globaltaxnews.ey.comSign up for tax alert emailsForwardPrintDownload |
02 December 2024 China Mainland announces updates to its visa-free policies for certain jurisdictions Effective 30 November 2024, the Chinese authorities will implement several changes to streamline their visa-free policies for certain jurisdictions and simplify the entry and stay processes for qualifying individuals. The Chinese authorities will implement the following changes on 30 November 2024, impacting their current regulations governing jurisdictions with which the Chinese mainland has unilateral visa-free policies (i.e., “unilateral-policy jurisdictions”): (i) Visa-free jurisdictions: The Chinese authorities will add the following nine jurisdictions to their list of unilateral-policy jurisdictions: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania. This will bring the number of unilateral-policy jurisdictions to 38; (ii) Purpose of stay: Qualifying nationals of unilateral-policy jurisdictions will be able to enter the Chinese mainland without a visa for the purpose of exchange visits (e.g., academic exchanges, cultural exchanges) too, in addition to business, tourism and family visit purposes; and (iii) Period of stay: The authorized period of visa-free stay for nationals of unilateral-policy jurisdictions will be increased to 30 days. A Tax Alert prepared by EY's People Advisory Services, and attached below, provides additional details. Document ID: 2024-2178 |