Hainan’s 30-day visa-free entry, in detail
Sixty-one nationalities, thirty days, and “medical treatment” written into the policy. What the rule says, how the days are counted, and who it does not cover.
The rule in one paragraph
Hainan Province runs its own visa-free entry policy, separate from the rest of China. Foreign nationals holding an ordinary passport from one of 61 listed countries may enter Hainan through any of its open ports and stay within the province for up to 30 days without a visa, for purposes the policy lists as tourism, business, visits, family visits, medical treatment, conferences and exhibitions, and sports competitions. It does not apply to anyone entering to work or to study. The policy began in February 2024 with 59 countries and the National Immigration Administration’s current interpretation, republished in August 2026, lists 61.
Source: National Immigration Administration of China, Regional Visa-Free Entry Policies for Foreign Nationals, 2026-08-20. Policies change; confirm against the current NIA text before you book, and tell your care manager your nationality so we can check it for you.
Why “medical treatment” matters
Most short-stay visa waivers are written for tourism and business, and a traveller arriving for a hospital program sits in a grey area. Hainan’s is unusual in naming medical treatment as an approved purpose outright. For a guest of the retreat this means the four-day assessment, any conditioning program the panel recommends, and the first infusions of a treatment course can all be taken on the strength of a passport and a return ticket. You should still travel with your hospital confirmation letter and your booking; border officers may ask the purpose of your visit, and the honest answer is the approved one.
The 61 countries
Two readings of that list are worth making explicitly. The Gulf coverage is partial: UAE and Qatari passports qualify; Saudi, Kuwaiti, Omani and Bahraini passports do not, and guests from those countries need a visa (China’s separate national arrangements may cover some of them — see below). And India, South Africa, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan are not on the list either, despite regular interest from all five; a standard Chinese visa, applied for before travel, is the route.
How the thirty days are counted
If treatment needs longer
A standard cell-therapy course spans about five weeks — three infusions, one every two weeks — and some guests prefer to stay on the island for the whole of it rather than fly home between infusions. Two routes. The simpler is to apply for an ordinary Chinese visa before you travel, once the treating hospital has confirmed candidacy in writing and issued its letter; this gives you a stay long enough for the full course with margin. The other is to enter visa-free and, before the 30 days run out, have the treating hospital support a stay-extension application to the Hainan exit-entry administration on medical grounds. Extensions are granted at the authorities’ discretion; your care manager coordinates the paperwork, and we will tell you which route suits your dates before you commit. How an NK course is scheduled →
China’s national waivers, briefly
Separately from the Hainan policy, China has extended unilateral 30-day visa-free entry to a growing list of countries for the whole mainland, and runs a 240-hour visa-free transit scheme through designated ports. Where your nationality is covered by a national waiver, you may enter Hainan under either arrangement and, under the national one, travel on to the mainland as well. The lists overlap heavily but are not identical, and they change more often than Hainan’s; the National Immigration Administration’s English site publishes both. Tell us your passport and we will tell you which applies.