Good News for Cruise Passengers As Restrictions on Chinese Visa Relaxed

Tourism has become one of the highest revenue earners for any country today. And China is no different. Innumerable foreign travelers and tourists visit Shanghai on a cruise. The good news is that people who will enter Shanghai via cruise will get 15 days of visa-free stay in China’s most prominent city – Shanghai. The relaxation in Chinese visa will help in drawing more travelers to the city for sure. This relaxation will be granted from 1^st October.

This offer is available to passengers who are traveling in groups, which are arranged by various travel agencies. Now these travel agencies need to be registered in China. The details of the tour groups have to be submitted to the inspection authorities in Shanghai by the travel agencies minimum 24 hours before the cruise is scheduled to make its entry in Shanghai. This helps in hassle-free management of the tour group on entry in Shanghai.

It depends on the wish of the passengers as where they want to travel in China without China visa. They can stay in Shanghai only if they want. A visit to the capital of China, Beijing, is also permitted without a visa. Apart from this, passengers have the liberty of exploring places including coastal provinces like Hebei, Zhejiang, Liaoning, Shandong, Hainan, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangsu etc. Since these are all coastal areas, ships are often seen to berth in these places. The northeastern port city of Tianjin can also be visited without the visa.

With this new visa policy in place, it is expected that more and more numbers of cruise ships will anchor at the port of Shanghai. As per reports, it has been found that in the last year almost 1.6 million passengers traveled via cruises to Shanghai. There has been an increase of almost 35.5% in passengers when compared to 2014. But sadly the numbers of foreign travelers among them was only 69,000. These numbers will definitely see a boost with the visa relaxation policy.

In 2014, travelers looking for short stay in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Dalian and Chongqing had no visa restrictions. Travelers from 51 countries enjoyed this privilege as transit visitors. They could remain in the above mentioned places for 72 hours without visa. However, the visitors had to remain within the confinements of the city municipality area. Also, as per Foreign Offices, travelers needed to furnish evidence of the fact that they would be traveling to the third country after the 72 hours time. European nations, which featured in this list, include Ireland, Greece, Germany, UK, France and Spain. Along with nationals from the above mentioned nations, this visa policy is also applicable for citizens of US, Mexico, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, if one is looking for longer stays in China and its other cities, having a visa is mandatory. And for its processing China visa application form needs to be filled up and supporting documents need to be submitted with it. Contacting the nearest Chinese Embassy or Consulate is recommended to understand the type of visa you need. If you are in hurry of getting the visa, contact an agency offering expedite China visa service to customers.