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How to Use IATA Travel Centre to Check Visa Requirements

Updated: July 11, 2024 Leave a Comment

When planning an international trip, the first thing you would need to know is the visa requirements. If you need a visa, you must start planning from there. 

These days the internet is littered with so many unofficial websites posing as authentic sources of visa information. Especially with the rise of AI, unofficial websites are popping up more rapidly than ever. 

Through this website, we provide as accurate information as possible. But I and my team haven’t been to every country in the world. So we can’t offer visa requirements and application guidelines for every country. I’m sure we will get there soon, but until then you can rely on some trustworthy sources.

IATA Travel Centre is one of those trustworthy sources. You can use this website to check visa requirements for any country. 

In this article, I will walk you through how to check visa requirements using the IATA Travel Centre. 

What is IATA Travel Centre?

IATA Travel Centre is a trusted source for the latest passport, visa and vaccination requirements of all countries. IATA Travel Centre is powered by TIMATIC, a database used by airlines to check visa requirements for its passengers during the check-in process. 

IATA (International Air Transport Association) is a global airline association. It has over 330 airlines as members which accounts for about 83% of total air traffic. 

IATA maintains relations with governments and sources the latest visa information from foreign ministries, consular offices, immigration departments, border control offices and health ministries. 

IATA Travel Centre is free to use and the visa requirements are mostly accurate. 

Should you trust IATA Travel Centre?

Yes. You can trust IATA Travel Centre. It’s powered by TIMATIC, a real-time database of visa requirements used by all major airlines. 

Even though it is powered by TIMATIC, I don’t think IATA Travel Centre data is real-time. I have run into situations where the information was outdated. But in most cases, the visa requirements were accurate and up to date. 

Even though the visa requirements are accurate, I still recommend cross-checking with official government sources to confirm. 

How to check visa requirements of a country

To check the visa requirements for a specific country, follow the below steps. 

• Go to the IATA Travel Centre homepage
• Under “Passport, Visa & Health regulations”, select the country whose visa requirements you would like to check
• Click on the “CHECK” button

01. Travel Information

Enter the following in the “Travel Information” tab. 

• Destination [ Instruction: This is auto-populated with the country that  you have selected in the previous screen]
• Departure country/territory [ Instruction: Select the country where you will start your trip from]
• Arrival date [ Instruction: Select the date on which you will arrive at the destination country]
• Depart date [ Instruction: Select the date on which you will depart from the destination country]
• Carrier code [ Instruction: No need to select anything, just leave it as “Other”]
• Countries/territories visited in last 6 days [ Instruction: No need to select this too, leave it as whatever it auto-populates]
• Duration of stay [ Instruction: Enter the number of days you will stay in the destination country (technically it should populate based on the arrival and departure dates, but it doesn’t)]
• Purpose of stay [ Instruction: Leave as “Tourism/Vacation”]
• Transit – Country/Territory [ Instruction: If you will be transiting through a third country, select it here to check the transit requirements of this third country. If it would be a direct flight, leave it as default “None”]
• Do you hold a Return/Onward ticket? [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Yes”]

Check the box for “I agree to the IATA…” and click on the “NEXT PAGE” button.

02. Personal Information

Enter the following in the “Personal Information” tab. 

• Nationality [ Instruction: Select your country of passport]
• Document held [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Passport: Normal”]
• Issue country/territory [ Instruction: This will auto-populate from what you have selected for Nationality above]
• Expiry date [ Instruction: Select the expiry date of your passport]
• Residence country/territory [ Instruction: This will also auto-populate from Nationality, but you can change it if you reside somewhere else]
• Date of Birth [ Instruction: Select your date of birth]
• Document Feature [ Instruction: Leave it as default “Biometric”. But if you do NOT hold a biometric passport, select “Machine-readable document” from the list]
• Type Code in [ Instruction: Type in the captcha]

Is your passport biometric or machine-readable?

A biometric passport has an embedded microchip containing biometric information. Biometric passports usually have a golden chip logo on the front cover. Read biometric passport and machine-readable passport articles to identify which passport you have.

Click on the “NEXT PAGE” button.

03. Results

On the “Results” tab, you will see the passport, visa and health requirements for the destination country.

Pay close attention to the “ Visa ” section.

