How to fill the official NIA form before you fly — and fix the errors that trip travelers up.
Every foreign traveler entering Mainland China must complete a China Arrival Card. Since November 2025, the National Immigration Administration (NIA) accepts the form online at s.nia.gov.cn, replacing the paper card filled on the plane. Submit within 24 hours of arrival, save the QR confirmation, and present it at immigration. The form is free, takes about 3 minutes, and works on any browser. There is no app — beware third-party sites charging fees.
Go to s.nia.gov.cn/ArrivalCardFillingPC/entry-registation-home in any browser. Switch to English in the top-right language toggle if it loads in Chinese. Bookmark it — there is no app.
Select your traveler type (foreigner/HK-Macau/Taiwan resident). Enter passport number exactly as shown in the machine-readable zone (letters and digits only, no spaces or hyphens). Add nationality, date of birth, and passport expiry.
Flight number (e.g., CA988), arrival date, and port of entry (Beijing PEK, Shanghai PVG/SHA, Guangzhou CAN, etc.). The arrival date must be within 24 hours of your submission.
First night's hotel name and full address (Chinese characters preferred but not required). Purpose of visit (tourism, business, transit, study, etc.). Intended length of stay in days.
If you're using 24-hour or 240-hour visa-free transit, enter your onward flight number and departure date. Your stay must end before the transit window expires.
Review every field. Submit. Save the QR code or screenshot the confirmation page. Show the QR at the immigration counter on arrival, or simply tell the officer you submitted online — they can look up your record by passport number.
Have these in front of you. The form will time out after about 15 minutes of inactivity, so it's faster to gather everything first.
Passport (number from MRZ, expiry date, nationality)
Flight number and arrival date
Port of entry (PEK / PVG / CAN / etc.)
First-night hotel name + full Chinese address
Purpose of visit (tourism, business, transit, study)
Intended length of stay in days
For transit: onward flight number + departure date
An email (for the confirmation copy, optional)
Type the passport number exactly as printed in the machine-readable zone (bottom of bio page). No spaces, no hyphens — letters and digits only.
The site is hosted in China and can be slow from overseas. Wait 15–20 seconds before retrying. Try a desktop browser, or switch networks (mobile hotspot can be faster than hotel Wi-Fi).
The form only accepts arrival dates within the next 24 hours. If your flight is further out, wait — don't try to backdate.
Tell the officer you filed online via NIA. They can look up the record by your passport number. A screenshot of the confirmation also works.
Most fields accept English, but if the address field complains, paste the hotel's Chinese address (your booking confirmation usually shows both).
If you're entering under China's 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy or the 30-day visa-free policy for eligible nationalities, you still need to file the Arrival Card — the form has a dedicated section for transit details. Have your onward flight number ready, and make sure your departure date falls inside the transit window.
Every foreign national entering Mainland China by air, land, or sea needs an Arrival/Departure Card (per the National Immigration Administration). This includes visa-free transit travelers (24h, 240h), tourists with L visas, business travelers, students, and anyone holding a valid Chinese visa or residence permit. The new online system at s.nia.gov.cn lets you pre-fill it before your flight — paper cards on the plane are still accepted as a fallback.
The official guidance is to submit it within 24 hours before your scheduled arrival in China. Filling earlier is allowed but not recommended, because flight delays or rebookings can invalidate your submission. The submitted record is tied to your flight number and arrival date. If you fill it on arrival, do it at the airport kiosks or on paper before reaching the immigration counter.
No. The Arrival Card is an immigration declaration form — it does not grant entry permission and does not replace a visa or visa-free transit eligibility. You still need either (a) a valid Chinese visa, (b) a residence permit, or (c) qualification under a visa-free policy (e.g., 240-hour transit, 30-day visa-free for eligible nationalities). The Arrival Card simply records who you are, where you came from, where you're staying, and how long you intend to stay.
Have ready: passport (number, expiry, nationality), flight number and arrival date, full address of your first night's accommodation in China (hotel name + Chinese address is best), purpose of visit, and intended length of stay. If you're transiting visa-free, you'll also need your onward flight number and departure date. Total time to complete: about 3 minutes if your details are at hand.
The most common cause is leading or trailing spaces, or entering hyphens that aren't on the passport's machine-readable zone. Type the passport number exactly as shown in the MRZ at the bottom of your passport bio page — letters and digits only, no spaces. If the error persists, try a different browser (the form is sensitive on older Safari versions) or fill it on the kiosks after arrival.
Don't worry — the immigration officer can look up your record by passport number. Tell them you submitted the Arrival Card online ("online declaration, NIA"). They have the same database. If you have a screenshot of the confirmation page, that helps. As a backup, paper Arrival Cards are still distributed on most flights to China; you can always fill one of those.
Yes. Each entry is a separate immigration event and requires its own Arrival Card submission. If you leave Mainland China to Hong Kong, Macau, or any other country and re-enter, you fill a new card. The same applies to multi-entry visa holders.
If you stay in the international transit area and do not pass through immigration, you do not need an Arrival Card. The moment you clear immigration — including under 24-hour, 240-hour, or any visa-free transit policy — you must have one.
It is the official National Immigration Administration (NIA) portal — the same agency that staffs immigration counters. The domain s.nia.gov.cn is a subdomain of nia.gov.cn (the NIA's main site). The interface is utilitarian by Chinese-government convention, but the system is legitimate. Do not use third-party sites that claim to file the form for you for a fee — there's no fee and no third party is authorized.
Yes. The form works on mobile browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox). On weak overseas connections to China-hosted sites, you may see slow load times — give it 10–20 seconds before retrying. A desktop browser tends to be more forgiving if you have the choice.
Source: National Immigration Administration of China (NIA), s.nia.gov.cn. Procedures last verified May 2026. Immigration policies change — confirm current rules on the official NIA site before travel. iGo2China is an independent travel companion service and is not affiliated with the NIA.
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