No visa needed for Jeju Island, Korea?

[lostinchina]

Has anyone gone to Jeju Island with someone who holds a PRC Chinese passport? Before I book round trip tickets from Beijing to Jeju, I just wanted to make sure that my girlfriend needs only her passport and no visa.

[dnoblett]

No Visa needed.

 

Passport required.

• Passport and/or passport replacing documents must be valid on arrival.
  

Passport Exemptions:

• Holders of a Macao (SAR China) Travel Permit.
  
• Holders of a Certificate of Identity (passport-style booklet) issued by China (People's Rep.) to nationals of China (People's Rep.) (usually issued in emergency cases).
  

Visa required, except for Those traveling to attend conferences, exhibitions, meetings or for touristic purposes:

• for a stay of max. 3 months to holders of Hong Kong (SAR China) passports;
  

Visa required, except for Those traveling as tourists:

• for a stay of max. 30 days:
  

http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&page=visa&NA=CN&AR=00&PASSTYPES=PASS&DE=KR&user=DL&subuser=DELTAB2C

 

http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp

[Randy W]

I'm not sure I read that the same way, Dan

Nationals of most countries, travelling for short-term touristic or transit purposes, are allowed to enter visa-free for a maximum duration of 30 days, provided holding confirmed onward or return tickets and proof of sufficient funds. This regulation applies to: Albania, Argentina, Australia (90 days), Brunei, Canada (6 months), Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (90 days), Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, New Caledonia, Oman, Palau, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Slovenia, South Africa, Swaziland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USA, Vatican City, Venezuala and Yemen.

 

http://www.koreaorbit.com/korea-travel/korea-visa-requirements.html

 

http://south-korea.visahq.com/embassy/China/

Tourist visa REQUIRED

[dnoblett]

Yep One site Delta indicates one not needed, other does not list China. It would be best for Girl friend to contact a travel agent and ask.

[lostinchina]

I just booked my tickets. I'm pretty sure I wont need it. http://www.ias-12.org/sub/local_04.asp

[Randy W]

Yes - I don't think we've heard from anyone going to just Jeju Island before.

 

In 2005, Jeju residents approved, by referendum, a proposal to merge Bukjeju County into Jeju City, and Namjeju County into Seogwipo City. Effective 1 July 2006, the province was also renamed Jeju Special Autonomous Province with two nominal subdivisions, Jeju and Seogwipo city. In addition to changes in name, the province has been given extensive administrative power that has been reserved for the central government. This is part of plans to turn Jeju into a "Free International City".

 

Chinese tourists, including individual tourists, can go sightseeing in Jeju for up to 30 days without a visa, only for in this case as below;

- Only visit to Jeju Island.

- Taking non-stop flight from Shanghai or Beijing to Jeju Island

(Domestic flights via Seoul, Busan, Cheongju, Daegu are NOT applicable)

 

Hainan is treated in a similar fashion - it even has "duty-free" shops for those returning to the mainland.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Randy W (see edit history)

[lostinchina]

Update: We both visited Jeju successfully in August. No problems getting past customs. GF was allowed to stay for 30 days (we stayed 10). I think the only requirement was that the flight had to be direct from China (no stopover in Seoul, Busan, etc.). I remember reading in the news a few months ago that this was supposed to change in the fall but cannot find that article anymore... [Edit: found the article here http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/06/117_113875.html] We flew Korean Air and they printed out an "official" copy of her flight itinerary which they said she needed to show to the customs official. However, he didn't ask to see it. Total round-trip flight was ~US$500 from Beijing. Decent hotel + car rental was $90/night.

 

This was a great experience for us to both take a break from China. Please post if there are any other countries you can recommend visiting with easy-to-get visas or no visas required. We really want to visit HK again but gf no longer has a HK visa so we want to fly to another country and transit in HK for 6 or 7 days visa free. Maybe it will be easier to successfully get visas now that gf has been to HK and Korea. Some countries we're considering visiting are Singapore, Taiwan, & Indonesia. We also want to visit Australia and New Zealand but it is probably difficult to get these visas.

Edited October 3, 2012 by lostinchina (see edit history)