What the China visa rules mean for United Arab Emirates travellers
United Arab Emirates citizens can enter China without a visa and stay for up to 30 days. You only need a valid United Arab Emirates passport at the border; immigration officers may still ask for a return or onward ticket, proof of accommodation and enough money for your stay. The 30-day limit usually counts calendar days from your arrival, so book your return flight inside that window.
Documents to prepare
Whatever your visa status, China applies the same entry conditions to every traveller:
- Passport validity: The Chinese Embassy in the US says visa applicants' passports must have more than 6 months of remaining validity and at least 2 blank visa pages. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says visa-free entrants need an ordin…
- Blank passport pages: Your passport needs at least 2 blank pages.
- Vaccinations: Yellow fever: WHO's country list says China requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission, and from travellers who transited for more t…
- Travel insurance: No official source we could read states a travel-insurance requirement for China. The UK Foreign Office says healthcare is not free in China and can be very expensive, and to make sure you have appropriate travel and me…
China entry rules compared
China lets 78 passports in without a visa and requires an embassy visa from 120. United Arab Emirates citizens are treated the same way as Bahrain, Brunei, Japan, Kazakhstan and Kuwait. Overall the United Arab Emirates passport ranks #2 in the world with 128 visa-free destinations.
More travel options
Planning a longer trip in Asia? With a United Arab Emirates passport you can also visit 23 countries in the region without a visa, including Bahrain, Brunei, Hong Kong, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan and Kuwait.
In the other direction, China citizens need visa on arrival to visit United Arab Emirates.