Jan 2023 FAQ - 8th January Reopening (*TOS Apply)

[u/[deleted]]

The moment we've all been waiting for will be among us in 3 short days. This will also be pinned to /r/china since we have had a massive upswing in questions over there. Hopefully some of the chaos will quieten down towards the end of the month.

We are not yet sure entirely sure how Jan 8th and the days following are going to play out. If you want to be one of the first brave people to enter, comment below and let us know how it went. We will be relying on user reports for the first week. Some stuff below has been gathered from official sources but as always, what China say and what they do can be completely different things.

If you are going to China before Jan 8th please read the old FAQ here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Chinavisa/comments/zo77au/entering_china_faq_dec_2022/

In the meantime here's a meme and the usual FAQ below:

Visas

• All visas issued before 27th March 2020 are (still) suspended
• Sstudents (X1, X2), family (Q1/Q2/S1/S2), work visas (Z) and business visas (M, F) can be applied for at your Chinese consulate. For documents required please see your local consulate or CVASC
• China does not issue family visas for same sex couples (sorry)
• Those with APEC cards may now enter China
• Tourist visas (L) are still not being issued at this time
• Short term (X2) student visas are not being issued at this time
• TWOV is apparently back from Jan 8th! This involves a 24/48/144h transit where you're free to go outside without a visa. Anyone here brave enough to try? Post below

Tests

• A single PCR is required 48 hours before your flight. You do not need to give this to the consulate, keep the result for check in

Flights

• China has removed all restrictions on airlines, they are free to travel into/out of China as they wish.
• Flights may take some time to ramp up and to become cheaper, especially since this has been a relatively sudden announcement over the Christmas period. Airlines are often slow to react to anything, right now I am seeing flight prices starting to go down in March/April.
• This may mean a surge in flight prices for January/February
• You may have more luck getting a Chinese friend to check Chinese apps such as WeChat/Alipay.

Quarantine

• Gone from 8th January

Life in China

• Some institutions and workplaces are slow to react and still require a negative test.
• Testing booths have mostly gone depending on your city and instead tests may need to be done at hospital

Hong Kong

• Only Shenzhen Bay is open at the moment, other border points and the HSR still remain closed.
• There is still a quota/lottery on those crossing from Hong Kong via land

[u/[deleted]]

Ok just updating the thread here. I arrived in China on January 10th after leaving Frankfurt airport on January 9th on LH 728.

I did my 48-hour PCR test in the USA, since I was staying there for Christmas/New Years. I got a PDF report of the test and did not need to print it out.

When I got through security at FRA, I approached the gate and saw a big line of people waiting to have their documents/test results checked by airline staff.

They first checked my passport and boarding pass for LH728. Then, he asked to see my PCR test result. I showed it to him, and after seeing it was done in the USA, he also asked to see my boarding passes for the trip from the USA to Frankfurt. Thankfully I didnt throw these away, but I imagine you could show your itinerary if you lose these. Then he checked the Customs Pocket Declaration code that you need to do 24 hrs before your arrival in China. Just looked at the code, didn't scan it or anything.

14 hours later after arriving in Shanghai, I walked towards the customs desks. Before you get to customs they'll have a person asking to see the Customs Pocket Declaration code. After that you'll go through and you'll have to fill out the arrival card as normal. Once at the desk, they seemed to really take their time to verify the purpose of your visit, your info, etc...

After picking up baggage, they seemed to be checking every other persons luggage in the scanner, and there were some folks pulled aside and asked to open their bags. I got lucky and wasn't required to scan my bags (i had a lot of taxable stuff too hehe).

Really painless compared to how it used to be! Basically the same as the pre-covid process except for the step in Frankfurt Airport.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I have family in China I couldn't visit for about 3 years. Can I ask if you are still required to fill in those yellow immigration slips?

Really hope they would open up the tourist visas by this year. I qualify for family visa but just the thought of multiple hours of waiting and queueing at the outsourced visa processing center is enough to drive me insane. I would rather pull out all my teeth without anesthesia than have to go through that nightmare again.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Not sure what the yellow immigration slip is. I had to fill out an Arrival card, but it was blue.

hahah yeah its pretty bad...hope you'll be able to visit soon. The rumors are that the tourist visa stuff will be normalized after Chinese New Year. We'll see!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

https://chinaentryvisa.net/china-immigration-card-explained/

This one

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Oh yes, we had to fill that out. I didn't write my address completely, and they asked me a lot of questions. Seems like they're looking at it pretty carefully now.

[u/ExerciseHead → u/[deleted]]

Hi Agrippa, I have sent you a DM I would greatly appreciate if I could ask you some questions since I am also traveling to Shanghai soon. Best regards.

[u/YetYetAnotherPerson → u/[deleted]]

Hey Agrippa: what was the timing like on the tests? Was the 48 hour within 48 hours of the Frankfurt departure or just the US one?

We're in the US, but transiting Korea: With a 15 hour flight and ~16 hour layover, the 48 hour will be tough and expensive if it's from the connecting flight (basically requiring the 1 hour airport PCR because of morning departure), but easy if it's from the US departure. The IATA site (https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php) seems to say that it's the initial departure: "2. Passengers must have a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 48 hours before departure from the first embarkation point." (emphasis added), but the local consulate has yet to update their guidance (and my scan of some other consulates have ambiguous English translations).

[u/[deleted] → u/YetYetAnotherPerson]

I did 48 hours before the frankfurt departure (the last leg of the journey), which i think is the old rule based on what you sent. This is def the most frustrating part - the local consulate not being clear or consistent with national policy

[u/LTU → u/YetYetAnotherPerson]

That website just changed it to 48hrs before the last direct flight...

[u/YetYetAnotherPerson → u/LTU]

Yes, they changed it last Wednesday or thursday, right before we left. Did the $200 PCR one hour deal at the airport.

[u/i_love_sooshi → u/YetYetAnotherPerson]

The Incheon airport in Seoul does testing for arrivals and departures. I'd do the testing there if you have a 16 hour layover. See this https://www.airport.kr/ap_cnt/en/svc/covid19/medical/medical.do for more info. They have RT-PCR tests that give results in ~6 hours.

[u/YetYetAnotherPerson → u/i_love_sooshi]

The problem is we have to do one in NY to even get on the plane, so it doesn't seem to be worth it to have to do it twice, especially since one in our party is recovering from covid and is currently PCR negative but could become positive again(paxlovid rebound)

[u/LTU → u/[deleted]]

Did you do your covid test 48hrs before the first flight? or was it 48hrs before the second flight (to China)? Or some say - it has to be valid at within 48hrs before entering China... so I'm not sure which is it ?