Entering China in 2026 involves less paperwork than at any point in the past decade, but one form still stands between most foreign visitors and the arrivals hall. Since November 20, 2025, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) has let travelers file the Chinese arrival card online, free of charge, before they fly. Health declarations are gone. Fingerprints are still collected from most adults. The customs thresholds have not budged. Here is what actually happens between the jet bridge and the taxi stand.
The Online Arrival Card: One Form, Filed Before You Fly
The NIA announced online arrival card filing on November 3, 2025, as one of ten new immigration and exit-entry measures, and the system went live on November 20, 2025. Travelers can now submit entry information through any of the following:
- The NIA government website and its Government Service Platform, at https://s.nia.gov.cn/ArrivalCardFillingPC/
- The "NIA 12367" mobile app
- The WeChat or Alipay mini program
- A QR code scanned from the arrival card filing notice
Completing the card is free. The NIA has publicly warned that overseas operators have set up lookalike websites charging travelers for a form that costs nothing, so file only through the official channels above.
One clarification matters: the arrival card is not a visa and does not replace one. It is a declaration. You still need a valid visa or an eligible visa-free route to be admitted.
Who Must File, and the Seven Exemptions
Almost every foreign national arriving for tourism, business, transit, family visits or exchanges must file an arrival card, including travelers entering visa-free. Seven categories are exempt:
- Holders of a People's Republic of China Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card
- Holders of a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (non-Chinese nationals)
- Travelers entering on a group visa or under a group visa-free arrangement
- Passengers in 24-hour direct transit who do not leave the restricted port area
- Cruise passengers who arrive and depart on the same ship
- Travelers admitted through the automated e-channel
- Foreign crew members of inbound and outbound transport vehicles
Anyone who cannot file online can still do it at the port, either by scanning the on-site QR code, using the smart terminals in the inspection hall, or filling out the paper arrival card.
At Immigration: Fingerprints and Face Photos
Chinese border inspection has collected fingerprints from foreign nationals aged 14 to 70 inclusive since a Ministry of Public Security announcement in January 2017. Collection follows a fixed sequence: four fingers of the left hand, four fingers of the right hand, then both thumbs. A facial photograph is taken at the counter.
Exemptions from fingerprint collection include holders of diplomatic passports or Chinese diplomatic and courtesy visas (except nationals of countries with reciprocal arrangements), applicants covered by bilateral or reciprocal waiver arrangements, travelers whose ten fingerprints cannot be collected, and cases approved by the Ministry of Public Security. The e-channel remains limited: foreign passport holders qualify only with a permanent resident ID card, or with a foreign e-passport plus a Chinese residence permit valid for more than six months.
There is a separate easing before departure. From December 17, 2025 through December 31, 2026, Chinese embassies and consulates waive visa-application fingerprint collection for short-term applicants staying up to 180 days. Applicants for D, J1, Q1, S1, X1 and Z visas still submit fingerprints, since those routes lead to a residence permit after arrival.
The Customs Step: Red Channel or Green Channel
After baggage claim comes customs. If you are carrying nothing beyond your allowance, use the green channel and keep walking. If you exceed a duty-free limit, or you are carrying cash above the declaration threshold, choose the red channel and declare. Declarations can be made on paper at the desk, or electronically through the customs web portal or its WeChat mini program.
| Item | Allowance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Non-resident traveler, personal items staying in China | RMB 2,000 | Applies to visitors without a long-term residence permit |
| Resident traveler, goods bought abroad | RMB 5,000 | Plus up to RMB 3,000 at a port duty-free shop |
| Cigarettes, cigars or tobacco | 400 cigarettes, 20 cigars, or 500 g | From Hong Kong or Macao: 200 cigarettes, 10 cigars, or 250 g |
| Alcohol above 12 percent ABV | 1.5 liters | From Hong Kong or Macao: 0.75 liters |
| Cash | RMB 20,000, or foreign currency above USD 5,000 equivalent | Must be declared in the red channel |
Duty-free allowances cover personal use only and cannot be resold. Anything above "reasonable personal use" is assessed as imported goods, taxed in full on indivisible single items, and treated far more severely if concealed. Failing to declare is where the real cost sits, not in the duty itself.
