Is the China arrival card free?

Yes. The National Immigration Administration states explicitly that filing the arrival card carries no fee, and it has published a public warning about fraudulent websites that pose as the filing service and charge for it. There is no paid version, no expedited tier, and no service that can file it 'for' you officially. If a site asks for payment, it is not the official channel.

Do I have to file the China arrival card before I fly?

No — filing in advance is optional, not mandatory. The 20 November 2025 policy added online pre-filing as a convenience. Travellers who cannot or do not file online can still scan the official QR code at the port, use a self-service terminal in the immigration hall, or fill in a paper arrival card exactly as before. Pre-filing saves time at the border; skipping it does not put your entry at risk.

What happens if I don't file the arrival card in advance?

You complete it on arrival. The official notices keep all three fallbacks in place: scan the arrival-card QR code at the port of entry, use the self-service devices in the immigration hall, or fill in a paper card. This matters because the fear of 'not having filed' is exactly what the fraudulent fee-charging sites trade on. Nobody is refused entry for not having pre-filed.

Who is exempt from the China arrival card?

Seven categories do not file: holders of a Chinese permanent residence card; non-Chinese nationals holding a Hong Kong/Macao residents' permit for travel to the mainland; travellers entering on a group visa or under group visa-free arrangements; passengers transiting within 24 hours who do not leave the port's restricted area; cruise passengers who enter and leave on the same ship; fast-track entrants; and foreign crew of international transport. Everyone else — including ordinary tourists on a visa, on 30-day visa-free entry, or on the 240-hour transit scheme — files one.

Does the 240-hour visa-free transit exempt me from the arrival card?

No, and this is the exemption most often misread. The exempt category is a 24-hour direct transit where you never leave the port's restricted area — you stay airside and re-board. The 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit scheme is the opposite situation: you clear immigration and enter China. If you clear immigration, you file an arrival card.

Which website is the official one for the China arrival card?

The National Immigration Administration's own channels: its government website and government-services platform (nia.gov.cn / s.nia.gov.cn), the '移民局12367' mobile app, and the '移民局12367' WeChat and Alipay mini-programs. There is also an official arrival-card QR code you can scan. Because copycat sites exist and can appear in search results and ads, reach the form through the NIA's own domain or the official QR code rather than through a search engine.

Do I need WeChat or Alipay to file the China arrival card?

Not necessarily — the NIA lists its government website and services platform alongside the WeChat and Alipay mini-programs, so a browser is one of the official routes. The mini-program routes do require a WeChat or Alipay account. The official notices do not state what interface languages the channels offer or whether a mainland Chinese mobile number is needed for any step, and we have not verified that ourselves, so we are not going to claim either way. The port fallbacks exist precisely for travellers the online flow does not fit.

Is the arrival card the same as a visa?

No. The arrival card is an immigration declaration — who you are, where you are staying, why you are visiting. It does not grant permission to enter and it does not replace a visa or a visa-free entitlement. You still need whatever entry permission your nationality requires, whether that is a visa, unilateral visa-free entry, or a transit scheme. The arrival card is filed on top of it.

China Arrival Card 2026: How to File It Online (Free)

Written by the China for Travelers editorial team — compiled from official sources, not from first-hand experience of filing the form. Where the official notices are silent, this page says so rather than guessing.

What the arrival card actually is

The arrival card (外国人入境卡) is the immigration declaration every arriving foreigner hands to the border inspection officer — your identity details, your flight, where you are staying, why you are visiting. It has existed for decades as a small paper form you filled in on the plane or at a counter in the arrivals hall.

What changed on 20 November 2025 is that you can now complete it online, in advance. The paper card did not disappear — the online filing was added alongside it. That distinction is the single most misunderstood part of this policy, and it is what the rest of this page is mostly about.

The arrival card is not a visa and does not replace one. It sits on top of whatever entry permission your passport already gives you — a visa, unilateral visa-free entry, or a transit scheme. If you are not sure which applies to you, the visa requirements checker covers 103 nationalities.

Do you need to file one at all? Seven exemptions

The official notices list seven categories that do not file an arrival card. Everyone else does — including ordinary tourists on a visa, travellers entering under 30-day unilateral visa-free arrangements, and travellers using the 240-hour transit scheme.

