Changing address mid-trip: does your registration follow you?

The duty attaches to the place you are staying

For foreigners who reside or stay in domiciles other than hotels, they or the persons who accommodate them shall, within 24 hours after the foreigners' arrival, go through the registration formalities with the public security organs in the places of residence. Change the place of residence and you change the office the filing belongs to.

Article 39, second paragraph

Source: National Immigration Administration — Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (page dated 2021-03-10; read 2026-07-25)

Every change of address, a new form

Asked directly whether a visitor who has just moved needs a new temporary accommodation registration form, Shenzhen's port office publishes the answer given by the municipal public security bureau: yes. Overseas personnel — residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and foreigners — need a new form every time they change address.

Source: Port Office of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government — I am an overseas visitor and have just moved. Do I need a new temporary accommodation registration form? (Chinese only) (page dated 2022-01-04; read 2026-07-25)

The clock starts at check-in, not at the border

Overseas personnel must register their accommodation within 24 hours after check-in, either themselves or through the host. It is the move-in that starts the 24 hours, which is why the second address needs its own filing.

Article 4

Source: Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice — Procedures for the Accommodation Registration of Overseas Personnel (page dated 2025-07-28; read 2026-07-25)

The one move that needs no new filing

Re-registration is not required where a foreigner lives at their own residence in China and returns to it after travelling inside or outside the country, or where a residence or permanent residence permit holder returns to their habitual residence during the validity of the same permit.

Section IV

Source: National Immigration Administration — Policy Interpretation of the Online Accommodation Registration Service for Foreigners Residing or Staying in Domiciles Other Than Hotels (page dated 2026-03-20; read 2026-07-25)

What 'your own residence' means

A self-owned residence is one owned by the foreigner or their spouse in China. A habitual residence is one where the foreigner lives or plans to live long term, and long term means residing in China for more than 180 days under Article 36 of the Regulations.

Section IV

Source: National Immigration Administration — Policy Interpretation of the Online Accommodation Registration Service for Foreigners Residing or Staying in Domiciles Other Than Hotels (page dated 2026-03-20; read 2026-07-25)

Hotels file again at every check-in

Where foreigners stay in hotels, the hotels register the accommodation and submit the information to the local public security organs. A four-hotel trip is four filings, none of which are yours to make.

Article 39, first paragraph

Source: National Immigration Administration — Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (page dated 2021-03-10; read 2026-07-25)

The 72-hour allowance is narrower than it sounds

Residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan staying in rural areas may register within 72 hours after check-in. Everyone else, everywhere, stays on 24 hours. Beijing's guidance publishes the same split.

Article 4

Source: Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice — Procedures for the Accommodation Registration of Overseas Personnel (page dated 2025-07-28; read 2026-07-25)

An unchanged address is the exemption, for some permit holders

Hong Kong and Macao residents holding Residence Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, and Taiwan residents holding Residence Permits for Taiwan Residents, are no longer required to register accommodation where their residential address has not changed. The exemption is written around the address staying the same.

Source: Beijing Municipal Government English portal — A Guide for Registering Accommodation Online (page dated 2024-01-22; read 2026-07-25)

Missing a filing: warning, and up to RMB 2,000

Failing to go through registration formalities under the second paragraph of Article 39 draws a warning, and a fine of not more than RMB 2,000 may also be imposed. The duty and the penalty reach the person accommodating you too.

Article 76, item (6)

Source: National Immigration Administration — Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (page dated 2021-03-10; read 2026-07-25)

A residence permit change is a separate 10-day errand

Where a registered item in a foreigner's residence permit has changed, the holder shall within 10 days apply to the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in the place of residence for the alteration formalities. Missing that carries the same warning and RMB 2,000 ceiling.

Article 33, second paragraph; Article 76, item (4)

Source: National Immigration Administration — Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (page dated 2021-03-10; read 2026-07-25)

Some documents restrict where you may go at all

A foreigner whose area of stay is specified in their exit and entry documents, or who is approved temporary entry with area restrictions, shall stay in the specified area. Activities beyond the restricted area of stay or residence count as residing in China illegally.

