Residence permit and registration in China: 24 hours, 30 days and the ten-day rule

Yes, whoever comes to live in China has to register twice, both times with a hard deadline. Within 24 hours of arrival your address is registered with the police. Within 30 days you apply for the residence permit, the document that replaces your visa. The fees range from ¥ 400 to ¥ 1,000. The pitfall comes later: if anything changes in the details on your permit, such as your passport number after a new passport, you report it within ten days.

Which deadlines apply?

What	Deadline	Where
Registration of your address	within 24 hours of arrival, and again after a move	hotel, local police station, or online where possible
Residence permit application	within 30 days of entry	the police exit-entry department
Decision	within 15 days	same
Change of details on your permit	within 10 days of the change	same
Extension	at the latest 30 days before expiry	same
Child born in China	registration within 60 days	same

Anyone sixteen or older carries their passport or residence permit at all times. If you do not register your address, a warning follows and possibly a fine of up to ¥ 2,000; the same fine applies to whoever does not report a change.

How do you register your address?

In a hotel, the hotel does it at check-in. If you live in your own or a rented home, you arrange it yourself or your landlord does. Beijing has its own online system; for it you need a photo of your passport, a current photo of yourself and the address page of your tenancy agreement or ownership certificate. At the local police station you bring your passport and your tenancy agreement or ownership certificate.

Since 20 March 2026 the immigration agency has been piloting a national online registration, via the website, the "NIA 12367" app or a mini program in WeChat or Alipay. For now in seven regions: Hebei, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangxi, Chongqing and Sichuan. The service will later be extended across the country.

Good news for frequent travellers: if you have a residence permit and return to your habitual residence after a trip, you do not need to register again. If you move, you do.

How do you apply for the residence permit?

You apply in person at the police in the place where you live, and your fingerprints are taken. Bring:

• your passport, and a completed application form with photo;
• for work: your work permit and a letter from your employer;
• for a permit of a year or longer: a health certificate, valid for six months from issue;
• for family members: a statement of the relationship and proof of it, such as a marriage or birth certificate;
• documents in a foreign language with a Chinese translation.

Validity	Fee
Up to a year	¥ 400
One to three years	¥ 800
Three to five years	¥ 1,000

How long your permit is valid depends on who you are. Top talent, urgently needed professionals and investors can get up to five years, employees of registered employers with a good track record up to two years, and others up to a year. Your partner and children get a permit with the same validity as yours.

After acceptance you receive a receipt, and the decision follows within its validity: at most fifteen working days. You collect the permit yourself, with that receipt. A work-type residence permit is valid for at least 90 days and at most five years.

A new passport is also a notification. Your residence permit shows your passport number. If you get a new passport, that is a change in the registered details, and you report it to the police within ten days. Whoever forgets risks a warning and a fine of up to ¥ 2,000.

Which numbers do you get as well?

As an employee, your employer enrols you in social insurance within thirty days of your work permit being issued; you then get a social security number and a social security card, which since 1 December 2024 also carries your work permit, physically and digitally. What that insurance covers is in healthcare in China; how the order of the first weeks runs, in your first weeks in China.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to China or go straight to step 5.3 in the open plan.