Police registration in China: who needs it (派出所)

✅ Updated Aug 2026

Every foreigner has to have their address registered with the local police. Where you stay decides who does it. In a hotel it is automatic: the front desk registers you at check-in and you need do nothing at all. Staying anywhere else — a friend's home, a private apartment rental, a room booked outside the hotel system — makes it your responsibility, and the deadline is 24 hours from arrival. Either you or the person putting you up files a temporary residence registration with the police station covering that address. Some rural areas work to different timings, so if you are staying well outside a city, ask locally rather than assuming the 24-hour rule applies unchanged. Increasingly you may not have to go anywhere. A number of cities now accept accommodation registration online, which turns a trip to the police station into a form on your phone. Availability varies by city, so check whether yours offers it before setting out. Bring your passport, your visa or entry stamp, and the host's address details. You will be given a registration slip: keep it, because visa extensions and residence permit applications ask for it later, and replacing a lost one is more trouble than storing it. Register again whenever you move address, and again after any trip that takes you out of the country and back.

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   Staying in a hotel? Nothing to do — the front desk registers you at check-in.

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   Staying in a private home or apartment rental? Register within 24 hours of arriving.

   派出所 · pài chū suǒ

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   Check first whether your city accepts online accommodation registration — many now do, which saves the trip.

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   Going in person: take your passport, your visa or entry stamp, and the host's address details.

   住宿登记 · zhùsù dēngjì

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   Keep the registration slip — visa extensions and residence permit applications ask for it.

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   Register again when you change address, and again after you leave the country and re-enter.