We Just Verified 4 More Destinations — And Two of Their Visa-Free Rules Expire This Year

We just verified four more destinations — the Philippines, New Zealand, Vietnam, and China — bringing Trip Check to 20 destinations covered, on top of the Schengen Area. Two of them turned out to share something worth a whole post: visa-free rules that look permanent but aren't.

China's visa-free window for UK and Canadian travelers has an end date

In February 2026, China added the United Kingdom and Canada to its unilateral 30-day visa-free list. Ordinary passport holders from either country can now enter for business, tourism, family visits, cultural exchange, or transit without a visa, with multiple entries permitted. US nationals aren't on that list — they still apply in person through the China Online Visa Application (COVA) system, submit biometrics, and show proof of US residence.

Here's the part that's easy to miss: per China's National Immigration Administration, the visa-free policy "currently runs through 31 December 2026." That's not a rolling deadline — it's a fixed one, a few months out as we write this. Unless it's renewed, the rule simply lapses at the end of the year. We'll be checking back before then.

Vietnam's visa exemption for UK travelers has the same shape

UK and Northern Ireland citizens get 45 days visa-free in Vietnam under Government Resolution No. 44/NQ-CP (7 March 2025) — but the resolution itself is only in effect from 15 March 2025 to 14 March 2028. After that date, unless it's extended, UK travelers go back to needing a visa or e-visa, same as US and Canadian citizens already do today. (One thing that isn't time-limited: the old 30-day re-entry waiting period was removed under the 2019 Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners, effective 1 July 2020 — that part of the rule is settled.)

New Zealand doesn't give every visa-waiver nationality the same stay

US and Canadian travelers get 90 days on the standard visa waiver. UK citizens — and other British passport holders with the right to reside permanently in the UK — get up to 6 months, a specific carve-out in Immigration New Zealand's own rules. Everyone still needs the NZeTA (NZ$17 via the app, NZ$23 via the website) plus the IVL levy (NZ$100), valid for 2 years regardless of how long any single stay is.

The Philippines added a step that has nothing to do with your visa

Executive Order No. 408 still governs the 30-day visa-free stay (the first extension adds 29 more days, for a fee starting around PHP 3,000 depending on the immigration office). What's new is a separate, mandatory requirement layered on top: every traveler now has to complete eTravel registration (etravel.gov.ph) before arrival. It's easy to check the old visa-free rule, see nothing's changed there, and miss that a new step was added alongside it.

Where this goes next

More destinations are already in the verification queue. See the full source list for exactly what backs every claim on the site, or the verification changelog for the dated history of what changed and when.