If there is a RED CROSS, it means a visa is REQUIRED. If there are any exceptions, they will be listed below. 

If there is a GREEN CHECK, it means a visa is NOT required. You are VISA-FREE or Visa Exempted.

In the above screenshot, the destination is Japan and the passport is India. There is a RED CROSS for the visa and it says “Visa required”. This means, “Indian passport holders REQUIRE a visa to travel to Japan”. 

You can click on the “Print” link to print the visa requirements page for your records. You may need to show the visa requirements to the check-in staff to convince them of a certain visa requirement or exception. A print of visa requirements from the IATA Travel Centre will help in such cases.

How to check transit visa requirements

If you have a stopover or transit in a country, you can use the IATA Travel Centre to check transit visa requirements as well. 

You will enter all information as you would to check visa requirements for a destination country. In the “Travel Information” tab, for “Transit – Country/Territory”, you will enter the following information. 

• Transit – Arrival time & date [ Instruction: Enter your arrival date and time in the transit country]
• Transit – Departure time & date  [ Instruction: Enter your departure date and time from the transit country]
• Transit – Onward Ticket [ instruction: Leave as default “Yes”]

In the “Results” tab, along with visa requirements for your destination country, you will also see the visa requirements for your transit country.

You hold an Indian passport, traveling to Japan with a 4-hour transit in Singapore. You want to know whether you would need a visa to transit in Singapore. 

Select Singapore as your transit and enter the date and time of your transit as shown in the above screenshot. Continue with the rest of the steps.

In the results tab, along with visa requirements for Japan, you will also see the transit visa requirement for Singapore as shown in the below screenshot. 

In the above screenshot, notice the GREEN CHECK. It also says that Indians do not need a transit visa for Singapore if they remain in the international transit area. And this does not apply to budget airlines such as AirAsia. In that case, you would need a transit visa. 

How to check visa requirements for special cases and exceptions

Not all visa requirements are straightforward. There are some special cases and exceptions. To check such special cases and/or exceptions, you must query IATA Travel Centre slightly differently. I have provided a few examples below.  

Mexico: 180-day VISA-FREE entry for certain visa holders

This one is straightforward. You will simply query IATA Travel Centre with Mexico as your destination. 

If you require a visa for Mexico, the result will say so. But below that you will see an exception that you are visa-exempt with if you hold a substitute visa such as the US, UK, Canada, Schengen and Japan. 

South Korea: 30-day VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers holding certain visas

This one is a bit tricky. Even though this is a transit visa requirement, you will query IATA Travel Centre with South Korea as your destination country.

If you require a visa for South Korea, the result will say so but will also show the special case where you can get a visa exemption with a substitute visa. 

Singapore VFTF: 96-hour VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers of certain countries holding certain visas

Singapore VFTF is a transit visa requirement using which you can leave the airport for up to 96 hours while transiting through Singapore. 

To check whether you are eligible for VFTF, you must query IATA Travel Centre with Singapore as your transit country. The transit time must be at least 48 hours . Otherwise, the system will assume you will remain airside and not leave the airport. 

UK TWOV: 24-hour VISA-FREE entry for transit passengers holding certain visas

Passengers transiting through the UK holding a visa from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can leave the airport for up to 24 hours. 

To check whether you are eligible for 24-hour entry, you must query IATA Travel Centre with the UK as your transit country.  

If eligible, the result will say that you can make a “landside” transit (meaning, you can leave the airport) provided you have a connecting flight before 11.59 pm the next day.

WRITTEN BY THIRUMAL MOTATI

Thirumal Motati is an expert in tourist visa matters. He has been traveling the world on tourist visas for more than a decade. With his expertise, he has obtained several tourist visas, including the most strenuous ones such as the US, UK, Canada, and Schengen, some of which were granted multiple times. He has also set foot inside US consulates on numerous occasions. Mr. Motati has uncovered the secrets to successful visa applications. His guidance has enabled countless individuals to obtain their visas and fulfill their travel dreams. His statements have been mentioned in publications like Yahoo, BBC, The Hindu, and Travel Zoo.

PLAN YOUR TRAVEL WITH VISA TRAVELER

I highly recommend using these websites to plan your trip. I use these websites myself to apply for my visas, book my flights and hotels and purchase my travel insurance.