Article 24; Article 25, item (3)

Source: National Immigration Administration — Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (page dated 2021-03-10; read 2026-07-25)

Filing again is meant to be the easy one

Either you or your host may file, and the initial registration for an address should be completed with the host's assistance because they know the residence details. On the immigration platform, Registration Record Inquiry returns the completed record after each filing.

Sections II and III

Source: National Immigration Administration — Policy Interpretation of the Online Accommodation Registration Service for Foreigners Residing or Staying in Domiciles Other Than Hotels (page dated 2026-03-20; read 2026-07-25)

The pilot that is no longer the scope

From 20 March 2026 online accommodation registration ran as a pilot in seven provincial-level regions — Hebei, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangxi, Chongqing and Sichuan — with rollout written in the future tense. That stopped being the live scope on 21 September 2026, when the administration extended online filing to the whole country; the clause table below prints that notice in full. Offline filing stays open in both instruments, and an online filing has the same legal effect as one made on site.

Source: National Immigration Administration — Announcement of the National Immigration Administration on the Pilot Implementation of Online Accommodation Registration for Foreigners Residing or Staying in Domiciles Other Than Hotels (page dated 2026-03-20; read 2026-07-25)

What you get back, and where

In Shanghai an approved online filing generates a Temporary Residence Registration Form automatically, with a download link usually sent by email and SMS. A failed review means checking the submitted details, then going to the nearest police station in person.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Government English portal — How to register your place of residence (page dated page updated 2026-07-20; read 2026-07-25)

I am moving between four hotels in ten days. Do I have to do anything?

No. Each hotel registers your accommodation at check-in and submits it to the public security organ where that hotel is. The duty on you starts only when the bed is not a hotel — an apartment, a homestay, a friend's room or a home you own.

I checked out of the hotel and moved into a friend's flat this afternoon. What is the deadline?

Twenty-four hours from the moment you arrived at the flat. Shanghai's procedures count it from check-in, not from your entry into China, so a change of address mid-trip starts a fresh clock. Your host should file it, because the counter filing runs on their documents.

Does my first registration cover the whole trip?

No. Shenzhen's port office publishes the municipal public security bureau's answer in one line: overseas personnel need a new temporary accommodation registration form every time they change address. The only published exemption is returning to a residence you or your spouse own, or to a habitual residence under the same residence permit.

I moved to another city. Can I register at the police station that took the first filing?

The law puts the filing with the public security organs in the places of residence, so it belongs to the office covering where you are staying now. In practice that means the local police station, a household registration counter, a community service centre window, or the online platform for that province.

I own a flat in Shanghai and I have just come back from a week in Japan. Register again?

No, if it is your own residence. The immigration administration's interpretation says re-registration is not required where a foreigner lives at their own residence in China and returns to it after travelling inside or outside the country. A self-owned residence means one owned by you or your spouse.

Everything I read says online filing only works in seven provinces. Is that still true?

Not since 21 September 2026. The immigration administration's notice extends online filing for a non-hotel address to the whole country, and publishes no province or city list with it. The seven-region pilot ran from 20 March 2026, and the regulator's own English interpretation page still had it in the future tense when we read it on 5 October 2026 — which is where most of those answers come from.

I moved into a new flat today. Can I file it myself in the app?

Usually not on the first night at that address. The interpretation says the first filing for an address is completed with the host's help, because they hold the exact residence details. Filing alone is allowed only when you are registering again at the same address you already filed from, or living in a home you own — so moving puts your new host back in the loop.

The online filing will not go through. What does the regulator say to do, in order?

Three steps, in its own words: open the platform's guide to online registration on the filing page and follow it; call the 12367 immigration service hotline; then go to the exit-entry service window of the local public security organ, or the neighbourhood police station, where staff complete the filing with you on the spot. The counter stays open as a channel in its own right, so using it is not a failure.

What happens if I forget one of the moves?

Article 76 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law provides for a warning, and a fine of not more than RMB 2,000 may also be imposed, on the traveller and on the person accommodating them. Go to the local police station or an exit-entry service window today, or call +86-12367 first.