What's due in your first year in China — and by when?

Your first year in mainland China does not run on a single annual date. It runs on your residence permit's own expiration date, plus two shorter windows that open only when something about your stay changes. If you entered on a visa that says you must obtain a residence permit, a third clock starts on the day you arrive.

This article covers the permit backbone of that first-year calendar. A fuller "life-admin" calendar — bank accounts, phone numbers, housing, tax — sits outside the evidence gathered here, and the competent authority for those items is noted at the end.

The three clocks that anchor year one

The entry clock. If your visa states that you must apply for a residence permit after entry, Article 30 requires an application within 30 days of entering, at the exit-entry authority of the place where you intend to reside (Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 30).

The extension clock. When you want to stay past your current permit's validity, you apply to extend before it expires. The law sets the line at 30 days before expiration, filed with the county-level public security exit-entry authority at your place of residence (出境入境管理法 第三十二条).

The change clock. If a registered item on your residence permit changes — the kind of fact the permit records about you — you must apply for the change within 10 days of the change taking effect, at the same local authority (出境入境管理法 第三十三条).

The practical point, not an official rule: because the extension and change windows are measured backward or forward from an event rather than from January 1, the only reliable first-year calendar is built off the dates printed on your documents, not a generic month-by-month checklist.

How long your permit actually lasts

The law gives a range, not a fixed term:

• Work-category residence permits: shortest 90 days, longest 5 years (出境入境管理法 第三十条).
• Non-work residence permits: shortest 180 days, longest 5 years (出境入境管理法 第三十条).

Within that range, your personal duration is set case by case. For someone entering on a Z visa, the service guide lists three bands: foreign high-level talent, urgently needed specialists, and investors may be issued a permit of up to 5 years; people working at reputable, filed units may receive up to 2 years; others up to 1 year (服务指南). The legal maximum is not your personal duration — read the validity printed on your own permit to know which clock applies to you.

The fee tiers, copied as published

The current fee schedule read on 2026-09-28 lists, for residence permits and adding accompanying persons:

• Under one year: 400 yuan.
• From one year up to under three years: 800 yuan.
• From three years to five years inclusive: 1000 yuan.

The stated basis is 发改价格〔2004〕2230号 (收费标准页). Two caveats from the evidence: a permit of exactly one year falls in the 800-yuan tier, and the basis remains the 2004 notice — this is not a 2026 repricing. Verify the amount and the accepting authority's page before you pay; do not treat the figures above as a quote for your specific case.

Processing and collection

The service guide states that the acceptance receipt is valid for no more than 15 working days from acceptance and that the authority makes its decision within that receipt's validity period (NIA residence-permit service guide). It also describes collection of an approved document in person with the receipt. The 15-working-day figure is not a separate rule requiring the applicant to collect within 15 working days, and it does not guarantee approval.

What this evidence does not decide

The sources above govern residence permits, their extension, change, duration, and fees. They do not determine:

• Other first-year life administration (local bank access, mobile number registration, housing contract steps, individual tax matters).
• Whether any specific reader qualifies for a given permit duration — that is an individual determination made by the accepting authority, not by this article.
• Any outcome, processing speed beyond the stated receipt window, or amount owed in a particular case.

For residence-permit matters, the local public security exit-entry authority and the National Immigration Administration's service platform provide the governing current instructions. Other life matters require their own sources. Check the applicable official page at the time you act.

Sources and verification

• Residence-permit application windows, duration ranges, extension (30 days before expiration) and change (10 days after change) rules: 国家移民管理局, 中华人民共和国出境入境管理法, published 2019-06-21 (law in force 2013-07-01) — Official source
• Initial application within 30 days of entry, Z-visa duration bands, 15-working-day receipt and in-person collection: 国家移民管理局政务服务平台, 外国人居留证件签发、延期、换发、补发服务指南, published 2019-03-13 — Official source
• Fee tiers (400 / 800 / 1000 yuan) and 2004 basis: 国家移民管理局, 出入境证件收费项目、标准及依据, page read 2026-09-28 — Official source

All figures, dates, and durations above are taken verbatim from these sources as read on 2026-09-28. No legal, tax, or immigration outcome for any individual has been determined here.