Under Chinese law, if you’re a foreigner, you must register with the local Public Security Bureau (PSB) within 24 hours of arriving in mainland China.

Our first stop in China was a hotel in Beijing. If you’re staying in a hotel, there’s no need to worry. They will look after this process for you.

If you’re staying with friends in China, it is important that you don’t ignore this process. You could be fined heavily, maybe deported plus you will no longer be able to apply for a new visa from within mainland China. You will need to re-register if your place of residence changes or if you obtain a new visa.

So, after meeting up with our friend in Shanghai, our first port of call was the local police station. Even though we had registered via the hotel in Beijing, we now had to re-register as we had moved to another location and weren’t staying in a hotel.

Our friend was already aware of the procedure and accompanied us to the police station. He had to provide proof of where he lived and ID.

It’s not guaranteed that all police officers can speak English. We had to be patient and use our common sense as losing your cool will only hinder the process.

The PSB require copies of a visitor’s passport, visa & entry stamp. They asked us a few questions about our stay and intentions while in China. After we had filled out the required form, it was typed up and printed out for us to sign. It was imperative that we checked every last detail to ensure there were no mistakes. In the end, the onus falls back on to the person signing the form so it is best to get it right the first time to avoid having problems later down the track.

The police asked us for a phone number. As our friend’s broken Chinese was much better than ours, we gave them his just in case they need to contact us further.

We made a copy of our registration forms (along with our entry stamps) and kept them with the photocopy of our passports that we made before leaving home, just to be on the safe side.

Foreigners should have their passport with visa and registration form on their person at all times. If you happen to lose the original, you need to go back to the police station immediately. Having copies of everything makes the process a lot easier.

Failure to register can result in fines, difficulty in obtaining future visas or, worse still, deportation. Don’t ignore it just because you don’t have to do it at home. Respecting the laws of foreign countries and doing what you’re asked will make your trip so much more enjoyable!

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