MIGRATETO CHINA
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Planning

A 90-Day Move-to-China Timeline From Offer to Arrival: What to Do in Each Phase, and What Only an Authority Can Decide

A four-phase 90-day planning frame for a move to mainland China — days 90–61, 60–31, 30–1 and arrival — separating official MFA and NIA rules from suggested project timing, with the competent authority to ask at each decision point.

Sources checked ·

If you have an offer or confirmed opportunity and roughly 90 days before you want to be on the ground in mainland China, the practical answer is a four-part planning frame: days 90–61 to fix your principal travel purpose and visa category, days 60–31 to assemble purpose-specific evidence and move the application through the serving mission or official online portal, days 30–1 to hold irreversible travel commitments until immigration permission is confirmed, and the arrival and first days to complete accommodation registration and, only if your issued visa says so, apply for a residence permit.

That 90-day frame is an editorial planning device, not an official visa-processing window, eligibility test or legal deadline. No supplied official source establishes a 90-day immigration timetable. The legally fixed clocks in the supplied sources are much narrower: under Article 30 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, where the issued visa specifies a residence-permit step after entry, the foreigner applies within 30 days of entry; under Article 39 of the same law, in a non-hotel dwelling the foreigner or host registers with local public security within 24 hours after check-in. Both run from arrival, not from any pre-entry day.

Throughout this guide, "official rule" means something the supplied sources state; "practical suggestion" means editorial project timing you can rearrange.

Days 90–61: fix the purpose, not the paperwork

Official rule. Under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Visa Application Instructions of the People's Republic of China, applicants choose a visa category according to the principal travel purpose and use the serving embassy/consulate or official online guidance for case-specific requirements. The page distinguishes Z work, X1 longer study, X2 shorter study, Q1/Q2 family and S1/S2 private-affairs routes; purpose and duration matter. It lists a basic document layer plus separate purpose-specific supporting documents — no single set serves all applicants.

What to do in this window. Write down one principal purpose and the Chinese receiving entity or authority behind it. That single decision determines which pre-entry channel you use and which evidence you will be asked for, so it belongs at the front of the schedule rather than buried in a document list.

Why it cannot be deferred. A visa-free visit is not a universal relocation or work route, and planning to enter as a visitor and sort the category out later is not supported by the evidence. Article 31 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law provides narrowly approved cases for changing stay to residence; it is not a routine or automatic conversion.

Depends on an authority decision. Which category fits your purpose and which supporting documents attach to it. The MFA category and document pages are pre-entry guidance; the serving mission's instructions control each application.

Days 60–31: build the evidence layer and move the application

Official tool. The China Online VISA Application portal offers visa process guidance, new or resumed online applications, application-status lookup and follow-up appointment management.

Practical suggestion. Use this window for the variable part of the file. The basic document layer is broadly common; the purpose-specific evidence is what differs between a work, study, family or private-affairs case, and it is the part most likely to need back-and-forth with the receiving entity. Submit, then use the portal's status lookup and appointment functions rather than assuming a timeline.

Official rule for work cases. Article 41 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law states that foreigners working in China should obtain work permission and work-category residence documentation as required by law.

What the evidence does not cover. The supplied sources do not set work-permit or residence lead times, fees, approval outcomes or a universal checklist. This guide therefore gives none. Work-permit and residence specifics depend on the case; ask the competent authority rather than reading a number into this schedule.

Days 30–1: confirm permission before committing to travel

Practical suggestion, not an official rule. Hold non-refundable flights, housing contracts tied to a fixed move-in date and school or start-date commitments until immigration permission is confirmed. No supplied source imposes this as a rule; it is project advice about irreversible spending.

What to prepare regardless of timing. Decide your arrival accommodation type, because it determines who registers you: a hotel registers foreign guests itself, while in a non-hotel dwelling the foreigner or host registers with local public security within 24 hours after check-in (Article 39). Also check whether the visa you are applying for carries a post-entry residence-permit step, since that is what triggers the 30-day clock.

Document side, kept generic on purpose. The NIA service guide for foreigner residence permits describes applications as using a passport or travel document, a form, a photo, purpose-related proof and other required documents, with distinct supporting evidence for work, study and family types. The exact materials and local acceptance details require checking the competent receiving authority — so gather the categories of document, not a self-invented checklist.

Do not assume readiness. Nothing in the supplied sources promises that a file started 90 days out is decided by day one. If permission is not confirmed, the schedule slips; the planning frame does not convert into an entitlement.

Arrival and first days: two separate clocks

Within 24 hours of check-in — accommodation registration. Under Article 39, hotels register foreign guests. In a non-hotel dwelling — a rented home, a relative's home or similar — the foreigner or host registers with local public security within 24 hours after check-in. Since 2026-09-21, the NIA notice on nationwide online accommodation registration outside hotels added a nationwide online channel for non-hotel dwellings: the NIA services website, the NIA 12367 app, or the WeChat or Alipay mini-program. Offline registration at local public security remains available and equivalent, so if the online route is not workable in your locality, the offline route is not a fallback of lesser status.

Within 30 days of entry — residence permit, only if your visa says so. Under Article 30, where the issued visa specifies a residence-permit step after entry, the foreigner applies within 30 days of entry at the intended place of residence. Not every visa carries this step; check the issued visa rather than assuming it. Per the NIA service guide, the application channel is the local public-security exit-entry administration, and work, study and family types have distinct supporting evidence.

Keep the two clocks apart. One runs from check-in, the other from entry, and only the second is conditional on the visa. They are not one "arrival bundle," and finishing the 24-hour step does not start or pause the 30-day one.

Where the plan bends

  • Purpose and duration. The MFA page separates Z, X1, X2, Q1/Q2 and S1/S2 routes; a change in purpose or length can move you to a different category.
  • Serving mission. MFA pages are pre-entry guidance; local embassy/consulate instructions control each application.
  • City and receiving entity. Residence-permit materials and acceptance details are set locally; the NIA service guide directs applicants to check the competent receiving authority.
  • Accommodation type. Hotel versus non-hotel changes who registers and which channel applies.
  • Work cases. Work permission and work-category residence documentation are legally required under Article 41, and the specifics are case-dependent.

Sources and verification

All official claims above come from the supplied sources, opened 2026-09-28:

Who to ask. For pre-entry category and documents, the serving Chinese embassy or consulate, or the official online portal. For post-entry residence permits, the local public-security exit-entry administration. For accommodation registration, local public security, where the offline channel remains available. This article makes no individual legal, tax or medical determination, and where the evidence above is insufficient for your situation, the authority named here is the body to ask.