Announcement of the State Administration of Immigration on Pilot Implementation of Online Accommodation Registration for Foreigners Outside Hotels

According to Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC), if a foreigner stays in a hotel in China, the hotel shall handle the accommodation registration for him in accordance with the relevant provisions on public security management of the hotel industry, and submit the registration information of the foreigner’s accommodation to the local public security organ; If a foreigner lives or lodges in a residence other than a hotel, he or she shall register with the public security organ of the place of residence within 24 hours after staying. In order to further improve the convenience of foreigners living in China and facilitate foreigners staying outside hotels to apply for accommodation registration, since March 20, 2026, the State Administration of Immigration has piloted online accommodation registration services in seven provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) including Hebei, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangxi, Chongqing and Sichuan, and gradually promoted them nationwide according to the pilot situation.

Foreigners themselves or lodgers can register their accommodation online through the government service website of the National Immigration Bureau, the “Immigration 12367” application, the “Immigration 12367” WeChat applet or Alipay applet. In order to meet the needs of different groups, the offline channel to go to the public security organ of the place of residence to register accommodation continues to be retained. Online registration has the same effect as on-site registration with public security organs.