Visa-free Travel for Chinese Citizens

[Randy W]

Heard of some of these places?

 

More nations visa-free for Chinese

 

Chinese passport-holders without visas can now visit 45 foreign countries and regions, the Chinese Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration announced on Tuesday.

The bureau said Chinese citizens can travel to Samoa, Haiti, Jeju Island in South Korea, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands without visas.

China has signed a mutual no-visa agreement with San Marino, Seychelles, Mauritius and Bahamas.

Chinese citizens can also acquire visas on arrival for 35 other countries including Maldives, Indonesia, Palau, Bahrain, Jordan, and Myanmar.

 

 

No word on the agreement with Thailand, which supposedly will be finalized this year.

 

[Randy W]

From Xinhua last October

 

Visa Exemption to Boost China-Thailand Tourism

 

 

 

This is what Wikipedia says

 

Official view of China on unilateral visa-free regime

On 28 January 2014, Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security declared full recognition of visa-free or visa on arrival policy for Chinese citizens offered by 45 foreign authorities.

 

Recognized unilateral visa-free regimes and visa on arrival (including limited visa on arrival such as pre-arranged visa collection on arrival or emergency visas) regimes for Chinese citizens are that of Bahrain, Brunei, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, East Timor, Egypt, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Jeju SAP, South Korea, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Saint Helena, Samoa, Sierra Leone, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

 

Before that, Chinese immigration authorities did not generally allow mainland Chinese citizens to board outbound flights without a valid visa for the destination country even if the destination country granted visa on arrival to Chinese passport holders unless the exit was approved by the Ministry of Public Security. Exceptions were possible if the traveler had a third countries visa and a connection flight from the destination country to the third country.

 

 

So apparently this amounts to a recognition of the availability of visa-free travel to the listed countries without the need for an exit permit.

[Randy W]

Apparently, the agreement with Thailand is in effect

 

New visa policies a blessing for Chinese travelers

A micro-blogger surnamed Liu wrote on his micro blog on Jan 31 that he went to Beijing Capital International Airport and immediately got a flight to Bangkok after an airport staff member confirmed that Thailand had adopted the new visa-free policy. The 29-year-old said he simply showed his passport and flight ticket at the boarding gate and was permitted to pass.

 

. . .

 

Statistics are currently not available to show how many Chinese travels have used the visa-on-arrival policies since the beginning of the year, but the Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection said on its micro blog that outbound tourism during the Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Jan 31 to Feb 6, had a surge in travelers.

 

. . .

. . .. Mao urged travelers to look out for specific visa requirements to their respective destinations.

 

For instance, Vietnam's visa-on-arrival policy is only applicable to travelers under urgent circumstances. He added that travelers to Malaysia are required to bring a specified amount of cash if they apply for a visa on arrival.

 

. . .

 

"Visa policies vary. For example, if a traveler wants to go to Seoul from Jeju Island, they still need a visa," he added.

 

[Randy W]

Not as free as it used to be

 

Tensions rise between South Korea and China after Chinese tourists are denied entry to Jeju island

 

 

 

Following a recent spate of violent crimes conducted by Chinese tourists in Jeju last month, some Chinese tourists were reportedly barred from entering Jeju—one of the favorite destinations for Chinese tourists—during the recent Golden Week holiday.

 

According to a Beijing Times report, the tourists were held at Jeju airport, prevented from entering the island. Jeju immigration officials reportedly kept the Chinese visitors in a room at the airport, where they were waiting for flights to return to China. Among the tourists, a couple named Zhang who flew into the island on Oct. 6 told the newspaper that they were rejected because they did not have letters showing their hotel bookings. The couple said they joined other stranded Chinese tourists in the airport room afterwards, where some had been waiting since Oct. 2.

Jeju started letting Chinese tourists enter the island visa-free for up to 30 days in 2008. Over 99% of the island’s nearly three million visitors since 2002 came from China, according to South Korean TV station Arirang, adding that some Korean officials believe that some of the tourists try to enter Jeju illegally and then attempt to secure a job on the island or in other parts of Korea. Following a rise in crime by Chinese tourists in Jeju recently, some Koreans are calling for the visa-free policy to be reconsidered.

 

[jonathantwu]

San Marino is landlocked by other EU countries. Good luck dropping in : P