01. Apply for your visa

Get a verifiable flight itinerary for your visa application from DummyTicket247 . DummyTicket247 is a flight search engine to search and book flight itineraries for visas instantly. These flight itineraries are guaranteed to be valid for 2 weeks and work for all visa applications.

02. Book your fight

Find the cheapest flight tickets using Skyscanner . Skyscanner includes all budget airlines and you are guaranteed to find the cheapest flight to your destination.

03. Book your hotel

Book your hotel from Booking.com . Booking.com has pretty much every hotel, hostel and guesthouse from every destination.

04. Get your onward ticket

If traveling on a one-way ticket, use BestOnwardTicket to get proof of onward ticket for just $12, valid for 48 hours.

05. Purchase your insurance

Purchase travel medical insurance for your trip from SafetyWing . Insurance from SafetyWing covers COVID-19 and also comes with a visa letter which you can use for your visas.

Need more? Check out my travel resources page  for the best websites to plan your trip.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER We are not affiliated with immigration, embassies or governments of any country. The content in this article is for educational and general informational purposes only, and shall not be understood or construed as, visa, immigration or legal advice. Your use of information provided in this article is solely at your own risk and you expressly agree not to rely upon any information contained in this article as a substitute for professional visa or immigration advice. Under no circumstance shall be held liable or responsible for any errors or omissions in this article or for any damage you may suffer in respect to any actions taken or not taken based on any or all of the information in this article. Please refer to our full disclaimer for further information.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please refer to our full disclosure for further information.

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What is the IATA Travel Pass and do I need it to travel?

Oct 26, 2021 • 5 min read

The IATA Travel Pass is one of a variety of “health credential” services © BlackCAT / Getty Images

For most international travel, you’ll have to provide proof of vaccination, a negative COVID-19 test or proof you’ve recovered from the virus in order to cross borders.

With many travelers and airlines looking for a simple way to store this information digitally, the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Travel Pass health information checking service is being rolled out by more and more airlines, and so are its competitors like CommonPass and VeriFLY. They’re not vaccination passports, so what are they, how do they work, who’s behind them—and should you use them? 

What is the IATA Travel Pass? 

The IATA Travel Pass is one of a variety of “health credential” services that some airlines are using to help them check the validity of the proof you send them of your COVID-19 status—whether that’s your vaccination, a recent test, recovery from the disease, or a combination of all three.

Read more:  What is a vaccine passport and do I need one to travel?

It’s essentially an app on your phone where you take pictures of your vaccination records, a recent test or the proof you’ve recovered from COVID-19 within a certain time frame specified by the government of wherever you’re traveling to (and sometimes from). These are then checked and your airline is given either a green light or a red light for you to travel, according to the government travel rules of your destination country.

Dozens of airlines are trialling or using it—and other providers’ passes—to help them process your documentation, ideally well before you get to the airport. This helps them reduce queues and the cost of having staff members check your documents in person.

It’s different to the national or regional health pass wallets, like France’s TousAntiCovid , New York’s Excelsior Pass or the UK’s NHS COVID Pass . However, in the future, there may be links between them.

Other passes exist, with CommonPass and VeriFLY also in relatively wide use. Bear in mind that airlines may be trialling multiple pass options on different routes, so check any emails carefully and have a look at their website to confirm which you can use. 

How do they work?

You take pictures of your documentation or upload an existing picture, depending on the functionality of the various apps. This is then processed by the app provider’s staff—whether the IATA Travel Pass, CommonPass, VeriFLY or whatever—who confirm whether your documentation is valid.

It can be a bit of a logistical humdinger to need to take a picture of the everyday vaccination pass or test result that lives in one app on your phone with another app on your phone. Keeping paper copies of your vaccination certificates and test results can be very helpful, but in a pinch you can always find a friend to send them to, and then take a picture of their phone.

Once the processing is done, which usually is a matter of minutes or hours, you essentially get a green light that you’re good to go, or a red light that means you can’t travel until you’ve fixed a problem.

That might be because: you’re vaccinated with a vaccine not recognised in your destination; you sent in the wrong type of test (antigen not PCR, say); your test wasn’t taken recently enough (perhaps it was taken 49 hours before you are supposed to travel, but your destination requires it to be less than 48); or simply that they weren’t able to read your documents. 

