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Help needed. Transit through China

Mithra31

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Sep 4, 2015
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I have a Canadian PR Travel Document and holding Canadian PR card.
I have my flight Toronto/Montreal-Vancouver -Guangzhou /Shanghai-Sri Lanka.
Do I need transit visa for my stopovers in China?

It’s just one ticket and one airline, China Southern Airline.

If anyone had the same experience please do share it with me
Thanks
 

steaky

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Nov 11, 2008
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What passport do you hold? For China Southern, I think you have stopover in Guangzhou only unless you want to get another flight to visit Shanghai before the continue flight to Sri Lanka. If so, you probably need a visitor visa in China for sightseeing in Shanghai.

Edit: PR card and PRTD is for entry in Canada only.
 
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Mithra31

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Sep 4, 2015
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What passport do you hold? For China Southern, I think you have stopover in Guangzhou only unless you want to get another flight to visit Shanghai before the continue flight to Sri Lanka. If so, you probably need a visitor visa in China for sightseeing in Shanghai.

Edit: PR card and PRTD is for entry in Canada only.
Yeah i fly with China Southern Airline, now I checked it stops in one airport in China not 2.
have a stop for 6 hours in Guangzhou then Colombo, there is no more stops in china, and also I have the Canadian Travel Document, not any other nationality passports.
buy the way its just one ticket and one airline and im not leaving the airport transit lounge to go out for sightseeing
 

Wonderland_1010

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Yeah i fly with China Southern Airline, now I checked it stops in one airport in China not 2.
have a stop for 6 hours in Guangzhou then Colombo, there is no more stops in china, and also I have the Canadian Travel Document, not any other nationality passports.
buy the way its just one ticket and one airline and im not leaving the airport transit lounge to go out for sightseeing
I believe that you don't need a transit visa because you have only 6 hours stopover which qualifies under the 24 hours transit visa free regulation.

See link

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294211-c188665/China:Visa.Free.Transits.html
 
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steaky

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Yeah i fly with China Southern Airline, now I checked it stops in one airport in China not 2.
have a stop for 6 hours in Guangzhou then Colombo, there is no more stops in china, and also I have the Canadian Travel Document, not any other nationality passports.
buy the way its just one ticket and one airline and im not leaving the airport transit lounge to go out for sightseeing
You need a passport. They probably won't allow you to board without it.
 

Mithra31

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Sep 4, 2015
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You need a passport. They probably won't allow you to board without it.
It was very confusing Do I need or I Do Not.

My Canadian PR Travel document is my passport, I have contacted the Chinese Southern Airline they said they do not know if i need a visa or not they asked me to contact the General Consulate in Ottawa to make sure, so I contacted them, they said I do need transit visa, I can advantage of Transit Without Visa, because my layovers are less than 24 hours.

Same Airline for my whole trip and 1 single ticket.
Arrival in Guangzhou and same day departure -- Layover (10:15min)
Return: Layover (5:5min) in Guangzhou
 

Mithra31

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I believe that you don't need a transit visa because you have only 6 hours stopover which qualifies under the 24 hours transit visa free regulation.

See link

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294211-c188665/China:Visa.Free.Transits.html

It’s just one single ticket and one airline, China Southern Airline.
I spoke with the airline they recommend me to talk to the embassy and when I wrote them everything and send them my itinerary, they said if you do not leave the transit area and the airport you do not need transit visa for a stay of less than 24 hours.
 

Mithra31

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This is wrong, your Canadian PR is definitively not a passport. You need a valid passport from your country of citizenship to travel abroad.
Canadian Refugee Travel Document I have, and I have a valid PR card, I was a protected person now PR, I can not go back to get my country of origin's passport.
 

steaky

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Canadian Refugee Travel Document I have, and I have a valid PR card, I was a protected person now PR, I can not go back to get my country of origin's passport.
You should had prefaced it in the beginning. You have Refugee travel document (not PR travel document). They are two different things.
 

Mithra31

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You should had prefaced it in the beginning. You have Refugee travel document (not PR travel document). They are two different things.
I have spoken with the embassy, Airline, and entry and exit port at the airports, I do not need transit visa since I am not leaving the airport or transit area.
PR travel document is same (Convention of 28 July 1951) like refugee travel document, just big difference is Refugee travel document has 2 year validity since PRTD has 5 years validity.
they are both exact same color, document, and name
 

steaky

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I have spoken with the embassy, Airline, and entry and exit port at the airports, I do not need transit visa since I am not leaving the airport or transit area.
PR travel document is same (Convention of 28 July 1951) like refugee travel document, just big difference is Refugee travel document has 2 year validity since PRTD has 5 years validity.
they are both exact same color, document, and name
No, they are not the same. Since you have Canadian Refugee travel document, this is what you need to travel outside Canada.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=610&top=11

However, you cannot use PRTD (alone) to travel to a foreign country.
 
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steaky

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Is your PR card valid?

Otherwise, you might need to get a PR travel document in Sri Lanka to re enter Canada.
 

mf4361

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I have spoken with the embassy, Airline, and entry and exit port at the airports, I do not need transit visa since I am not leaving the airport or transit area.
PR travel document is same (Convention of 28 July 1951) like refugee travel document, just big difference is Refugee travel document has 2 year validity since PRTD has 5 years validity.
they are both exact same color, document, and name
PRTD is a permit that allows Canadian PR to travel and board commercial vehicles into Canada without a PR Card. It's meant to be a one time thing for people who don't have PR Card but needs to enter Canada

Your Refugee travel document is completely different
 

BlueMoon8794

Full Member
May 20, 2018
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It’s just one single ticket and one airline, China Southern Airline.
I spoke with the airline they recommend me to talk to the embassy and when I wrote them everything and send them my itinerary, they said if you do not leave the transit area and the airport you do not need transit visa for a stay of less than 24 hours.
Can you please tell me where do you email them? I am in kinda same situation but couldnt find any contact number to email them