My apologies if this has been answered many times already but I could not find an exact match. My question is if anyone has travelled to China under the 240 transit policy with the third country being the US. Our ideal itinerary is US -> Turkey (8 hour layover) -> Beijing (9 days in China) -> Beijing to San Fran and then home to Denver.

Technically we are Turkey -> Beijing -> US so three countries but we are US passport holders so we may potentially have an issue?

We can also get a flight that goes to Seoul for a layover but would prefer the shorter trip if we don't think we'll have an issue. Thanks for any guidance if you have successfully completed this type of itinerary.

  • It's fine to have the US as one of the two countries; this itinerary should be fine. Beware that, if you just have an airport layover in Turkey, there have been reports of airline agents incorrectly denying boarding because of a misunderstanding of the policy.

    parent

    There won't be an issue in turkey. they don't even check visa once youre in the "secured" side of the airport for a layover, they just look at boarding pass and passport. the issue will be the US side potentially not knowing the rules for the initial flight through Turkey since the US side is the one checking the bags through to Beijing.

    parent root

    Thanks both very helpful

    parent root

  • This is fine.

    USA can be your inbound or outbound country, but not both. I routinely fly from Thailand to USA with a TWOV stop for a few days in China.

    parent

    Thanks, very helpful. I'll report pack after the trip in June

    parent root

  • Thanks for your post, MileHighClimber! It seems like your post is about a TWOV (Transit Without Visa) Program. This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Please take a look at the following quick references: (1) Wikipedia has great and thorough article on the 240 Hour Transit Program (2) /u/DoubleNo2902 did a great job of providing a guide for the 144 HR TWOV HND > CAN > HKG with a ton of useful information.

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    parent

  • Backup Post: My apologies if this has been answered many times already but I could not find an exact match. My question is if anyone has travelled to China under the 240 transit policy with the third country being the US. Our ideal itinerary is US -> Turkey (8 hour layover) -> Beijing (9 days in China) -> Beijing to San Fran and then home to Denver.

    Technically we are Turkey -> Beijing -> US so three countries but we are US passport holders so we may potentially have an issue?

    We can also get a flight that goes to Seoul for a layover but would prefer the shorter trip if we don't think we'll have an issue. Thanks for any guidance if you have successfully completed this type of itinerary.

    I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

    parent

  • There is no rule that says your citizenship/passport can't be 1 of the 2 countries. If it's A -> China -> B you're fine. Turkey is A, USA is B.

    parent

    Thanks, very helpful to clear some confusion.

    parent root

  • your itinerary is valid, the ONLY issue is with boarding agents in the US not knowing the rules. get to the airport early and print out the official TWOV policy and cross your fingers. it took me waiting in line and getting a manager at united in SFO to be allowed to board. the china immigration side was zero issue. My itinerary was SFO > 2 hour layover in Tokyo > Beijing > SFO, so effectively the same as yours.

    parent

    Very helpful, thanks so much. We just purchased tickets via Turkey and then direct to the US after Beijing. Appreciate the help

    parent root

  • US passport isn’t the problem here. The “third country/region” rule is about your routing, not your nationality. Turkey → Beijing → US is exactly the kind of A → China → B itinerary they want (A and B must be different).

    What matters is: you need a confirmed onward ticket out of China to the US (date/seat confirmed) before you arrive, and your flight into Beijing has to come from Turkey (no extra stop in between that turns it into Turkey → somewhere → China). Airlines are usually the strictest part of this at check-in.

    9 days should fit under 240 hours, but be aware China calculates the allowed stay starting 00:00 the day after entry, so don’t cut it razor-thin on the outbound. Also, you’ll be limited to the permitted area tied to your entry port (Beijing’s policy is “stay in designated areas”). You can use layover pilot to help plan the trip

    parent