Read more: PCR tests for travel: everything you need to know 

Do keep an eye out for this—getting another vaccination isn’t exactly a fixable problem, but getting another test might not be the end of the world.

Who runs these passes?

IATA’s travel pass is run by an airline trade industry group, the International Air Transport Association , which is sort of a Better Business Bureau for airlines. Remember, IATA is not a governmental or intergovernmental body, it’s an airline association.

CommonPass is run by a non-profit public trust with links to the World Economic Forum (sometimes referred to as Davos, after the location of its annual meeting) and the Rockefeller Foundation.  VeriFLY , meanwhile, is a product of biometric authentication software business Daon . Airlines are essentially outsourcing the verification to these apps, but in some cases, airlines are requesting that you upload the relevant information to them directly.

If you’re concerned about what happens to your data, that’s certainly a valid concern. As one example, British Airways uses VeriFLY for all flights into the UK. But its small print says: “The VeriFLY App is completely independent of British Airways and you are submitting your information directly to Daon (acting as the data controller), please check Daon’s privacy policy and terms and conditions.” However, it’s worth reading the fine print on VeriFLY to fully understand how your data will be used. 

Where will I use a travel pass, is it mandatory, and should I use it?

A growing number of airlines are using them, so you’re likely to be seeing them the next time you take an international flight. 

At present, they’re usually not fully required, but you can expect to receive multiple emails encouraging you to use them. You may also start seeing fast-track queues for people who have taken the time to enter their data. After all, it will take less time for an expert on these processes to check your documents remotely a day in advance than for a stressed check-in agent to try to figure out whether your vaccination certificate is valid or not.

So should you use it? Well, if you have privacy concerns, those seem valid—this technology has been developed pretty quickly, and it’s worth reading the privacy policies of the app should you have any reservations.

For more information on COVID-19 and travel, check out Lonely Planet's Health Hub .

Read more:  What is a vaccine passport and do I need one to travel? PCR tests for travel: everything you need to know What do I do if my flight gets cancelled - and can I get a refund?

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Destination Practicalities

Mar 28, 2023 • 3 min read

Here’s all you need to know about getting a traveler visa to visit China now that “zero COVID” has come and gone.

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For more information regarding....

•  24 Schengen Agreement Countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland 
• 13 Other European Countries: Russia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia (FYROM), Albania
• 6 American Countries: the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile
• 2 Oceania Countries: Australia, New Zealand
• 6 Asian Countries: Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar
• Passengers should hold an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and date as well as a valid visa to a third country or region (if required).
• Passengers are required to enter and leave from the eligible transit ports only.
• During the layover period, they can travel within the administrative regions of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but can’t leave for other cities.
• The layover time should be limited to 144 hours. However, the 144-hour free stay period does not start until 00:00 of the day following passengers’ arrival. So actually, the allowed time to stay is a little bit longer than 144 hours.
• Valid passport
• Confirmed onward ticket
• Visa for a third country/region (if needed)
• A fully completed Arrival/Departure Card
• It is necessary to inform the carrier before you arrive, so that they can forward your request to the immigration office for processing.
• There is a counter/lane dedicated for the 144-hour free transit at the immigration inspection, so passengers can go there directly by following the signs.
• After your request for the 144-hour free transit is approved, the officer will stamp a stay permit on your passport, which shows your allowed stay duration.
• If you have a valid visa for China, but you don’t want to use it this time, remember to tell the officer that you need to use the 144-hour free transit.
• After leaving the airport, remember to register at local police station within 24 hours after arrival. If you live in a hotel, you don’t need to do that because the hotel will do it for you. Otherwise, you should go to the police station in person to register your stay.
• If passengers have to go to other cities or they can’t leave within 144 hours, they should go to the local PSB and apply for a normal visa. Otherwise, they may be faced with a fine.

Visa, Passport & Health Requirements

Before traveling, please ensure your visa, travel documents and health requirements are up to date for the country you are visiting. SkyTeam can help you find the answers to any questions you may have about travel health requirements and the necessary documentation for your destination.

Check which travel documents you may need and which health regulations apply, specifically for your itinerary.

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IATA Travel Pass set to help international passengers

IATA announced that it is in the final development phase of the IATA Travel Pass, a digital health pass that will support the safe reopening of borders.

