THE READING ROOM
Each guide carries its review date and sources. Check current official requirements before you act.
IN-DEPTH GUIDES / PUBLISHED
Newest updates firstA China visa application from your country of residence runs through the Chinese mission that serves that residence. Here is the order of decisions, with dated Australia and U.S. examples.
What you file before boarding, what you can finish at the port if you did not, and who must register your address within 24 hours of check-in — plus the channels that count as official and the ones that do not.
When you change employers in mainland China, your work permit and your residence paperwork are two separate chains. This guide separates the official steps from the local and case-specific variables, and points to the authorities to confirm your situation.
Before travelling, check three visa fields separately: validity, unused entries and duration of each stay. Then check whether your purpose requires a residence permit after arrival.
This guide explains how a foreign national who has just arrived in mainland China should handle temporary accommodation registration, covering hotel stays, rented flats, staying with family, returns to the same home, the host's role, nationwide online filing from 2026-09-21, and the continuing in-person route.
A foreign resident can generally apply in person at a commercial-bank outlet with a passport or Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card, but the branch may ask for more, and a debit card, mobile banking, and wallet payments are three separate things.
A first-arrival decision guide to mainland China's wallet apps: registration with an overseas number, card binding and verification, why some cards fail, and the cash and card fallbacks recognised in official payment guidance.
Compare entry by visa, short-visit visa exemption and valid residence permit, then understand stay and residence documents before moving to China.
A practical, source-based guide to the first 30 days after a family arrives in mainland China: the 24-hour address registration rule, the 30-day residence permit window, work permit steps for employed adults, and social insurance enrollment.
Compares China's short-term family-visit and longer-residence routes for family reunion, sorted by inviter status and the 180-day threshold, with the post-entry steps each requires.
Q visas cover eligible family of Chinese citizens and of foreigners with Chinese permanent residence; S visas cover eligible family of foreigners staying or residing in China, plus certain private affairs. Inside each pair, the 1 and 2 versions split on length of stay.
A step-by-step walkthrough of how China's foreign work permit system connects employer filing, the Z visa, and post-arrival residence-permit application — including what changed after December 2024.
Before arranging health cover for a move to mainland China, work through what the verified rules require of legally employed foreigners — and where you must check locally rather than assume.
A signed employment contract does not by itself authorize work in mainland China. This guide separates the contract from the work permit and residence permit, walks the pre-entry to post-entry sequence, notes the December 2024 permit–social-security card integration, and flags where Beijing's route differs — every claim linked to an official source.
How new arrivals can check the ID, self-operated hall, phone compatibility and published tariff needed for a local SIM card in China.
A foreign employee's China payslip shows social insurance contributions and individual income tax special additional deductions. This guide explains the national-level rules you can verify, the local and personal variables you must still check, and where the official answers live.
Holders of a valid foreigner residence permit can re-enter mainland China without a visa, but only if the permit and passport are both valid and registered details are current. Learn what to check before you travel, why an application receipt won't get you back in, and how a residence permit differs from a visa.
A practical guide to China residence permit renewal and change: the 30-day and 10-day rules, what counts as a change, how it differs from work permit extension, and which authority handles what.
X1 or X2 comes down to how long you will study in mainland China: more than 180 days points to X1, 180 days or fewer to X2. This guide covers that threshold, the documents each route lists, and what X1 holders must do after entry.
Your tax obligations in mainland China are not set by your visa or residence permit. They turn on residence status under the Individual Income Tax Law and, for non-domiciled arrivals who pass 183 days, a separate six-year look-back. Here are the official rules and the personal facts to check.
Intercity trains and city metro in mainland China run on different rules for foreign passport holders: one national real-name system, many local payment systems. What to verify, in what order, and where to ask.
Mainland China runs two visa-free transit tracks — a 24-hour one open to all nationalities and a 240-hour one limited to 57 countries and 65 ports. Here is how to tell which applies to your routing, passport and activity, and what to re-check before you fly.
How mainland China's ordinary visa categories map to actual travel purposes, how short visits differ from a plan to reside, and what to verify with the embassy or mission that serves you.
Visa-free entry to China is not one rule but three separate tracks. This guide shows how to check your nationality, passport type, purpose, port and stay limit against the current National Immigration Administration pages.
