Answer to One China Travel Question
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Q: I'm going to the philippines soon, and I have a project to visit also Shanghai city. I'll travel with my wife, who is of filipino origin with italian citizenship. Do we need visa?
| | A: While citizens of many countries can visit Hong Kong and Macau with no visa, all foreign visitors who want to enter mainland China must have visa. Citizens of some countries who transit through Shanghai can visit Shanghai for up to 48 hours with no visa. The countries on the list are: Korea, U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, French, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Greece. If you and your wife are both citizens of Italy and use Italian passports to travel, you may fall under this rule. By transit through Shanghai they mean that you're making a flight connection in Shanghai. For instance, you fly from Rome to Shanghai, you make a short stop in Shanghai before you fly on to Manila. If you visit Shanghai for a project and stay longer than two days, you should get visa for you and your wife. Furthermore there are differences between tourist visa and business visa.
In any event, you need to double check China's visa requirement nowadays. Since the Beijing Olympic Games will take place soon (August), the Chinese government has recently tightened control over the visa application process. For instance, in the past, foreign citizens can apply for their visa in Hong Kong to enter mainland China. Now it appears that they are advised to apply for their visa in their home countries. We're not sure if there has any change with regard to rule concerning passengers transiting through Shanghai, so you may want to look into it if you intend to make use of the rule.
Also be mindful that if you have a single-entry visa, you can only enter and exit China once. Suppose you visit Shanghai with a visa and move on to the Philippines. If you want to visit Shanghai again after your stay in the Philippines, you need another visa. Unless, of course, you have a multi-entry or double-entry visa.
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