Where to apply for a residence permit in China: which exit-entry office accepts it

You apply to the exit and entry administration of the public security organ of the local people's government at or above the county level in the place where you will live. That is the office named in both the Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 30, and the Regulations on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (State Council Decree No. 637), Article 16. Which offices actually accept the application is narrower, and is set out in the National Immigration Administration's service guide.

What the Law and the Regulations say

The Law, Article 30, covers foreigners whose visa specifies that they must apply for a residence permit after entry. They must apply within 30 days of the date of entry, to the exit/entry administrations of public security organs under local people's governments at or above the county level in the proposed place of residence.

The Regulations, Article 16, repeat the same office and add how the application is made: in person, submitting the passport or other international travel document, qualified photos, material relating to the purpose of application, and biometric identification information such as fingerprints. For a residence permit for study, the applicant submits certification documents including a letter indicating the duration of study provided by the admission institution (Regulations, Article 16(2)).

Both texts use the phrase "proposed place of residence" without defining it in the articles supplied here.

Which offices accept the application

The service guide for issuing, extending, replacing and reissuing foreigners' residence permits states that the National Immigration Administration entrusts the exit-entry administration organs of public security at prefecture-level city level and above — including the districts and counties of the municipalities directly under the central government — to accept residence permit applications. It adds that a county-level exit-entry administration organ may accept applications under that entrustment where the provincial-level exit-entry administration organ has sought and obtained the National Immigration Administration's approval.

This passage is in Chinese on the National Immigration Administration's government service platform; the English wording here is this site's translation of that text.

Two things follow. First, the general "at or above county level" in the Law and the Regulations describes the office the rule addresses, not a promise that every county-level office will take your file. Second, whether a particular county-level office accepts applications depends on that approval, and the materials supplied here do not publish a list of the county-level offices that hold it.

What this means for your address

The office is fixed by where you will reside, not by which city issued your visa and not by the city named on your admission letter. If your address falls under a prefecture-level city office, that office is an accepting office under the guide. If it falls under a county-level office, acceptance depends on the approval described above, which the supplied texts do not list; ask the exit-entry office that covers your address, or your school if it handles this for its students.

For the study residence permit itself, the document tying you to the school is the letter indicating the duration of study from the admission institution (Regulations, Article 16(2)).

Questions people ask

Is it the county office or the city office?

The Law, Article 30, and the Regulations, Article 16, both say the public security organ at or above county level in the proposed place of residence. The National Immigration Administration service guide says acceptance is entrusted to offices at prefecture-level city level and above, and to county-level offices only where approval has been granted.

Do I apply where I study or where I live?

The texts say "proposed place of residence", which points to where you will live. Neither the Law nor the Regulations, in the articles supplied here, defines the phrase or says how an address is proved for this purpose.

How long does the office have to decide?

The Law, Article 30, states that the exit/entry administrations shall conduct examination and make a decision within 15 days of the date of receipt.

Do I need a health certificate?

The Regulations, Article 16, require a health certificate when applying for a residence permit valid for more than one year, and state that the certificate is valid for six months from the date of issue.

Sources

• Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (English text) — National Immigration Administration
• Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (English text) — National Immigration Administration
• Service guide for issuing, extending, replacing and reissuing foreigners' residence permits (Chinese) — National Immigration Administration

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary of the official texts named above, is not legal or immigration advice, and is not published by the National Immigration Administration or any other body named here; where the official text or the instructions of the visa office or exit-entry office handling your case differ from what is written here, theirs prevails.