Governments are beginning to use testing as a means of limiting the risks of COVID-19 importation when re-opening their borders to travelers without quarantine measures. IATA Travel Pass will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories, and travelers.

IATA is calling for systematic COVID-19 testing of all international travelers and the information flow infrastructure needed to enable this must support:

• Governments with the means to verify the authenticity of tests and the identity of those presenting the test certificates.
• Airlines with the ability to provide accurate information to their passengers on test requirements and verify that a passenger meets the requirements for travel.
• Laboratories with the means to issue digital certificates to passengers that will be recognized by governments.
• Travelers with accurate information on test requirements, where they can get tested or vaccinated, and the means to securely convey test information to airlines and border authorities.

“Today borders are double locked. Testing is the first key to enable international travel without quarantine measures. The second key is the global information infrastructure needed to securely manage, share, and verify test data matched with traveler identities in compliance with border control requirements. That’s the job of IATA Travel Pass. We are bringing this to market in the coming months to also meet the needs of the various travel bubbles and public health corridors that are starting operation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

IATA Travel Pass incorporates four open sourced and interoperable modules, which can be combined for an end-to-end solution:

• Global registry of health requirements – enables passengers to find accurate information on travel, testing, and eventually vaccine requirements for their journey.
• Global registry of testing/vaccination centers – enables passengers to find testing centers and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.
• Lab App – enables authorized labs and test centers to securely share test and vaccination certificates with passengers.
• Contactless Travel App – enables passengers to (1) create a ‘digital passport’, (2) receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary, and (3) share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. This app can also be used by travelers to manage travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey, improving travel experience.

IATA and International Airlines Group (IAG) have been working together in the development of this solution and will undertake a trial to demonstrate that this platform combined with COVID-19 testing can reopen borders.

The first cross-border IATA Travel Pass pilot is scheduled for later this year and the launch slated for Q1 2021.

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Greg Foran, Air New Zealand’s CEO: Environmental and diversity issues

Will the traffic-free skies of the past few months put more environmental pressure on the industry or is this a good opportunity to reset along greener lines?

Sponsored by: Boeing KLM CEO, Pieter Elbers: What next for the industry?

I am optimistic about the future of air transport. Aviation will be back. People will want to visit friends or go on vacation, and there is always a need for business travel.

IATA and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) issued a joint statement calling for urgent government intervention to prevent an employment catastrophe in the aviation industry.

View the discussion thread.

Timatic by IATA: Travel Requirements Database, Explained

• Last updated: 29 Nov, 2022
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What is Timatic?

• passport requirements and recommendations,
• visa requirements and recommendations,
• health requirements and recommendations,
• airport tax information,
• customs regulations concerning the import and export of goods and small pets,
• currency regulations, and
• news on regulation changes

What IATA Timatic database covers

Timatic for check-in

Timatic for booking, timatic mainframe: a standard source of travel requirements data.

Here, an agent can learn what forms and registrations are needed for specific passengers to travel

Timatic API: Beneficial solution for large, tech-savvy travel businesses

Get to know more about API in 8 minutes

Travel Information Manual (TIM): for those who prefer paper to digital

Timaticweb 2: web access and page customization.

A passenger information form for travel agents, Source: I ATA TimaticWeb2

United uses a form with minimum fields, making the experience easy for its customers

Timatic Mobile: Document scanning in an airport

TimaticMobile requires no training and minimal operational expenses, Source: AppAdvice

Timatic Widget: Helping travel websites improve conversion rate

How Timatic widget shows travel requirements for visiting Portugal, Source: Timatic

TravelDoc: Timatic alternative

The future of travel document check, facial recognition technologies in airports.

Facial recognition screening at airport in Virginia, Source: NYT

IATA One ID: confirm your identity long before the actual trip

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What is IATA Travel Pass?

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a terrible problem for both tourists and airlines worldwide because of the difficulties it provided. Governments have now asked visitors to present a negative COVID-19 PCR Test to enter the country or to demonstrate that they were vaccinated. To show both things during their arrival, IATA designed a simplified way to do so. If you wonder, What is IATA Travel Pass? Do not worry because iVisa.com will explain it to you.

