DO NOT Overstay in China! Customs Will Stop You from Going Home.

In the morning of July 25th, 2018, a male Korean passenger who had been overstaying his visa in China was detained by customs inspectors in the departure hall of the Nanjing Lukou International Airport and prevented from leaving the country after revealing that he would not be able to pay the fine.

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=b0737zmmiwd&width=500&height=375&auto=0

Video: Tencent

At around 9:00 AM that day, immigration inspectors of the Nanjing Border checkpoint intercepted the passenger who was meant to board the KE878 flight from Nanjing, China to Busan, South Korea.

The foreigner had entered China via Nanjing Lukou International Airport on April 30th, 2018 with a Chinese L tourist visa which was only valid for 30 days starting from the date he entered the territory. But that didn’t turn out that way as he ended up spending 86 days in China, 56 of which were illegal.

One of the customs inspectors reported that the Korean passenger misinterpreted the duration of his L visa and believed the “valid until” date that was indicated represented the last date he could stay in the country.

Image: Google

Chinese immigration authorities do not mess around with overstaying your visa and fined the man the maximum penalty of RMB 10,000, but he was  held up at the airport and prevent from leaving the country due to his inability to pay the fine on the spot.

According to the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, individuals who overstay for less than 10 days are exempt from paying a fine. Those who stay in China for at least 11 days beyond the final day of their visa, however, are fined RMB 500 per day overstayed until they reach the maximum amount of RMB 10,000.

Image: 荔枝新闻

There is no grace period for illegal tourists who’ve exceeded the number of days allowed in the country, so overstaying your visa in China is not recommended. Immigration takes their visa process very seriously, and will not hesitate to punish you accordingly.

It’s crucial to remember that the duration of your stay in China and visa begins on the day you enter the country from overseas. The Korean tourist stayed 56 more days than he was allowed to and was severely fine for it. He had been illegal in China for nearly 2 months.

The consequences from illegally staying in China are very serious and should not be taken lightly. 

1. Foreigners who overstay for a short period will be given a warning and and a fine. Usually, the penalty is RMB 500 per day with a limit RMB 10,000.

2. If someone overstays their visa for much longer (generally over a month) then he/she may be sent to a detention camp for 5 to 15 days and deported back to their home country.

It's also very likely that tourists who overstay will be blacklisted, which will consequently prohibit them from entering the country for another ten years. This may also have negative effects on visa applications for other countries.

How Can I Avoid Unintentionally Overstaying in China?

You should remember the date you entered the country and the total duration of your visa validity. You should also make sure to properly count the legal staying days so you don’t miss your visa’s deadline by a day or two. 

Now here comes the good news… HiTouch presents -- the Chinese Visa Reminder! An amazing tool that reminds you of the expired date of your visa in just one second!

Try It Right Now！

Long press the QR code to access↑↑↑

Input your Date of entry and Duration of each stay ↑↑↑

You will see the expired date of your visa! ↑↑↑

Remind Me of The Expiry Date!

• If your visa expires in more than 7 days, then you can use the HiTouch reminder service. ↓↓↓

• Follow the instruction above to input your Chinese mobile phone number, then you will receive Service Message immediately. ↓↓↓

7 days ahead of the expired date, you will receive the message from HiTouch. With the mini-program, you can enjoy your carefree life in China! In addition, if you want to apply for a visa extension, you should prepare earlier before your visa expires.

Please note that we hope more people get the first-hand information, for articles that we have the footnote of the sources on the bottom, HiTouch does not necessarily endorse the views presented in this article. The copyright belongs to the original writer, and we've tried the best to proofread the content. 

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Source: HiTouch

Supervisor: Crystal Huang

Editor : SC

Proofreader : Ed Bellin

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