Fifty countries hold 30-day unilateral visa-free entry to China in 2026 for ordinary passport holders: 35 in Europe, 7 in Asia, 6 in the Americas and 2 in Oceania. Most of those arrangements expire on 31 December 2026, Russia’s runs to 31 December 2027, and Brunei’s has no end date.
- 50 countries have unilateral visa-free entry for ordinary passports, up to 30 days per visit.
- 48 of the 50 expire on 31 December 2026; Russia runs to 31 December 2027; Brunei has no expiry date.
- 30 days are counted from 00:00 on the day after entry, and there is no published cap on entries per year.
- Not on the list: US, Indian, Indonesian, Mexican and Philippine ordinary passports, among others.
- Not permitted: work, study and news reporting. Tourism, business, family visits, exchange visits and transit are allowed.
Last verified: 29 October 2026 · Sources: National Immigration Administration (NIA), Chinese embassy FAQ
Which 50 countries have 30-day visa-free entry to China?
The list covers 50 countries, grouped by the National Immigration Administration into Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania. Entry is open to ordinary passport holders only, and the names below follow the NIA list published on 17 February 2026 exactly. If your country is not in this table, the unilateral visa-free rule does not apply to you, whatever a forum or an airline app suggests.
| Region | Countries | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom | 35 |
| Asia | Bahrain, Brunei, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, South Korea, Saudi Arabia | 7 |
| Americas | Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Peru, Uruguay | 6 |
| Oceania | Australia, New Zealand | 2 |
Three entries in that table are worth pausing on. Russia and the United Kingdom sit in the European group, which is why travellers sometimes assume the scheme is an EU arrangement; it is not, and it covers 50 named countries rather than a bloc. Canada and Brazil are in, while the United States and Mexico are not, so the Americas column cannot be read as “the Americas”. And Brunei appears in both the unilateral list and some regional schemes, which is why its expiry date differs from every other entry.
How are the 30 days counted?
The 30 days start at 00:00 on the day after you enter, not on the day you land, and they run as 30 calendar days. Enter on 1 April and the clock starts at midnight on 2 April, with your last permitted day 1 May. The same counting rule applies to Hainan and to the regional schemes.
“The 30-day period is counted as 30 consecutive days beginning at 00:00 on the day following the date of entry.”
Chinese embassy visa FAQ, July 2026, close paraphrase.
Two practical consequences follow. A late-evening arrival does not buy you an extra day, because the clock starts the next morning either way. And a departure at 23:00 on the final permitted day is inside the window; a departure at 01:00 the following morning is not, even if your flight was booked for that hour months earlier. If your plans depend on the last 24 hours, build in a day of slack rather than testing the rule at the airport.
Can you use visa-free entry more than once?
Yes. The published rule allows multiple visa-free entries in 2026 and sets no cap on the number of visits or on total days spent in China across the year. There is no annual quota to track and no waiting period between trips, so a business traveller can enter monthly under the same rule.
The absence of a written cap is not the same as a guarantee at the desk. Border officers can ask why you keep returning and how you support yourself, and they can refuse entry if the answers do not fit the permitted purposes. A traveller who works remotely for a foreign employer and stays 30 days, leaves for a weekend, and re-enters for another 30 is using the rule as written, but should be able to explain the pattern, carry a return ticket, and show where the money comes from if asked. The rule is generous; the officers still apply judgement.
What are you allowed to do on a visa-free stay?
Five purposes are covered: tourism, business, visiting family or friends, exchange visits and transit. The official FAQ also names sports events, conferences and exhibitions, and study tours or summer and winter camps. What is excluded is equally explicit: work, study at a Chinese institution and news reporting all require a visa.
| Purpose | Covered by 30-day visa-free entry? | What to carry |
|---|---|---|
| Tourism, sightseeing, visiting attractions | Yes | Return ticket, hotel bookings |
| Business meetings, trade fairs, conferences | Yes | Invitation letter from the Chinese company or organizer |
| Family visits, exchange visits, sports events, camps | Yes | Invitation letter, event ticket, host details |
| Transit to a third country | Yes, if you enter from the country you came from and leave for a third | Onward ticket, entry stamp, first-night booking |
| Employment, study, news reporting | No, a visa is required | Do not attempt entry on the visa-free rule |
The line that catches people is employment. A foreign consultant attending meetings in Shanghai is a business visitor; the same person writing code for a Chinese client for eight weeks is working, and the visa-free rule does not cover it. Online teaching or freelance work for overseas clients is a gray area that the published rule does not address, so treat it as a question for the embassy rather than something to settle at the border.
What proof should you carry at the border?
The rule does not require an onward ticket, but it does require you to show the purpose of your trip. Carry your return or onward booking, your first hotel reservation, and an invitation letter if you are visiting a company or a family. Your passport must be an ordinary passport valid for the whole period you intend to stay.
This is where check-in, not immigration, does the damage. Airline staff verify documents against a Timatic-style database at the counter, and a passenger who cannot show a return booking or an invitation may be refused boarding before the flight ever reaches Chinese immigration. The officer at the border has the same list and the same questions, but the airline also faces a penalty for carrying an inadmissible passenger, which is why the counter is stricter than travellers expect. Keep the documents offline on your phone as well as in a folder, because airport Wi-Fi often needs a Chinese phone number to log in.
