Visa: An Eligibility and Timing Checker You Can Download

Download the checker before you trust a headline number

The main gap across the pages checked for this page was that none offered a form you could download and fill in, even though every one of them published hour totals, country totals and port totals that change.

One page checked for this page lists the airports, seaports, railway stations and land crossings that qualify, which is the detail that decides whether your own booking qualifies at all. [3]

Another page checked for this page gives the arrival stamp and final exit date as the thing to check on landing, which is your own copy of the deadline you are being held to. [4]

Keep the row you fill in next to the rule you filled it against, because a checker you cannot trace back to a dated rule is a checklist with no authority behind it.

Treat the checker as a way to ask a better question at the border rather than as a substitute for the rule in force.

Count the hours the way the rule counts them

One page checked for this page records that the ten-day period begins at midnight on the day after arrival rather than at the moment of landing, so the authorised stay can run longer than the headline figure. [3]

The same page notes that some ports apply a different start point, which means the midnights rule is the general case rather than a guarantee for every arrival. [3]

A page checked for this page counts the single-day scheme from the arrival time to the departure time, which is a different arithmetic from the ten-day scheme and is why the two cannot be treated as interchangeable. [7]

Worked example: the ten-day figure divides into days as 240 ÷ 24 = 10, the six-day figure as 144 ÷ 24 = 6, the three-day figure as 72 ÷ 24 = 3 and the single-day figure as 24 ÷ 24 = 1.

Worked example: if you land at midday, then 12 hours remain in the arrival day, so the usable window is roughly 240 + 12 = 252 hours, which is longer than the headline 240 and must still be checked against the exit deadline on your ticket.

Worked example: an 18-hour delay on a 24-hour scheme pushes the total past 24, so 18 + 6 remaining = 24 exactly, which is the boundary at which you must report to immigration rather than wait at the gate.

Number the countries and the ports with a date beside them

The official page checked for this page counts 57 countries and 65 designated ports across 24 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, dated 20 August 2026. [1]

A page checked for this page reproducing the earlier announcement of the same policy counts 55 eligible countries and 60 open ports and names 21 newly added ports, which does not match the later official count. [8]

A third page checked for this page, dated April 2026, counts 55 countries but 65 designated ports, mixing the two figures. [4]

One page checked for this page counts 57 countries and states plainly that the arrival and onward destinations must be different, which is the test most easily failed. [3]

Write the date beside every total you copy, because a country total and a port total are counts of a list as it stood on a particular day rather than fixed facts.

Worked example: if a list of 55 gains 2 countries, then 55 + 2 = 57, which explains the difference between the two published totals without either page being wrong on its own date.

Test the route rather than the stay length

One page checked for this page states that Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are treated as separate destinations, which is what makes a mainland transit between them permitted under the ten-day scheme. [3]

The same page states that travel to or from a United States territory such as Guam does not qualify on its own unless the routing includes a third country or a Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan stopover. [3]

A page checked for this page sets the route out as country A to China to country B, with the onward ticket valid only to a third country, which is the same test written for a single nationality. [4]

One page checked for this page requires that the passenger arrived from and continues to a country different from the departure point, and treats the separate-territory rule in the same way. [3]

Write the three points of your route into the checker in order, because a route that returns you to the country you departed from is not transit however long the stopover is.

Check the arrival and departure transport separately, because both legs must arrive at and depart directly from an eligible port. [3]

Know what removes you from the scheme

One page checked for this page lists short-validity passports, Chinese visa refusal stamps, past immigration or local law violations and failure to register with local authorities as grounds that can make a traveller ineligible. [3]

The same page records that working illegally, overstaying or cancelling the original onward ticket without justification may result in a five-year ban from visa-free transit. [3]

One page checked for this page adds that travellers with a history of unlawful entry, exit, residence or employment in China in the past five years are not eligible, and that serious breaches of accommodation registration rules in the last two years also count against a traveller. [7]

One page checked for this page records that everyone staying more than 24 hours must register their accommodation, and that failure can bring a warning, a fine or detention for up to 15 days, with a separate exclusion period for visa-free transit. [3]

Two pages checked for this page state that a passport valid for at least three months is required, while the national advice page for one country requires six months and two blank pages for entry, so the longer requirement governs. [6]

Treat the shorter passport rule as a floor rather than as the requirement, because the national entry rule of the country you are travelling from may be stricter and is the one the airline will check.

A final pass before you book

Confirm which of the two schemes your nationality and your port of entry actually allow, and write the scheme name at the top of the checker.

Write the date and source of every country, port and hour figure you rely on, and re-check the totals if your travel dates are far enough ahead that the list may change.

Confirm that arrival and onward destinations differ and that both legs use eligible ports.

Convert the headline hours into your own exit deadline and write the earlier of that deadline and your ticket time on the sheet.

Confirm your passport has the longer of the two validity periods you found, and keep a physical copy of the onward ticket with your travel documents.

Download the eligibility and timing checker

The checker below is an original planning file. Open it, save it, or print it, then fill it in against the official announcement in force on your own travel dates.

Open the downloadable eligibility and timing checker