Shandong's ports with 240-hour visa-free transit increases to 5

On December 17, the National Immigration Administration announced that it would fully relax and optimize the transit visa-free policy from that day forward. For foreign nationals from 54 countries included in the transit visa-free policy, the transit visa-free stay duration has been uniformly extended from 72/144 hours to 240 hours; and the policy implementation areas have expanded from the original 19 provinces with 39 entry ports to 24 provinces with 60 ports open to outside. Among the 21 newly-added ports, there are three from Shandong, namely Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport, Yantai Penglai International Airport and Weihai Dashuipo International Airport. In addition to Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport Port and Qingdao Port Passenger Port that previously implemented the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy, among the 240-hour transit visa-free policy applicable ports, the number of ports in Shandong has increased to 5.

According to policy regulations, foreign nationals from countries eligible for visa-free transit to China, who hold valid international travel documents that can prove their nationality and identity, with a validity period of more than three months, and meet the entry conditions for a third country or region, are allowed to travel across provincial boundaries within the scope of the policy, provided they have a reserved seat for travel within 240 hours, a through ticket to a third country or region, or relevant proof. They may freely choose from the 60 visa-free transit ports for entry and exit.

To ensure the efficient implementation of this new policy, Shandong Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection General Station has set up 240-hour visa-free transit processing areas at the five ports and optimized the foreign entry card filling process. It has equipped all travel inspection ports in the province with self-service entry card filling terminals that support multiple languages, including English, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, etc. In addition, foreign nationals applying for 240-hour visa-free transit can fill in their personal information before departure by scanning QR code or logging into Shandong International Trade Window platform. Upon arrival at the port, they can print their entry card themselves, enabling pre-processing of the visa-free transit and immediate inspection upon arrival.

According to statistics, since the beginning of this year, Shandong Entry-Exit Frontier Inspection Station has inspected more than 576,000 foreign nationals, a year-on-year increase of 210%. The number of Japanese and South Korean travelers entering through various ports in Shandong reached more than 413,000, up 116.6% year on year.

Editor：Lotus