1Chinese permanent residence card holders外国人永久居留身份证

2Non-Chinese nationals holding a Hong Kong/Macao residents' permit for travel to the mainland港澳居民来往内地通行证(非中国籍)

3Entry on a group visa or under group visa-free arrangements团体签证或团体免签入境

4Direct transit within 24 hours without leaving the port's restricted area24小时直接过境不离开口岸限定区域

5Cruise passengers entering and leaving on the same ship乘邮轮入出境并随原邮轮返回

6Fast-track entrants快捷通道入境

7Foreign crew of international transport出入境交通运输工具的外国籍员工

The exemption people misread

Exemption 4 is a 24-hour direct transit in which you never leave the port's restricted area — you stay airside, you do not clear immigration, you re-board. It is not the same thing as the 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit scheme, which exists precisely so that you can clear immigration and go into the city.

The rule of thumb is simple: if you pass through immigration control, you file an arrival card. Staying airside between two flights is the only transit case that is exempt. Our 240-hour visa-free transit guide covers who qualifies for that scheme and at which ports.

The four official channels

The National Immigration Administration lists these routes for filing in advance. They feed the same record — pick whichever you can actually use:

The NIA government website and its government-services platform — a normal web browser, no app install
The “移民局12367” mobile app — iOS and Android
The “移民局12367” WeChat mini-program — inside WeChat, no separate install
The “移民局12367” Alipay mini-program — inside Alipay, same form
Scanning the official arrival-card QR code — published by the NIA and displayed at ports

An honest note on friction. The two mini-program routes need a WeChat or Alipay account, which many visitors set up before travelling anyway. The website route does not. Beyond that, the official notices do not state which interface languages the channels offer, or whether any step requires a mainland Chinese mobile number — and rather than assert something we have not verified, we will say plainly that we do not know. If the online flow does not work for you, the fallbacks in the next section are official, not a workaround.

⚠️ The official scam warning

The National Immigration Administration has published a formal warning about fake arrival-card filing websites that charge money.

The NIA states that this service carries no fee whatsoever, and asks travellers to file only through its official channels or by scanning the official QR code.

This is worth spelling out because the scam is well designed. It targets a real, recent policy change that most travellers have only half-heard about; it exploits the assumption that a new mandatory- sounding form must have a fee; and it is easy to surface in search results and ads, where a polished copycat page outranks a government notice written in Chinese.

Two defences, both simple:

Reach the form through the NIA's own domain or the official QR code, not through a search engine result or an ad.
Treat any request for payment as proof you are on the wrong site. There is no paid tier, no expedited option, and no legitimate third party that files it for you.

The same reflex applies to anything that pressures you about not having filed yet. Which brings us to the part the scam depends on you not knowing.

If you can't file online, you are not stuck

The official notices keep three fallbacks in place for travellers who do not or cannot file in advance:

Scan the arrival-card QR code at the port and fill it in on your phone.
Use the self-service devices in the immigration hall.
Fill in a paper arrival card, exactly as travellers did before November 2025.

So pre-filing is a convenience, not a condition of entry. It saves you a few minutes in the hall and spares you writing your passport number on a small form with a pen that does not work. Nobody is refused entry for not having pre-filed — and understanding that removes most of the leverage the fee-charging copycat sites have.

The practical advice is still to file in advance if you comfortably can: arrivals halls at Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can queue heavily when several long-haul flights land together, and having the declaration already lodged is one less thing to do while jet-lagged.

What else happens at the border

The arrival card is one of two routine steps at immigration. Biometrics are the other: travellers aged 14 to 70 have ten fingerprints and a facial image captured at the port of entry. This is long-standing practice and applies regardless of whether you pre-filed the arrival card or how you entered.

Neither step is something you can prepare for beyond having your passport and your accommodation details to hand. The arrival card asks where you are staying, so have the hotel name and address available — on your phone is fine.

After you land: the 24-hour registration rule

One more obligation catches people out, and it is a different rule at a different moment. Every foreigner staying overnight in mainland China must be registered with the local police within 24 hours of arriving at the address. Hotels do this for you automatically at check-in. If you are staying in a short-term rental, a friend's apartment or a private guesthouse, you or your host have to file it — and note that Airbnb has no bookable listings in mainland China, so a rental here means a Chinese platform with no front desk to do it for you.

That is a separate process from the arrival card, with separate channels — covered in full in our foreigner lodging registration guide.

