Registering with Local Police?

[dave888]

Hi guys!

Just a simple question 🙂

As I read the rule is to register to the local police office within 24 hours since arrival.

Is there a url for a  map of local police offices of Chengdu?

Did you register with them? (For those that are not in hotels) And did you registered some time after any issue :))

Thanks a lot

Dave

[Clayton]

Dave,

I just walked up to a cop, told him where I lived (in Chinese), and asked where to register.  He was super helpful–unlike the ass hat at the police station that hassled us in any way he could think of.  We were within a day or two of getting our apartment, so no fines or anything, but he really ran us through the wringer on the paperwork.  Eventually had to get our landlord and our real estate agent involved, both of whom agreed he was “er bai wu”.

Hope you get a more reasonable officer than us!

-Allen

[livinginchengdu]

The first time you register at the police station, you’ll need the following:

Your passport (and photocopies of the ID page, visa/residence permit and most recent entry stamp).

A recent passport photo of you.

Your rental contract (and photocopy).

Photocopy of your landlord’s deeds for the rental property (just the main information page which shows the landlord’s name and the address of the property).

Photocopy of your landlord’s ID card.

Your landlord’s phone number.

Name and address of your place of work or study.

Name and phone number for a Chinese-speaking emergency contact person.

You also need to go to the police station with jurisdiction over where you live, which isn’t always the one that seems closest to your apartment.

If I’ve left anything out then please chime in; I just went through this process myself a couple of weeks ago…

[livinginchengdu]

Back in Shanghai, I was fined RMB 500 for registering 2 weeks late. I’ve not heard about them enforcing the lateness fine in Chengdu, but it’s best to be safe rather than sorry.

Oh and you need to re-register every time any information on the registration form changes, which means every time after coming back from abroad (even for a short holiday), because you now have a new entry stamp and date in your passport.

[Charlie]

Eli paid a large amount of money for not registering at the PSB in time, it was actually one of the first posts on Chengdu Living when we started in 2010: Talking Your Way Out of a Visa Fine

In Chengdu they tend to be a little more lenient than in other major cities in China (in my experience). When I register, I bring photos and copies of my passport (front page and visa page) along with a copy of my rental contract. They will also need the ID number (???) and contact info of your landlord (these are usually on the contract). The PSB that I go to is in Yulin.

[Vincent]

Charlie wrote:

Eli paid a large amount of money for not registering at the PSB in time, it was actually one of the first posts on Chengdu Living when we started in 2010: Talking Your Way Out of a Visa Fine

This is a different matter. Eli got a temporary entry visa from his school that said “Duration: 000”, he was supposed to go to the PSB to get this changed to a 6M student visa resident permit, because 000 actually means you have 30 days to do this. I had the exact same and unknowingly overstayed my 000 visa for over 2 months and almost got deported too. Eventually 5000kuai and an apology letter was all it needed too. And I know more people who went through the same.

This thread is referring to the Accommodation Registration for Aliens. It’s supposed to be done within 24hrs. Livinginchengdu’s post seems accurate, only you don’t need any passport photo. My roommate has been in China for almost 10 years and he literally never registers unless he needs a visa renewal, in which case he usually does it 2 days before his visa expires – 3 or 6 months after he entered China. He never got any problems.

That being said, I’ve heard from my visa agent that it can differ a lot depending on which police station you’re going to. There’s an increasing numbers of foreigners pouring in year after year and I’m guessing the fact that more and more of these offices are having to deal with this more often, some are getting more strict than others. Maybe they’re getting tired of people not doing what they’re supposed to, while others still don’t really care.

@Clayton, that’s just the standard routine way this thing goes. It wasn’t personal.

[dave888]

Hey guys!!

Thanks a lot for sharing all your experiences, I’ve just been today to register, I don’t know exactly which local police (one on the North side) as the landlord brought me there, and despite I was late around one week, the officer was really polite and I assumed did not do any problem (as they were speaking Chinese with the landlord 🙂 so no fine at all :))

Vincent, at the office I discovered that they did a mistake with my visa (I asked for 3 months tourist and they just wrote 30 days stay!!  🙁   ) you mention that visa can be renewed, how can I do that?

Thanks!!

[Vincent]

It’s not a mistake, it’s virtually impossible to get 3 month tourist visas these days, 30 days is what 99.99% of people get, regardless of how many days they wish they got. It’s just the standard. You should always check this when you get your passport/visa in your hands when you get it back from wherever you got it, but there is no way you would’ve gotten more time even if you did complain about it. 🙂

You are allowed to get 1 extension of an extra 30 days at the PSB at the north side of Tianfu square, behind the Mao statue.

[dave888]

I understand…. tricky as on the application form is written that the validity is for 3 months from the issues of the visa…

I did not looked closely when I got the visa, as I got it 2 days before leaving and was thinking to other stuff…  funny that they ask to specify the length in days and I wrote 77 and I mentioned to the officer that if there was any problem for the visa to call me…, anyway, that’s it

cheers, D

[Vincent]

Oh, I see, “validity” actually means that you have 3 months time, starting from the day of receiving the visa, to enter China. It means you have to use it to enter the mainland within 3 months. It doesn’t mean you can stay 3 months. 🙂

[livinginchengdu]

It may vary with which police station you go to, but the one opposite the Morgan Center at Niushikou definitely want a passport photo the first time you register (I did this 2 weeks ago); luckily, they were kind enough to direct me to a photography shop located behind the police station.

[Author]

Posts