Accommodation registration for foreigners in China: the 24-hour rule in Article 39

If you sleep somewhere in China that is not a hotel, the rule that applies is Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law: you, or the person accommodating you, must register the accommodation with the public security organ of the place of residence within 24 hours of your arrival. Hotels handle this themselves — the hotel registers your stay and submits the information to the public security organ where the hotel is located. Failing to complete the registration carries a warning and a possible fine of up to RMB 2,000 (Law, Article 76, item (6)).

What Article 39 says

The article is built around where you stay:

• Hotel. The hotel registers your accommodation under the rules on public security administration of the hotel industry and submits your accommodation registration information to the public security organ in the place where the hotel is located.
• Any domicile other than a hotel. You, or the person who accommodates you, go through the registration formalities with the public security organ in the place of residence, within 24 hours of your arrival.

(Law, Article 39, first and second paragraphs.)

The Law itself was adopted on 30 June 2012 and came into force on 1 July 2013 (Law, Article 93).

Who has to act, and by when

Where you stay	Who registers	Time limit stated in Article 39
Hotel	The hotel registers and submits the information	None stated for the guest
Any domicile other than a hotel	The foreigner, or the person accommodating them	Within 24 hours of arrival

Article 39 says "within 24 hours after the foreigners' arrival" and does not go further. It does not say how the hours are counted, whether arrival means arrival in China or arrival at the address, or what applies to a night or public-holiday arrival. Where the official text is silent, this page does not fill the gap; the office handling your case is the one to ask.

Students living outside the dormitory

Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security adds a rule aimed at higher education institutions. Article 24 reads, in this site's own translation of the Chinese text:

Higher education institutions shall provide international students with necessary living facilities such as accommodation and board, and shall establish, improve and publish the management system for the use of such facilities. International students who live outside the school dormitory shall promptly go to the public security department of the place of residence to complete the registration formalities.

(Order No. 42, Article 24. Chapters 2 to 5 of Order No. 42, Articles 7 to 34, apply to higher education institutions under Article 2.)

Two points matter here. Order No. 42 says "promptly" and gives no number — the 24-hour period comes from Article 39 of the Law, not from Order No. 42. And the Law speaks of "foreigners", not of students; the student-specific provision is the one in Order No. 42, which addresses living outside the school dormitory. Nothing in the texts quoted here says that living in a school dormitory removes the Article 39 duty.

What happens if you do not register

Under Article 76 of the Law, a person who fails to go through the registration formalities required by the second paragraph of Article 39 is given a warning and may also be fined not more than RMB 2,000 (Law, Article 76, item (6)). The fine is discretionary: the text says it "may" be imposed.

The same article also covers hotels. A hotel that fails to process accommodation registration for foreigners is punished under the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security; a hotel that fails to submit the registration information to the public security organ is given a warning, and where circumstances are serious, fined not less than RMB 1,000 and not more than RMB 5,000 (Law, Article 76, second paragraph).

The National Immigration Administration's 2026 policy interpretation states the same consequence in general terms — "shall be given a warning and may also be subject to a fine" — without giving an amount.

Registering online

The National Immigration Administration has rolled out online accommodation registration nationwide for foreigners who reside or stay in domiciles other than hotels: they may complete the formalities online without visiting the public security organ in person, and online registration has the same legal effect as on-site registration (NIA policy interpretation, 21 September 2026). The step-by-step use of that service is not set out here; see our after-arrival page for the arrival sequence. The interpretation does not state the amount of any fine and does not mention students or dormitories.

Questions people ask

Do I have to register if I live in the school dormitory?

The texts quoted here do not say that dormitory accommodation is exempt. Article 39 covers any domicile other than a hotel, and Order No. 42, Article 24, addresses students who live outside the school dormitory. Ask the public security office handling your area which of the two situations it treats your accommodation as.

Does the 24 hours start when I enter China or when I reach the address?

Article 39 says "within 24 hours after the foreigners' arrival" and does not define the starting point further. This page does not choose one reading for you; confirm it with the office where you register.

Can my landlord register instead of me?

Article 39 puts the duty on "they or the persons who accommodate them" — either the foreigner or the host may do it. The text does not set out how responsibility is divided between them if neither acts, beyond the liability in Article 76.

Is the RMB 2,000 fine automatic?

No. Article 76 provides for a warning in every case listed, and a fine of not more than RMB 2,000 that may also be imposed. The amount is a ceiling, not a fixed sum, and the official texts supplied do not set out how the amount is decided in practice.

Sources

• Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China — National Immigration Administration
• Policy Interpretation of the Nationwide Implementation of the Online Accommodation Registration Service — National Immigration Administration
• Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42) — Ministry of Education

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary of the official texts named above: it is not legal or immigration advice, it is not published by the National Immigration Administration or the Ministry of Education, and it is not affiliated with any of them; if anything here differs from the official text or from the instructions of the visa office or exit-entry office handling your case, the official text and those instructions prevail.