The hotline if you get stuck: 12367

The National Immigration Administration runs a service hotline on 12367 — the number its apps are named after. It is the authoritative place to resolve a question about the arrival card or any other entry formality, rather than relying on a travel-blog post being current. English-capable operators are available during Beijing / Shanghai / Guangzhou shift hours; outside those, the line is Chinese-only.

FAQ

Is the China arrival card free?: Yes. The National Immigration Administration states explicitly that filing the arrival card carries no fee, and it has published a public warning about fraudulent websites that pose as the filing service and charge for it. There is no paid version, no expedited tier, and no service that can file it 'for' you officially. If a site asks for payment, it is not the official channel.
Do I have to file the China arrival card before I fly?: No — filing in advance is optional, not mandatory. The 20 November 2025 policy added online pre-filing as a convenience. Travellers who cannot or do not file online can still scan the official QR code at the port, use a self-service terminal in the immigration hall, or fill in a paper arrival card exactly as before. Pre-filing saves time at the border; skipping it does not put your entry at risk.
What happens if I don't file the arrival card in advance?: You complete it on arrival. The official notices keep all three fallbacks in place: scan the arrival-card QR code at the port of entry, use the self-service devices in the immigration hall, or fill in a paper card. This matters because the fear of 'not having filed' is exactly what the fraudulent fee-charging sites trade on. Nobody is refused entry for not having pre-filed.
Who is exempt from the China arrival card?: Seven categories do not file: holders of a Chinese permanent residence card; non-Chinese nationals holding a Hong Kong/Macao residents' permit for travel to the mainland; travellers entering on a group visa or under group visa-free arrangements; passengers transiting within 24 hours who do not leave the port's restricted area; cruise passengers who enter and leave on the same ship; fast-track entrants; and foreign crew of international transport. Everyone else — including ordinary tourists on a visa, on 30-day visa-free entry, or on the 240-hour transit scheme — files one.
Does the 240-hour visa-free transit exempt me from the arrival card?: No, and this is the exemption most often misread. The exempt category is a 24-hour direct transit where you never leave the port's restricted area — you stay airside and re-board. The 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit scheme is the opposite situation: you clear immigration and enter China. If you clear immigration, you file an arrival card.
Which website is the official one for the China arrival card?: The National Immigration Administration's own channels: its government website and government-services platform (nia.gov.cn / s.nia.gov.cn), the '移民局12367' mobile app, and the '移民局12367' WeChat and Alipay mini-programs. There is also an official arrival-card QR code you can scan. Because copycat sites exist and can appear in search results and ads, reach the form through the NIA's own domain or the official QR code rather than through a search engine.
Do I need WeChat or Alipay to file the China arrival card?: Not necessarily — the NIA lists its government website and services platform alongside the WeChat and Alipay mini-programs, so a browser is one of the official routes. The mini-program routes do require a WeChat or Alipay account. The official notices do not state what interface languages the channels offer or whether a mainland Chinese mobile number is needed for any step, and we have not verified that ourselves, so we are not going to claim either way. The port fallbacks exist precisely for travellers the online flow does not fit.
Is the arrival card the same as a visa?: No. The arrival card is an immigration declaration — who you are, where you are staying, why you are visiting. It does not grant permission to enter and it does not replace a visa or a visa-free entitlement. You still need whatever entry permission your nationality requires, whether that is a visa, unilateral visa-free entry, or a transit scheme. The arrival card is filed on top of it.

Visa requirements checker — whether your nationality needs a visa, enters visa-free, or can use 240-hour transit
240-hour visa-free transit — the scheme that lets you leave the airport without a visa, and why it does not exempt you from the arrival card
Foreigner lodging registration — the 24-hour police registration rule that applies after you reach your accommodation
China pre-trip checklist — everything to settle before you fly, in order

Sources: National Immigration Administration notice on online filing of the foreigner arrival card, effective 20 November 2025, as published by Chinese embassies (United States, Australia, Czech Republic, Antigua and Barbuda) and the China Visa Application Service Centre; National Immigration Administration public warning on fraudulent arrival-card filing websites (s.nia.gov.cn). Biometric collection at ports of entry per Chinese embassy entry guidance. Verified 2026-07-26 against official sources; no first-hand filing experience is claimed. Entry formalities change — confirm against the NIA or your nearest Chinese embassy before you travel.