What does emigrating to China cost?
Answer four questions and you have an honest range for your situation. Every item shows whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The paperwork costs a good hundred euros per person here. The money is in the landing, and with children above all in one item that overshadows everything: the school.
Looking for the whole route to China, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.600 – € 11.600
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 3.000 – € 10.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 250 – € 650
- De verhuizing
- € 350 – € 900
- De eerste maanden
- € 3.000 – € 10.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Visa fees (Z and S1 visas)€ 100 – € 200
- Residence permit (after arrival)€ 50 – € 150
- Apostilles, certificate of conduct and translations(estimate)€ 100 – € 300
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 350 – € 900
A one-way flight Amsterdam-Shanghai or Amsterdam-Beijing per person, plus hold luggage. KLM flies direct (around 11 hours). With a stopover in the Middle East it is often hundreds of euros cheaper.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 3.000 – € 10.000
In the expat districts of Shanghai and Beijing the rent itself is the big item. You pay the deposit (1-3 months' rent), the agency fee (up to a month, in Shanghai often half) and the first rent. On top come furnishing, the medical examination, the driving licence exam (tens of euros), any international health insurance until the employer's cover starts, and living until the first salary. International school is deliberately not included here. It runs to tens of thousands of euros per child per year and belongs in the salary negotiation. The public school is virtually free, but entirely in Chinese.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 1 to 3% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 2.500 to € 7.500.
The costs themselves are low. The deed tax (契税), the transfer tax, has since 1 December 2024 been 1% for a home up to and including 140 m² and 1.5% above that, if it is your household's only home. Plus small registration fees, and usually an estate agent. There is no national annual property tax on homes. Shanghai does levy one as a pilot: 0.4 to 0.6% a year on 70% of the purchase price, on homes newly bought by buyers from outside the city. Exemptions apply, so ask if you buy there. Count on 1 to 3% in total, low compared with virtually any European country.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
Buying is not a first step but something for after your first year. You may only buy after at least one year of legal residence in China on a work, study or residence permit, and then one home, for your own use. Cities stack their own requirements on top: Beijing asks for five years of social insurance contributions, Shanghai twelve months of tax returns.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 21 August 2026.
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One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with four questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, which household contents, pet or not. It also watches the deadlines: 24 hours for the police, 15 days for the work permit, 30 days for the residence permit. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
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Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for China: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for China change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, send one offer, and now and then one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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