What documents do I need to enter China?
China's passport rule depends on how you enter: valid for your stay visa-free, or six months' validity for a visa. Full checklist for your trip1 stay.
Updated
Entering China - what you need
China has opened up a lot in the past two years, so the answer depends heavily on which passport you hold. Get these together before your trip1 booking dates arrive.
- A valid passport. For visa-free entry it needs to cover your whole stay, for the 240-hour transit it needs at least three months' validity, and to apply for a visa it needs at least six months' validity and blank visa pages. Airlines check documents before you board, so confirm their requirements before you fly.
- A Chinese visa, or proof that you qualify under one of the visa-free schemes.
- A confirmed onward or return ticket, and for the transit scheme a ticket on to a third country or region.
- Your hotel address, which your trip1 booking confirmation gives you for the arrival card.
- Time for fingerprinting, which most adult visitors go through on arrival.
- A customs declaration, if you are carrying goods or cash above the allowances.
Visa or visa-free? The routes into China
Most travellers still apply for a visa at a Chinese visa application centre before flying. Tourist visas are often issued as long multiple-entry visas, and every detail on the visa has to match your passport exactly, punctuation included.
The second route is the unilateral visa-free trial. Around 50 nationalities can enter for up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits, exchanges and transit, and that scheme currently runs to 31 December 2026. Countries have been added repeatedly, including the UK and Canada from 17 February 2026, so a list published even a few months ago may be out of date.
A third route is mutual visa exemption. China holds reciprocal agreements with roughly 29 countries whose ordinary passport holders enter without a visa, generally for up to 30 days at a time.
Two regional schemes sit on top of those. Hainan province allows 30-day visa-free entry for nationals of 61 countries arriving on direct international flights, and organised cruise groups can enter visa-free at a set of coastal cities.
The 240-hour visa-free transit
This is the option most people miss. Travellers from 57 eligible countries can spend up to 240 hours, which is 10 days, in China without a visa while travelling on to a third country.
Three conditions apply. You have to arrive at one of the designated ports, hold a confirmed onward ticket to a country or region different from the one you came from, and stay inside the areas that port allows.
You claim it at the border rather than applying online, so tell your airline at check-in that you are using the transit scheme and have the onward booking ready to show.
Important: Hong Kong and Macau run their own immigration systems and a mainland Chinese visa does not cover them. Flying from the mainland to Hong Kong and back counts as leaving and re-entering China, which can use up a single-entry visa.
Checking into a hotel in China
Foreign visitors must register their address with the police within 24 hours of arrival, and again each time they move to a new city. Hotels handle this at check-in, which is why the front desk scans your passport and visa page.
If you stay in a private home instead of a hotel, you register yourself at the local police station inside the same 24 hours. Missing it can mean a fine.
Keep your trip1 booking confirmation on your phone and, if you can, save the hotel address in Chinese as well as English. It makes check-in and the taxi ride from the airport far simpler, and it is what an officer wants if they ask where you are staying.
Entering China - FAQ
Yes, for a normal visit. The United States is not on China's 30-day visa-free list, so US citizens apply for a visa before travelling. The exception is the 240-hour visa-free transit: US passport holders can stay up to 10 days without a visa if they arrive at a designated port and travel on to a third country or region.
Most foreign visitors fill in an arrival card, which China has offered online free of charge since 20 November 2025 through the National Immigration Administration website, the NIA 12367 app or WeChat and Alipay mini programs. You can still complete it on arrival. Use the hotel address on your trip1 booking confirmation, and add a customs declaration only if you carry goods or cash above the allowances.
Around 50 countries, including the UK and Canada since 17 February 2026, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Ordinary passport holders can stay up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits, exchanges or transit. The scheme currently runs until 31 December 2026, and the United States is not included.
It lets citizens of 57 eligible countries spend up to 240 hours, or 10 days, in China without a visa while travelling on to a third country or region. You must arrive at one of 65 designated ports, hold a confirmed onward ticket and stay inside the permitted areas. You claim it at the border, so tell your airline at check-in.
Yes. Foreign visitors must register their address within 24 hours of arrival and again each time they move to a new city. Hotels do this for you at check-in, which is why the front desk scans your passport and visa page. If you stay in a private home, register at the local police station yourself within the same 24 hours.