Countries asked for verified results or vaccine reports to avoid any possible fake information and generated a digital health pass that truly validates what tourists claim. That is what IATA Travel Pass tries to do. So, you might need help to understand and complete the health declaration on your own as this is a brand-new app. For that reason, iVisa.com is the best alternative for both things , so you avoid tedious paperwork and understand everything in just one place. This current product is still being developed, but you will know in advance what it is with iVisa.com .

Find out more about What is IATA Travel Pass? in the following lines with iVisa.com .

Frequently Asked Questions

The IATA Travel Pass is an app that helps travelers present their verified information about their medical status (a negative COVID-19 PCR Test or if they were vaccinated). It is a secure and straightforward option to confirm their documents with a single application. It also works as an alternative to traditional paper processes to meet the health requirements implemented by every single country.

As we mentioned earlier, the IATA Travel Pass is not a launched product yet. That means you will have to wait for it’s official release to the public. When the time arrives, iVisa.com will help you proceed with your health declaration in the simplest way possible . You will appreciate how you will not waste time completing long travel forms. iVisa.com is, undoubtedly, a fantastic alternative to get your documents in the most effortless way possible. What more do you need to know about “What is IATA Travel Pass?” .

Visit iVisa.com for more blogs and travel tips .

Is it mandatory to have a COVID-19 PCR Test or the COVID-19 vaccine?

The final decision will depend on the health requisites that governments ask visitors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and control of the different outbreaks, countries have implemented strict preconditions to tourists. That is why it might be an obligation to have any of these documents. That is why you must understand “What is IATA Travel Pass?” .

Let the team at iVisa.com take care of all your worries .

What information will be required?

• Your email address as we will use it to notify you when your document is ready.
• The payment method that you prefer to use.
• The passport .
• Your negative COVID-19 PCR Test .

Remember, this information is subject to change because it has not been released yet.

iVisa.com makes sure our readers are always kept well-informed .

What will be the processing times and prices?

• For those who prefer the lowest price possible for their document, the Standard Processing is what they need.
• If you want a fast procedure, and you can afford a higher price, the Rush Processing is perfect for you.
• In case you need your document pretty fast, you can choose the Super Rush Processing for the highest price that we offer.

Using iVisa.com takes the stress out of travel .

How will the procedure be?

To better understand What is IATA Travel Pass? , you need to know the procedure. iVisa.com simplified most of the process to three simple steps .

• Complete the application form . Then, choose the processing option based on your needs.
• Continue with the payment method .
• Upload your documents.

Trust the team at iVisa.com .

Can I trust iVisa.com?

You can entirely rely on iVisa.com . We are a travel agency that makes your procedures more uncomplicated. Think about the time you will not spend and how you will do what you love if you decide to use iVisa.com . For that reason, our customers always recommend our service as you can see here . Choose iVisa.com and keep learning about “ What is IATA Travel Pass? ”.

I still have some questions. Where can I find more information?

Do you still have doubts like what is IATA Travel Pass? You need not stress! Contact our exceptional support agents who will be ready to assist you whenever you need it. You can also look at the iVisa.com’s website to check other essential documents you must present.

iVisa.com is a one stop shop for all your travel needs, and the best place to seek answers in these tricky times. Apply now

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What’s It Like Traveling to China These Days?

China has been rolling out new visa-free programs and promising to make travel easier for foreigners. But challenges remain.

By Vivian Wang

Reporting from Shanghai

By some measures, visiting China has never been easier.

China has been making a huge push to attract foreign tourists in recent months. It has rolled out a visa-free program for dozens of countries, with the list still growing. It has pledged to make it easier for visitors to pay for things, book hotels and get around.

The goal is to signal that China is open for business — and fun! — again, after three years of pandemic controls made it literally impossible for most foreigners to enter. The government is especially keen to attract visitors as it tries to rev up growth .

China also wants to show that it is still connected to the world, despite tensions with the West and the growing reach of its security apparatus at home.

In a sign of its eagerness, Beijing has offered the visa waivers to countries that have not done the same in return — a rare move for a government that usually insists on reciprocity.

But actually traveling to China can still be a major challenge. Here’s what to know:

What’s new?

China is unilaterally offering visa-free entry for 15 days to citizens from a slew of countries, mostly Western European ones like France, Germany and Spain. The program began in December and has continued to expand; Australia, New Zealand and Poland were included last month. It is set to run through 2025.

