Hainan: Visa Free for Foreign Tourists with Duration of 15 DaysRatified by the Ministry of Public Security, the provincial government of Hainan has lately issued a preferential policy granting visa exemption to tourists holding private passports from 21 countries to make tours in Hainan with duration of 15 days.According to the policy, foreign tour groups consisting of no less than five persons can make their entry into Hainan only by filling in a group namelist instead of individual registration form of entry and exit. The regulation is currently applied to citizens holding private passports from Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Germany, the UK, France, Austria, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Meanwhile, these citizens must be members of a tour group organized by international travel services in Hainan, whose registrations have been approved by the National Tourism Administration, and their travel may not exceed the time limit of 15 days, including the time spent for entry and exit. However, foreign journalists are not entitled to enjoy the preference. The regulation has it that the travel agencies hosting the tour groups must submit the namelist of tourists to Hainan to the related frontier inspection stations and public security departments respectively at least 24 hours prior to the group's entry at the port. Agency staff must go with the approved namelist to meet the tour group at the port. Deduction of tourists, but no permission for replacement or addition of persons in a tour group is allowed. By PD Online staff member Li Heng |
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