Chengdu Accommodation Registration: Online & Offline Process

CdExpat Team

May 7, 2026

1 Comment

Housing, Tips & Essentials

• As most people are aware of, foreign nationals must register at the local Chengdu police station within 24 hours:1. Upon first arrival in Chengdu
2. When changing residential address
3. When obtaining a new visa or residence permit

• Late registration may result in fines, and failure to comply can lead to fines or serious penalties.
NOTE: After you return from abroad after each trip, you are NO longer to required to re-register, as long as you’re returning to the same address before vacation.
Since 2020 you able to register both at your local police station (派出所) OR online, although the online system is quite buggy.

• Below is more information about both the offline and online registration process:

Register within 24 hours

Per China’s Exit-Entry Administration Law Article 39, foreigners staying outside hotels in Chengdu must finish police accommodation registration within 24 hours for first arrival, address changes, or new visa updates.

Re-registration is no longer needed when returning from abroad to your same registered home address under the latest 2026 updated rules. Late registration may lead to a warning or fine up to 2000 yuan, though a common 10-day grace period applies in practice.

We would definitely recommend you to do this within 24 hours, although it seems no fine will be implemented if you go before 10 days of landing.

Further info on the process:

Register Offline

Let’s hope your HR helps out with this… because it’s often needs a lot of paper work. For the registration, you usually need to (each time you return) hand in a copy of the following documents at the local police station or community center:
1) Passport + visa pages + last entry date stamp
2) Valid rental contract (房屋租赁合同)
3) Real estate certificate (房权证) + copy of landlord’s ID card (房东身份证复印件)

After you checked if all information is correct, you will receive a “Registration voucher of residence for visitors from overseas”, the authority needs to stamp it. Keep this document, as you might need it for your visa process. Do not throw it away.

Register Online

Tip: As some information (eg.: name of local police station) has to be selected in Chinese, the help of a Chinese friend will definitely be helpful.

First, take a picture of your passport + visa page + rental agreement. Having your Chinese address ready in notes will also help.

Second, you have to click/ follow the official account below, then click ‘Foreign Citizen’ to register.

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Alternatively, you can search the official account ‘ 四川公安出入境’ below and click ‘Foreign Citizen’ to register.

Then click “Foreign Citizen”, follow the instructions via the app.

After submitting the information, check back later (the result will be out within 24 hours) to see if the registration has been accepted or denied. lf it is approved, you can download the receipt and print it by yourself.

For any questions, call 028-86301850

You can also reach the registration service by following WeChat Official account of Chengdu Exit & Entry Administration. You can follow the instructions below.