China Digital Arrival Card: Complete Guide for Foreign Travelers (2026)

You’ve got your visa. You’ve packed your bags. You land at Pudong International, walk toward immigration, and there it is: a wall of QR codes and confused travelers staring at their phones. The China digital arrival card. Everyone needs it. Not everyone knows how it works.

Let’s fix that.

What Exactly Is the China Digital Arrival Card?

The official name is the China Customs Health Declaration Form (海关健康申报). It’s a digital form that every inbound traveler to mainland China must submit before clearing customs. It replaced the old paper “blue arrival card” system during COVID and never went away.

The system is called the “Customs Health Declaration Mini-Program” on WeChat, but you can also access it through a web browser at the official portal. You fill it out, it generates a QR code valid for 24 hours, and you scan that QR code at a kiosk or booth before passing through immigration.

Two Ways to Fill It Out

You have options. Neither is hard, but one is smoother than the other.

Method 1: WeChat Mini-Program (Best for Regular Travelers)

If you have WeChat installed — and honestly, if you’re traveling to China, get it — open the app, search for “Customs Health Declaration” or scan the QR code posted at most check-in counters at international airports. The mini-program saves your information for future trips, so subsequent visits take about 30 seconds.

The catch: you need a WeChat account with a Chinese mobile number or a verified international account. Setting up WeChat before you travel is a whole separate topic, but it’s worth doing for this alone.

Method 2: Web Browser Portal (Best for Everyone Else)

No WeChat? No problem. The China Customs authorities also offer a web-based version:

Visit htdecl.chinaport.gov.cn (the official Customs declaration portal) and fill out the form online. Fill in your details, generate the QR code, and screenshot it. That’s it.

The web version doesn’t save your info for next time, so you’ll re-enter everything on your return trip. But it works perfectly well and requires no app installation.

Step-by-Step: Filling Out the Form

The form has four sections. Here’s what each one needs.

1. Personal Information

• Full name (exactly as on your passport)
• Passport number and nationality
• Date of birth
• Gender
• If your name has more than one word or includes a middle name, enter it exactly as your passport spells it. The system is picky about this.

2. Flight/Voyage Details

• Flight number
• Seat number
• Country/region of departure
• Expected arrival date and time
• Port of entry (e.g., Shanghai Pudong, Beijing Capital)
• Where you sat on the plane matters because contact tracers still use this data for disease monitoring. Fill in your actual seat number.

3. China Stay Information

• Purpose of visit (tourism, business, transit, etc.)
• Duration of stay in days
• Contact phone number in China (a hotel number works if you don’t have a local SIM)
• Residential address in China: this is your hotel name and address. If you’re staying with friends, their address. If you haven’t booked yet, the first hotel on your itinerary.

4. Health Declaration

• Whether you have symptoms like fever, cough, or difficulty breathing
• Whether you’ve been in contact with confirmed infectious disease cases
• Recent travel history to specific regions (if any)

All questions on the health section are currently required but straightforward. Answer honestly. False declarations on customs forms carry penalties.

The Golden Rule: Timing Is Everything

Your QR code is valid for only 24 hours from the moment you submit the form. Too early and it expires before you land. Too late and you’re standing in the arrivals hall with no QR code and a growing line behind you.

Here’s the sweet spot: fill it out right before your departing flight boards, or during a layover if you have a connecting flight. You want the QR code to be valid when you actually arrive at Chinese customs, not when you take off.

For a direct flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai (about 13 hours), submit the form at the gate before boarding. For a shorter flight like Tokyo to Beijing (3 hours), you could even submit it mid-flight, though in-flight Wi-Fi can be spotty.

Pro tip: screenshot the QR code once it generates. You won’t have mobile data immediately after landing, and the arrivals hall can have flaky Wi-Fi. A screenshot in your camera roll is bulletproof.

The Arrival Process: What to Expect

When you land, follow the signs toward immigration. Before you reach the immigration counters, you’ll see the customs inspection area:

1. Scan your QR code at an automated kiosk or show it to a customs officer. The machine reads it in about two seconds.
2. If the QR code is valid, you proceed. If it’s expired, there are usually terminals nearby where you can fill out a new form on the spot.
3. Face and fingerprint scan at immigration (they’ll take your photo and both index fingerprints).
4. Stamp in your passport and you’re through.

Total time from plane to baggage claim can be as little as 15-20 minutes at a well-organized airport like Beijing Daxing. At a busy port like Shanghai Pudong during peak hours, plan for 30-45 minutes.

One thing to note: even though most travelers now use the digital form, some ports of entry still keep paper versions for those without smartphones or connectivity. If your phone dies or the web portal isn’t loading, ask a customs officer and they’ll hand you a paper form. It’s slower, but it works.

The Departure Form: You Need It to Leave Too

Here’s the bit that catches people off guard. You also need to fill out a new Customs Health Declaration when you leave China. The departure form is essentially the same thing with different direction-of-travel fields.

Fill it out within 24 hours of your departure time, screenshot the QR code, and show it at customs before you go through security at the departing airport. If you’re leaving by train or ship, same rule applies.

Many travelers forget this and end up frantically filling out the form on their phone in the departure hall while their boarding group is called. Don’t be that person. Do it at your hotel over breakfast before you head to the airport.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

These are the errors that trip up travelers most often.

Expired QR code. The most common, and the most frustrating. You filled out the form perfectly but 26 hours ago. Now you’re redoing it in the arrivals hall. Solution: check the timestamp on your QR code. If you submitted it at 8 AM and your flight lands at 10 AM the next day, it’s expired. Make a new one during your layover.

Name doesn’t match passport. If your passport has your full middle name and you only entered your first and last name, the system will flag you. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your passport’s machine-readable zone.

Wrong port of entry. You filled out the form for Beijing Capital but you’re actually arriving at Beijing Daxing. They’re two different airports 60 kilometers apart. The QR code might still scan, but the officers will give you a hard time. Double-check your airport code.

Invalid phone number format. The form requires a phone number in China. If you have a hotel number, use that. If you have a Chinese SIM, great. Enter it with the country code +86. For hotel numbers, just the local number works.

Forgetting to screenshot. This is the easiest one to avoid and the most common. You generate the QR code, admire it briefly, close the browser — and you’re locked out because you have no data on the ground. Screenshot immediately.

How the Digital Arrival Card Differs from Visa Paperwork

The digital arrival card is not connected to your visa application. It’s a customs declaration form, not a visa or entry permit. Having a valid visa does not exempt you from needing the QR code. They serve completely different purposes: the visa lets you enter the country, the QR code is a health and customs declaration that gets scanned at the port.

Think of it this way: your visa gets you to the immigration counter. The QR code gets you through customs. You need both.

FAQ

Final Thoughts

The China digital arrival card is one of those things that seems annoying until you’ve done it once. After that, it’s a 90-second formality. The friction comes from not knowing — from standing in an arrivals hall watching a QR code screen while your jet-lagged brain tries to remember your flight number.

The solution is boring but effective: fill it out before you board, screenshot the code, and move on with your trip.

One final note worth filing away: policies around the health declaration have eased significantly since 2023, and there’s always a chance the QR code requirement gets simplified or removed entirely. But as of 2026, it’s still a universal requirement for every inbound traveler. Assume it’s mandatory until you hear otherwise from official Chinese Customs channels.