What You Cannot Bring Into China
Alongside weapons, replica weapons and narcotics, Chinese customs prohibits fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and meat products, and unprocessed bird's nest, all of which fall under quarantine rules. Travelers arriving with commercial quantities of identical goods, such as dozens of unopened garments in multiple sizes, will not pass the "reasonable personal use" test regardless of what the receipt says.
Health Declaration: Not Required Since November 1, 2023
China's General Administration of Customs ended mandatory health declarations under Announcement No. 151 of 2023, effective 00:00 on November 1, 2023. Travelers no longer file an exit-entry health declaration form or present a health code. The one exception is voluntary: travelers with symptoms such as fever, cough, breathing difficulty, vomiting, diarrhea or an unexplained rash, or those already diagnosed with an infectious disease, must declare to customs and cooperate with health screening.
How Long Does Arrival Actually Take?
Plan for 30 to 60 minutes from the aircraft door to the arrivals hall: arrival card check, immigration, baggage claim, then customs. Beijing's municipal tourism authorities say the capital has essentially reached a 30-minute clearance standard, and that 71.7 percent of foreign arrivals at Beijing ports in September 2026 entered using visa-free status or a temporary entry permit. The city logged a daily average of 15,500 foreign arrivals in early September, up 25 percent on the August daily average.
Nationally, the volume explains the pressure. Chinese border inspection authorities processed 499 million inbound and outbound crossings in January through August 2026, up 8.7 percent year on year. Foreign nationals accounted for 61.29 million of those crossings, up 19.5 percent, and among foreign nationals entering China, 23.72 million arrived visa-free, or 77.6 percent of entries, up 26.8 percent.
Before You Land: A Five-Minute Checklist
- File the arrival card online and keep a screenshot of the generated QR code
- Check that the passport number on the card matches your passport exactly
- Have the address of your first hotel ready in Chinese characters
- Carry the invitation letter, flight and hotel confirmations matching your stated purpose of visit
- Keep the cash you are carrying under RMB 20,000 or USD 5,000 equivalent, or declare it
- Move restricted food items out of your bags before you check them
The Entry Rules Behind the Arrival Card
Filing a card assumes you already qualify to enter. China currently grants unilateral visa-free entry to ordinary passport holders from 50 countries for stays of up to 30 days; for 48 of them the policy runs through December 31, 2026, with Russia extended to December 31, 2027 and Brunei carrying no stated expiry. The 240-hour visa-free transit scheme covers 57 nationalities arriving through 65 open ports across 24 provincial-level regions, and Hainan's separate 30-day visa-free program covers 61 countries.
Employment, formal study and news reporting sit outside all of these. Travelers arriving for those purposes need the matching visa category. For business meetings, conferences, sports events and short study-tour programs such as summer or winter camps, visa-free entry can apply, provided the visit stays within the permitted window.
FAQ: The China Arrival Card and Customs
Do I need an arrival card if I am entering China visa-free? Yes. Visa-free travelers are among those required to file, unless they fall into one of the seven exemption categories, such as group visa-free entry or 24-hour direct transit.
Is the online arrival card free? Yes, always. The NIA does not charge for it and has warned travelers about fraudulent websites that do.
Do I still need a health declaration to enter China? No. Mandatory health declarations ended on November 1, 2023. Only travelers with infectious disease symptoms must declare voluntarily.
Do children need fingerprints at Chinese immigration? No. Fingerprint collection applies to foreign nationals aged 14 to 70 inclusive. Children under 14 and adults over 70 are exempt.
How much cash can I bring into China without declaring it? Up to RMB 20,000, or foreign currency worth up to USD 5,000. Anything above that must be declared in the red channel.
Planning the Trip Around the Paperwork
Arrival day is the easy part once the formalities are understood, and the same rules apply whether you land in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guilin or Chengdu. LinkedTours works across inbound leisure travel, business travel and international study tours, and briefs group travelers on the arrival card and customs limits before departure. For the entry rules themselves, our China visa and entry guides walk through the visa-free categories country by country, and our China leisure tours cover first-time itineraries.