In addition, citizens of more than 50 countries, including the United States, are now eligible for visa-free transit. They can enter China for 72 or 144 hours, depending on their port of entry, if they are continuing on to other destinations.

Transit travelers must stay within certain areas. For example, people flying into Shanghai can only visit the city and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

China has also promised to reduce logistical headaches for foreigners. WeChat and AliPay — the so-called super apps that most Chinese use for every aspect of daily life, from digital payments to ride hailing to ordering at restaurants — can now be linked to international credit cards, not just Chinese ones. (Most businesses do not accept credit cards directly.) And in May, the government told hotels not to refuse foreign guests, which was once a common practice.

Why is China doing all this?

Simply put: It needs money.

As China’s economy slows, its consumers have been hesitant to spend, fanning fears of deflation. The government also wants to win back foreign investment, after many overseas companies were spooked by China’s long Covid lockdowns and tightening political environment. Visitors on the 15-day visa-free program are allowed not only to sight-see, but to conduct business.

Attracting more visitors would also help the government rebut accusations from the United States and other Western countries that China has become more hostile to foreigners.

Beijing last year revised its counterespionage law to broaden the definition of spying, and state propaganda has warned that seemingly harmless foreigners might be trying to undermine China’s national security. Still, the government insists that reports of xenophobia and rising nationalism are just spin, orchestrated by countries trying to stop China’s rise.

Are more visitors coming?

In the first half of this year, there were 14.6 million arrivals from overseas, according to Chinese statistics. Most of them were visa-free.

That’s 2.5 times as many as China had during the same period last year, but well below the 24 million in the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

China’s efforts to smooth out visitors’ experiences have also had mixed results.

On a recent Friday in Shanghai, Luka Lefevre, 24, and Charlotte Collet, 21, were cramming as much sightseeing as possible into a 10-hour layover between Paris and Vietnam. They had visited Yu Garden, a temple complex, and were taking photos on East Nanjing Road, a major shopping street.

But they’d had trouble using their phones to pay for things, and had to resort to cash, they said. They were also surprised by the ubiquitous surveillance cameras.

“For us, it’s a little bit too much, because we don’t have this in France,” Ms. Collet said. “But we know that it’s for safety.”

“For 10 hours, it’s O.K.,” Mr. Lefevre added.

Even visitors who’d figured out the Chinese apps said it had taken a while.

Walking along the Bund, Shanghai’s historic waterfront area, Maeline Lachaud and Nadia Hofmann, both Swiss university students, said they had linked their credit cards to AliPay while traveling through Xi’an, Chongqing and now Shanghai. The convenience was “amazing,” they said.

But Ms. Lachaud, a first-time visitor, said she had relied heavily upon Ms. Hofmann, who is minoring in Chinese studies and had visited once before. She hadn’t realized that AliPay had to be used not only to pay, but also to order at restaurants, and that the in-app menus were in Chinese.

Many major tourist attractions across China, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, also require advance reservations through platforms like WeChat that are largely in Chinese. (Because of the super apps’ ubiquity, many websites in China are poorly maintained.)

“China’s not for beginners,” Ms. Hofmann said.

Vivian Wang is a China correspondent based in Beijing, where she writes about how the country’s global rise and ambitions are shaping the daily lives of its people. More about Vivian Wang

How Russia Lured Indian Men to Fight in Ukraine

R avi Moun was excited to travel to Russia from his small village in the north Indian state of Haryana in early January. One of three siblings, the 21-year-old dropped out of school after 10th grade and was looking for work when he was contacted by a local agent with the promise of a lucrative job in transportation in Moscow, according to his brother Ajay. To cover the cost of travel to Russia, Moun’s brother sold the family’s one-acre land for 11.5 lakh rupees, or nearly $14,000.

Once he arrived, however, Ajay says Moun was inducted into the Russian military to fight in the war in Ukraine instead, which has been ongoing since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion in 2022. Moun last spoke to his family on March 12, telling them he had been digging trenches to bury the casualties in Ukraine, which has steadily lost territory to Russia’s larger army. Four months later, after his family contacted the Indian Embassy to inquire about his whereabouts on July 21, they learned he had been killed on the frontlines.

