China's National Immigration Administration launched its new service hotline 12367 on April 8, 2021, in an effort to further improve immigration administration and make immigration-related information more accessible.
In view of the challenges presented by the current immigration management consulting services – with service numbers that vary in different places, numbers that are hard to remember and lines that are often busy – the National Immigration Administration launched its new 12367 number as a comprehensive service platform.
The platform connects all the existing service hotlines to the immigration inspection offices, as well as the exit-entry administration department of public security organs around the country by internet cloud deployment and artificial intelligence technology.
The platform provides 24/7 Chinese and English services. All immigration-related policy consultations, advice and other services will be classified and then accepted.
The immigration inspection department in the city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province has set up a 24/7 hotline for guidance on entry and exit border inspections to support the new platform.
To meet the local requirements in Fujian, the Xiamen immigration inspection hotline will also provide a local dialect service.
With the official launch of 12367, the former 2262203 hotline of the Xiamen Municipal Public Security Bureau's Exit and Entry Administration has been officially discontinued.
When a person dials 12367, it will automatically identify the place where the caller's number belongs and connect to the exit and entry administration department there. People who use a number registered in other places, but need to consult the Xiamen exit and entry administration directly, can just add 0592 before 12367.
China now enjoys comprehensive mutual visa exemption with 23 countries after reaching an agreement on mutual visa exemption with Thailand on Jan 28.
China and Thailand signed an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of ordinary passports and passports for public affairs on Jan 28.