When does visa-free entry expire for each country?
The scheme is time-limited for almost everyone. Forty-eight of the 50 countries are covered to 31 December 2026. Russia’s arrangement runs to 31 December 2027, and Brunei’s has no expiry date. As of 29 October 2026 no extension had been published for the 48.
| Group | Valid until | What to do if you travel near that date |
|---|---|---|
| 48 of the 50 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada and Brazil | 31 December 2026 | Check the NIA page before booking travel after mid-December 2026; a lapse means you need an L visa |
| Russia | 31 December 2027 | Later end date under a separate arrangement; the 30-day limit still applies |
| Brunei | No expiry date | Listed without an end date; confirm on the NIA page before relying on it |
The practical move is to date your trip, not your reading. Someone entering on 20 December 2026 travels under the current policy; someone entering on 2 January 2027 does not, unless an extension has been announced and published by then. Because the two dates sit inside the same booking window for most winter travel, check the NIA page again in the week before departure rather than relying on an article written in October.
Which passports are not included?
Several large source markets are absent from the list. Ordinary passports from the United States, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are not covered by unilateral visa-free entry, even though some of those travellers have another route into China. This is the single most common factual error in English-language China guides.
| Passport | Unilateral visa-free entry? | Route that may apply instead |
|---|---|---|
| United States | No | 240-hour transit with a third-country ticket; Hainan’s 30-day scheme (US is on that 61-country list); otherwise an L visa |
| Mexico | No | 240-hour transit with a third-country ticket; otherwise an L visa |
| India | No | L visa. Check the 55-country transit list before assuming transit applies |
| Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam | No | ASEAN group tours of 2 or more to Xishuangbanna or Guilin (6 days); cruise-group scheme; otherwise an L visa |
The ASEAN scheme is narrow and often misread. It requires a group of at least two travelling together, entry through designated ports, and a stay limited to Xishuangbanna prefecture or Guilin city for six days, counted from midnight on the day after entry. It is not a general 30-day visa-free entry for Southeast Asian passports, and it does not help a solo traveller. The 240-hour transit rule is similarly conditional: it needs a ticket to a third country, not a return ticket home, and the 240-hour transit conditions set out the port and area limits that go with it.
What should you do if your passport is not on the list?
There are four routes. Check whether your nationality appears on the 55-country 240-hour transit list and whether your trip genuinely passes through China to a third country. Check the Hainan scheme, which covers 61 countries for 30 days and includes the United States. Check the regional group-tour schemes if you are travelling with a group. If none fits, apply for an L visa through the CVASC system before you book anything, following the China visa application steps.
The order matters because the visa-free and transit routes cost nothing and take minutes to confirm, while the L visa takes an appointment, a fee and about four working days. Working backwards from a flight booking is the expensive mistake: a traveller who books first and discovers they are not eligible often ends up paying for an expedited visa or moving the trip. Confirm the entry rule, then book. The free visa checker returns the rule for your passport group and trip type in one line, and the China visa hub compares all three routes side by side. If you are deciding when to spend the 30 days, the best time to visit China page maps the months against crowds, weather and prices.
This page summarises published entry rules; it is not legal advice, and the list and its expiry dates change. Confirm your nationality on the official NIA list and the Chinese embassy visa FAQ before booking. If your trip falls near 31 December 2026, verify that the arrangement has not lapsed.
FAQ
Do I need a visa for China if I hold a UK passport?
No, for trips of up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits, exchange visits or transit. The United Kingdom is one of the 50 countries, and the arrangement currently runs to 31 December 2026. Carry your return ticket and first hotel booking.
Does the 30-day visa-free rule apply to a second passport I hold?
Only if that passport is from one of the 50 countries. The rule follows the nationality of the passport you present, so dual nationals should choose the passport that qualifies and use the same one to enter and leave.
Can I stay 30 days, leave, and re-enter under the same rule?
Yes. In 2026 there is no published cap on entries or total days, so repeat visits are permitted. Keep your bookings consistent and be ready to explain the purpose of each visit if the border officer asks.
Does a visa-free entry allow me to work remotely for a foreign employer?
The published permitted purposes are tourism, business, family visits, exchange visits and transit; employment is excluded. Remote work for an overseas employer is not addressed in the official FAQ, so ask the embassy before relying on it.
What happens if the visa-free policy is not extended after 31 December 2026?
Travellers from the 48 countries would need an L visa, a 240-hour transit eligibility or a regional scheme. Because no extension had been published as of 29 October 2026, anyone booking travel for January 2027 should confirm the status before paying.
Sources
- National Immigration Administration, List of countries covered by unilateral visa exemption policies (updated 17 February 2026)
- Chinese embassy, visa exemption FAQ: permitted purposes, counting rule and expiry dates (July 2026)
- Shaanxi Provincial Government English service, 240-hour visa-free transit conditions and port list (24 November 2025)
- National Immigration Administration, FAQ on regional visa-free entry policies (15 October 2026)
- China Visa Application Service Center (CVASC), official portal for L visa applications
If you have read the table and still are not sure, the China visa checker takes one nationality group and one trip type and tells you which of the three rules applies, with the maximum stay and the onward-ticket question answered in one line.