Moun’s death came days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of Indian mercenaries with Putin during a visit to Moscow on July 8. Following Modi’s visit, a spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that at least 50 Indian nationals had contacted the ministry with requests to end their employment in the Russian army. "The Russian side have responded positively to our request. Both sides are working for an early discharge of Indian nationals and hopefully they will come back soon," Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing.

Read More: Why Modi and Putin Are Friends

The news that Indian men were fighting in Russia was first reported in early March when the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it had uncovered a "major human trafficking network” extending from the Indian capital of New Delhi to the southern state of Tamil Nadu. According to the CBI, Russia used social media platforms and local agents to lure people to the country by offering them jobs, admissions to "dubious private universities,” and “free discounted” visa extensions. Once the men arrived, their passports were taken away and they were “trained in combat roles and deployed at front bases in Russia-Ukraine War Zone against their wishes," the CBI said.

Those entrapped included a Kashmiri man named Azad Yousuf Kumar, a 31-year-old engineering graduate from Pulwama, who left last December after a YouTuber offered him a job in Dubai. "They are constructing bunkers in the forests right now. They have moved further from the Black Sea," his brother Sajad told the Press Trust of India in March, saying that Kumar could call his family only for a few minutes in the evenings. "He has a two-and-a-half-month-old son whom he has not even met so far,” he continued, pleading with the Indian government to intervene.

On social media, one video showed another seven Indian men in Russian uniforms crying for help, claiming that they were forced to fight for the Russian army after being threatened with a 10-year jail sentence for illegally entering the country if they refused to do so.

Later that month, the MEA confirmed the deaths of two Indian nationals killed on the frontlines, followed by another two deaths in June. India’s Foreign Minister, S Jaishankar, raised the issue during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Astana in July. In Moscow's first comments on the matter following Modi’s visit, the Russian Embassy in India said Russia was committed to finding the "earliest possible solution.” (Neither Indian nor Russian officials responded to TIME’s request for comment.)

India is not the only country whose nationals have joined the Russian army to fight Ukraine. Several Sri Lankan and Nepali citizens were also drawn in by what experts from the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF) describe as a set of “push-pull” factors that are fueling "this foreign fighters phenomenon.” That includes “the demand for foreign labor in Russia, economic incentives, and the militarization of South Asian societies,” according to the ORF. “The prospect of higher wages and an easy pathway to citizenship lures people to immigrate to countries like Russia, where there is a huge demand for labor and a demographic crisis,” ORF expert Rajoli Siddharth Jayaprakash tells TIME.

Outward migration from South Asia has especially increased in recent years, following the 2022 economic crisis in Sri Lanka, a recession in Nepal, and soaring unemployment in India, where the unemployment rate shot up to 9.2% in June 2024, a sharp increase from 7% in May 2024, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. In Russia, this migration fills the urgent demand for foreign labor after the country saw a shortage of 4.8 million workers in 2023.

Read More: Why Indian Voters See Job Creation as the Election’s Biggest Issue

Nevertheless, Jayaprakash says that Modi’s visit to Russia has been seen as a success in India. After the issue was raised with Russian authorities on various levels, the number of Indians serving in the Russian army has declined from over 100 to 63—and 12 Indians have been discharged so far. 

But the affair is far from over: “Considering that the Indians signed a legally binding contract with the Russian army, which may even entail a clause for attaining Russian citizenship, the matter is quite complicated,” Jayaprakash says.

Despite attempts to secure the release of Indian nationals from the frontlines, India has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and abstained from all related resolutions at the United Nations. Instead, Modi has opted for a softer approach to the conflict, telling Putin that “today’s era is not an era of war” during the sidelines of a regional summit in Uzbekistan in 2022. The response is in line with the close relationship that New Delhi and Moscow have enjoyed for decades, with India recently stepping up its purchase of cheap Russian oil despite protests from the West.

But in Moun’s village in Haryana, his family is still grieving. His cousin, Sonu Mator, told Reuters that the family had to ask the Indian government to assist with repatriating Moun’s body back to India following his death, as they didn’t have the money to do so. "If he knew he would have to fight, he would not have gone...why would he go where death could be waiting?" Mator said.

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Write to Astha Rajvanshi at [email protected]