Can I visit Hainan without a visa in 2026?
Yes, if your country is on Hainan's list of 61. You need an ordinary passport. You can stay up to 30 days, only in Hainan Province, and you enter and leave through Hainan's open ports. The National Immigration Administration (NIA) policy page of 20 August 2026 sets these rules.
If your country is on a nationwide visa-free list, you can use that instead. The 88 you may have seen is a combined count, not a third policy. This page is for individual travellers; group rules are near the end. For the beach side of the trip, see our Sanya travel guide.
Hainan visa-free: 61 vs 88 vs 59 countries, explained
Sites quote different numbers because each number counts something different.
| Number | What it counts |
|---|---|
| 61 | The Hainan-only list: 30 days, Hainan Province only. This is the current policy. |
| 59 | The size of that list before 20 August 2026. The NIA announced that day that Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam were added (see the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office reminder of 21 August), which took it to 61. A page still saying 59 is out of date. |
| 79 | The nationwide policies: 29 countries with mutual visa exemption plus 50 with unilateral exemption. |
| 88 | The Hainan government's count of countries that can enter Hainan visa-free when its own list and the nationwide policies overlap. |
| 57 | The 240-hour transit list, which also gained Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam on 20 August 2026. |
| 183 | All countries with diplomatic relations with China. The Hainan page uses it only for Hong Kong/Macao tour groups and cruise groups. |
The 88 comes from the Hainan provincial government's English page (updated 2026-08-20). The NIA's regional policy page does not use the number 88. By comparing the lists on the two pages, the sum works: nine countries are on Hainan's list but on neither nationwide list (the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan). 79 plus those 9 makes 88.
Which countries can enter Hainan visa-free for 30 days?
These 61 countries are on the Hainan-only list. The regional split follows the Shanghai reminder; the names match the NIA page.
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| Europe (40) | Russia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Monaco, Belarus |
| Americas (6) | United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile |
| Oceania (2) | Australia, New Zealand |
| Asia (13) | South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan |
Hainan 30-day visa-free rules: ports, area and what you can do
- Passport: ordinary passport.
- Purposes: tourism, business, visits, family visits, medical treatment, exhibitions and sports competitions. Work and study are excluded. The Hainan government's English page words the exclusion as "employment and long-term study"; the NIA's Chinese page says work and study. Plan on the NIA wording.
- Area: the administrative area of Hainan Province.
- Ports: entry and exit both go through Hainan's open ports. The Hainan government page names Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix and Qionghai Boao airports, "etc."
- Stay: up to 30 days, counted from 00:00 on the day after you enter.
A full port list appears in a Hainan Public Security Department notice dated 6 November 2024: Haikou Meilan, Sanya Phoenix and Qionghai Boao airports, and Yangpu, Haikou, Qinglan, Basuo and Sanya seaports (8 ports). That list is from 2024; the 2026 Hainan government page names only the three airports and adds "etc."
Which visa-free policy should I use for Hainan?
If you qualify for a nationwide policy, use it. The Hainan government page says travellers who can use the nationwide policies, the 240-hour transit and the 61-country policy should prioritize the nationwide one. It gives no reason. The visible difference is that the Hainan policy keeps you inside Hainan, while that page sets no area limit for the nationwide policies.
For the 50 unilateral countries the nationwide rule is up to 30 days for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, visits and exchanges, and transit, through any open port (NIA list, as of 17 February 2026). That policy has end dates; see our 30-day visa-free guide. For the 29 mutual-exemption countries, purposes and stay are set by each agreement. The Hainan pages give no end date for the 61-country policy.
US passport and the other 7 countries
Eight countries are on both Hainan's 61 list and the 240-hour list but on neither nationwide list: the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Lithuania, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Ukraine, Vietnam and the United States. The Hainan page says they can choose by purpose, area and length of stay. Our China visa for US citizens guide has the US side.
| Hainan 61-country policy | 240-hour transit | |
|---|---|---|
| Stay | Up to 30 days | Up to 240 hours |
| Area | Hainan Province only | Allowed areas in 24 provinces; the whole province in Hainan |
| Ports in Hainan | All Hainan open ports | Haikou Meilan and Sanya Phoenix airports |
| Onward ticket | The NIA text names none | Connecting ticket to a third country or region |
Do I need to register online before flying to Hainan?
The 2026 Hainan government and NIA pages describe no registration step before you travel. A 2024 notice from the Chinese consulate in San Francisco about the Hainan scheme says no advance declaration (无须预申报) is needed. The arrival card is a separate step; see our China arrival card guide.
Can I land in Shanghai or Beijing first, then fly to Hainan?
Not on the Hainan 61-country policy. The Hainan Public Security Department's 2024 notice says the Hainan policy applies only if you complete entry procedures at a Hainan open port. Its Chinese text says that entering through another Chinese port and then coming to Hainan means the policy cannot be used. Its English version says visitors who do not complete entry at one of the Hainan ports are not eligible.
On a nationwide policy, yes in principle. The Hainan government page says nationwide-policy holders can enter through any open port in China. It names no domestic area limit for them. The 240-hour transit lets you travel across provinces within the allowed areas of the 24 provinces; Hainan is one of them, and our 240-hour transit areas guide has the detail.
Can I leave Hainan for the mainland on the 61-country policy?
No, not as a visa-free visitor. The Hainan page says you may stay only within the administrative area of Hainan Province. For a legitimate reason to go to other parts of the Chinese mainland, you must apply for a visa at the exit-entry administration of the public security organs in Hainan. To stay longer for a legitimate reason, apply for a visa at the same offices before your visa-free period ends. The 2026 page gives no minimum lead time.
The policy names Hainan's open ports for both entry and exit, so plan to leave China from a Hainan port. The NIA and Hainan government pages do not discuss onward flights to Hong Kong or Macao.
Does the 240-hour transit work in Hainan?
Yes, for the 57 countries on that list, the United States included. In Hainan the ports are Haikou Meilan International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport. The stay area is the whole province, according to the Toronto consulate's September 2026 table. You need a connecting ticket with a confirmed date and itinerary to a third country or region, and a passport valid for at least 3 more months; our 240-hour transit areas guide has the full rules. Work, study and news reporting still need a visa.
Hong Kong and Macao tour groups and cruise groups
These routes are for groups only. They do not apply to you travelling on your own.
| Hong Kong/Macao tour groups | Cruise groups | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Citizens of countries with diplomatic relations with China, ordinary passport; groups of 2 or more organised by travel agencies registered in Hong Kong or Macao | Foreign tour groups of 2 or more, organised and received by a travel agency in China |
| How | From Hong Kong or Macao, in and out as a group through Hainan's open ports, for tourism | Enter as a group through cruise ports in 13 cities, including Haikou and Sanya; stay with the same cruise to the next port until leaving China |
| Stay | Up to 6 days (the Hainan page says 144 hours) | Up to 15 days |
| Area | Hainan Province | The 11 coastal provinces, regions and municipalities, plus Beijing; Hainan is one of them |
The Hainan page says people from all 183 countries with diplomatic relations can use these two group routes. Do not add that 183 to the 88.
Staying outside a hotel in Hainan
The Hainan government page says guests in accommodation other than hotels must register with the local public security organs within 24 hours of arriving. You can do it in person at the local police station or online through the "Haiyiban" app, and your host may register for you. Our accommodation registration guide covers the general rule.
