Hainan Island: Entry Requirements (Visa Free & Visa on Arrival)

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Last update June 2019:

 I've put this information here to assist you with clarity on entry requirements into Hainan. Before I went to Hainan, I had some concern on whether there was visa on arrival as on many forums in the internet had varying information and this information was not clear in the Chinese visa center or Chinese embassy/consulate in Australia. Now that I've visited Hainan directly from Australia, I hope this experience I had, helps you all.
Main Beach in Dadonghai, Sanya

 Hainan is an island province of China that lies in the South China Sea, has been declared a free trade zone by 2020 and now expanded visa free entry program to now 59 countries.

 Unlike, the entry into the Chinese mainland. Hainan enjoys easy entry requirements for foreign passport holders.

 There are two methods into Hainan Province (only via Haikou Meilan International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport), which include:
  1. Free visa entry for passport holders of 59 countries listed below. To qualify for the visa free program up to 30 days, you must have registered with a group tour with a Hainan based tour company (may be done via a tour group in your country that registers you with the Hainan based tour group). A Hainan based tour group will pick you up from the airport.
  2. Visa on arrival for all (is the other method of entry). This option is ideal for solo travellers who prefer not to join tours for the whole visa period up to 30 days. However, there is a fee for the visa on arrival and it is substantially cheaper than getting a Chinese visa in the Chinese embassy of your country. Depending on your passport nationality, the fee cost may vary. For Australian passport holders, the fee is 170 yuan (or approx. $35 AUD or $26.50 USD). Note: I'm not sure about the cost for other passport holders, you may have to check but it is definitely cheaper than getting it in your country. The visa is valid up to 30 days but you have to have proof of accommodation is booked for the duration of your stay up to 30 days in any location and proof of leaving China within 30 days (even if you are leaving from a city on the mainland other than from Haikou or Sanya). Also note that, the visa on arrival in Hainan allows you to go visit cities in the mainland.
For those obtaining the visa on arrival option, you must fill in a visitor entry form available at the airports of Haikou or Sanya. The forms are located on tables just before the counters of the immigration officers. You must also bring with you a passport size photo from your own country (2-inch without wearing hats or glasses or sunglasses), I'm not 100% if you can get the photo done at the arrival airport. Have print outs of your accommodation stay clearing showing the address in Chinese (if possible) and flight duration (with entry and exit ports) as the internet in China is censored and certain websites in your own country may not work on the Wi-Fi network there. Also have Chinese currency with you to pay for the visa.

Note: if you have a flight booking for 7 days stay in Hainan or mainland China with 7 days of accommodation booking, the visa officers at Haikou and Sanya will only give you a roughly 9 day visa, not 30 day. If you have a longer booking duration, the officers will give you a visa for that period up to 30 days.

What happens if you are entering any city in mainland China first, and Hainan is the last part of your trip? Best advice there is to get the Chinese visa in your own country at the Chinese embassy. In Australia, a non-express visa costs about $106 AUD. Please refer to the visa application form in your country's embassy website.

To get the cheaper visa, the best option is to visit Hainan first to get the cheaper visa on arrival and then enter into the mainland via Hainan.

 The 59 countries that qualify for visa free entry into Hainan via group tours are as follows:

Europe and the Middle East
  1. Albania
  2. Austria
  3. Belarus
  4. Belgium
  5. Bosnia-Herzegovina
  6. Britain (or UK)
  7. Bulgaria
  8. Croatia
  9. Cyprus
  10. Czech Republic
  11. Denmark
  12. Estonia
  13. Finland
  14. France
  15. Germany
  16. Greece
  17. Hungary
  18. Iceland
  19. Ireland
  20. Italy
  21. Latvia
  22. Lithuania
  23. Luxemburg
  24. Malta
  25. Macedonia
  26. Monaco
  27. Montenegro
  28. Norway
  29. Poland
  30. Portugal
  31. Qatar
  32. Romania
  33. Russia
  34. Serbia
  35. Slovakia
  36. Slovenia
  37. Spain
  38. Sweden
  39. Switzerland
  40. The Netherlands
  41. United Arab Emirates
  42. Ukraine

The Americas
  1. Argentina
  2. Brazil
  3. Canada
  4. Chile
  5. Mexico
  6. The United States

 Asia and Oceania
  1. Australia
  2. Brunei
  3. Indonesia
  4. Japan
  5. Kazakhstan
  6. Malaysia
  7. New Zealand
  8. Phillipines
  9. South Korea
  10. Singapore
  11. Thailand
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