A China visa records your entries, entry validity and permitted stay; a residence permit is issued after arrival for a specific purpose. How the handover works, who issues it, and the 30-day filing rule.
If you entered mainland China on a Z work visa, you generally must apply for a work-type residence permit within 30 days. This guide explains the deadline, what documents you now need after the December 2024 work-permit card change, the health-certificate and receipt rules, and where local variations sit.
A China work permit and a Z visa are handled by different hands at different moments: the employer opens the file before you travel, you carry the entry and residence steps. How the 90-day line changes the sequence.
What a food-delivery app, a courier pickup order and a post office counter actually ask for from a newcomer — and where to get the Chinese-character address they all depend on.
Rankings won't tell you whether your program is taught on the campus you pictured, whether you can live on it, or who helps you settle in. This is the verification checklist grounded in China's national rules and one school's published example.
Moving to mainland China and need to move money across the border? How the per-person annual facilitation quota works, which documents banks require, and the compliance line you must not cross — based on SAFE rules.
What must happen in your first month when you start a job in mainland China? This checklist sets out the Foreigner Work Permit step (employer, within 15 days of entry for work of more than 90 days), the work-type residence permit (within 30 days of entry if your visa requires one) and social insurance registration (employer, within 30 days of the employment certificate), with the official sources to verify current local materials.
Plan your first week in mainland China: register non-hotel accommodation within 24 hours, check any visa or work deadlines immediately, then arrange phone, payments and banking as needed.
A source-bound timeline of the residence-permit deadlines that anchor a foreigner's first year in mainland China — the entry clock, the 30-day extension line, the 10-day change window, and the personal variables that decide how long your permit actually lasts.
A source-bound checklist for foreign-source income and mainland China individual income tax: how source is determined, when worldwide income is combined, how foreign tax credits actually work, and what to verify with the competent authority.
Where do foreign nationals verify marriage requirements in mainland China? This guide identifies the registration office and the document or consular authorities to ask, and explains what each can confirm.
What to do after you land in mainland China as an international student: school reporting, the 30-day study residence permit window, the 24-hour off-campus housing rule, medical confirmation, insurance, and work-study limits.
After a China work contract ends, what to handle before you leave — your employer's reporting duty, your work and residence permit status, a possible stay permit, and social insurance on departure.
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.
A preparation guide to the documents needed before a move to mainland China: the basic visa application set, the evidence tied to your actual visa purpose (work, study, family), and the separate residence-permit documents that apply only when your visa requires them — plus where to verify each layer.
A planning guide for mainland China: match your main purpose and intended length of stay to the first authority and evidence you need, then verify each branch in dependency order before irreversible commitments.
A practical order of operations for families relocating to mainland China with school-age children: what to settle first, which documents drive school access, and where provincial rules take over.
How to pick the right visa path (Q1 or S1) when relocating to mainland China with a spouse, what the regulations require you to submit, and the 30-day window to apply for a residence permit after arrival.
A source-bound guide to what actually governs bringing personal prescription medicines into mainland China: the self-use and reasonable-quantity rule, the separate narcotic and psychotropic pathway, and the checks to complete before departure.
If you plan to work remotely from mainland China for a foreign employer, the visa you enter on and the work you actually do must match. Here is what to verify with the competent authorities before booking travel.
How foreign newcomers rent in mainland China: choosing search channels, viewing and recording the unit, checking lease contents such as Shanghai's Article 16 list, keeping payment proof, and completing public security accommodation registration on time.
How outpatient care in mainland China is booked, paid for and documented: the emergency exception, registration with a passport and possible hospital card, paying before tests or medicines, direct billing versus reimbursement, and which records insurers ask for. Based on Shanghai, Beijing and PUMCH official pages.
What graduation does to your residence status in mainland China — the 10-day change-reporting rule, why a study permit is not work authorization, and how staying, working, or leaving each play out under the national rules.
Off-campus work-study and internships for international students in China require a residence-permit annotation. Here are the rules and points to verify locally.
What documents connect your school admission to an X1 or X2 study visa and, where required, a residence permit within 30 days of entry — based on current Chinese regulations, not old advice.
A method for checking any claim about moving to mainland China: isolate the exact claim, match it to the document class that governs it, and take person-specific questions to the mission or immigration office that decides them.