Denied TWOV for country of birth, any tips for a repeat?
In 2018, flew with family on a TWOV trip (Canada - CN - JP). On arrival (Beijing) were denied entry only because of place of birth (Canadian passport, born in Pakistan). Ironically I had been in China multiple times prior for work (business visa). 8 years later have travelled the world but regret we haven't been able to visit CN.
Not confident we can rely on TWOV, don't want to plan out (and pay for) an entire trip to have the same result (consider I'm in their database as declined entry). Applying for a tourist visa seems a complicated, lengthy & costly process. Can one do this 6 months out from travel dates? Anyone done this to avoid risk of denied entry?
EdIt: out 2018 trip was based on the old 144 hour TWOV. Our itinerary met all the requirements of that scheme, it wasn't at all about our route (fly in from one country, fly out to another). We were sent back to Canada on the same plane we landed on purely based on place of birth. They forced the airline (Air Canada) to take us back (managed to find seats for us). I did not have two passports then - it was the fact my Canadian passport showed a place of birth the authorities were concerned with.
Has anyone heard of people applying for visa even though they meet the current 30-day TWOV requirements?