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I have an Indian passport, Japanese residence card and intend to visit Seattle (USA) but an itinerary (the cheapeast one) involves a transit in Shenzhen, Xiamen or Fuzhou (SZX, XMN or FOC). I have a valid US Visa (B1/B2), Do I need to apply for and get a transit visa in advance, or can i get one on arrival?

Itinerary Sequence:

Outbound Plan 1

MF810: NRT to FOC, Narita(Tokyo) to Fuzhou 15:30 to 18:10
A) Long layover in Fuzhou MF8367: FOC to SZX, Fuzhou to Shenzhen 07:50(+1) to 09:20
B) Long layover in Shenzhen MF8078: FOC to SZX, Fuzhou to Shenzhen 20:00 to 21:25
MF845: SZX to SEA, Shenzhen to Seattle 12:45 (+1 in case of B but not A) to 10:15

Outbound Plan 2 : Long layover in Shenzhen

MF816: NRT to SZX, Narita(Tokyo) to Shenzhen 14:55 to 18:10
MF845: SZX to XMN, Shenzhen to Xiamen 9:20 (+1) to 10:45
MF845: XMN to SEA, Xiamen to Seattle 12:45 to 10:15

Return : Long layover in Xiamen

MF846: SEA to SZX, Seattle to Shenzhen 12:45 to 18:00 (+1)
MF846: SZX to XMN, Shenzhen to Xiamen 20:25 to 21:35
MF815: XMN to NRT, Xiamen to Narita (Tokyo) 8:50 (+1) to 13:45

I checked a similar post at What are the rules for China's visa-free transit programs?

According to the accepted answer written in Dec 2017-Jan 2018, Transit without visa (TWOV) is not possible at Fuzhou (FOC). For other airports, Holders of confirmed onward air, cruise or train tickets for a maximum transit time of 24 hours are allowed a TWOV. Transit incl. multiple stops within China (People's Rep.), with a total transit time of max. 24 hours, is permitted.

According to https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/708095-china-24-72-144-hour-transit-without-visa-twov-rules-master-thread.html

One section states that
24-hours TWOV does not apply at Fuzhou (FOC), Huangshan (TXN), Mudanjiang (MDG), Shenzhen (SZX), Urumqi (URC) and Yanji (YNJ).

But another section states that
24 hour TWOV Shenzhen (new, September 2018) Passengers transiting through Shenzhen (SZX) with a confirmed onward air, cruise or train ticket within 24 hours to a third country can obtain an entry permit on arrival. When passengers have obtained an entry permit, they can have multiple transit stops within China (People's Rep)

Now i feel confused. Also, I want to know if things have changed since the documents could have been updated after the posts/articles were written.

I wish these rules for available for use in a simpler manner through some tool to all of mankind for free. (unlike Timatic) Better if users can enter their itinerary, and see red flags or green ticks. Hope someone makes one such tool or shares a link to an existing one, shootout to ProductHunt users!

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  • Timatic charges hefty subscription fees to airlines and other entities for use of its service. They very much dislike anyone having raw access to it. That said, there are some sites where you can check yourself, but they are simplified interfaces and usually don't show all available information from Timatic. – Michael Hampton May 14 '19 at 1:55
  • Related travel.stackexchange.com/q/124317/50234 – RedBaron May 14 '19 at 2:25
  • There seems to be some mistake in Outbund Plan 2. MF816 goes from NRT to XMN (NOT SZX) and MF845 is XMN to SEA via SZX. So essentially your outbound plan has you entering Xhina at XMN which should be fine for 24-hours TWOV. The return flight lands at SZX but it has only 2 hours stopover before continuin to XMN I am not sure if all passengers need to deplane/pass immigration there. – RedBaron May 14 '19 at 4:51
  • @RedBaron sorry i fixed the itinerary details of plan 2. – computingfreak May 16 '19 at 12:37
  • @computingfreak Still not correct. MF816 goes direct to Xiamen from Narita. Likewise MF845 is Xiamen-Schenzen-Seattle, not as you've written it. I'd correct this myself but I'm not sure if you've written wrong flight numbers or only their stops. – RedBaron May 17 '19 at 6:34

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