I. What is Transit visa (G-visa)
Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his/her way to a third country(or region)
II. Requirements for G-visa application
(i) Passport which has more than 6 months left before it expires from the date of application and sufficient blank pages.
(ii) Swiss Residence Permit if not Swiss passport holders.
(iii) Completed Visa Application Form with a recently-taken passport photo stuck on it; if the applicant has a Chinese name, the Chinese name should be filled in.
(iv) A copy of connecting flight ticket through China to the destination country or region.
III. Under what circumstances one doesn't need visa?
(i) Foreigners with confirmed onward tickets and seats on international flights directly transit through China and stay for no more than 24 hours within the airport boundaries doesn't need transit visa.
(ii) No visa is required for citizens of the following 31 countries, who transit through China via Shanghai within 48 hours: ROK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the 26 Schengen states-Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
(iii) Citizens holding ordinary passports of the following 26 countries and in group tours (organized by the international travel services approved by the National Tourism Administration of China and registered in Hainan Province) to Hainan Province for a stay of less than 15 days shall not need to apply for a visa: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, the UK, Ukraine and the USA.
Citizens of Russia, ROK and Germany can stay no more than 21 days.
(iv) Citizens of Brunei, Japan and Singapore holding ordinary passports go to China for tourism, family visit, business or transit and intend to stay in China for no more than 15 days may enter China without a visa through the ports of entry open to foreigners.
