If you haven’t been living under a rock and you’re a foreigner living in China, you’ve probably heard about the new regulations affecting visa applications and renewals that took effect on 15 September 2026. They have been described as the most significant changes to China’s exit-entry administration in nearly a decade, following the major work-permit reforms introduced in 2016 and rolled out nationwide in 2017.
But with so many articles and so much information circulating, what actually changed, and how does it affect you, me and everyone else? In this article, we’ll break down the main changes and explain them in simple terms.
First, we need to understand what came into effect. Two instruments took effect on 15 September 2026: the Provisions of the State Council on Exit-Entry Administration (Order No. 841) and the Administrative Measures for the Filing of Institutions and Personnel Providing Exit-Entry Intermediary Services.
These introduce requirements concerning the authenticity of applications, the oversight of immigration intermediaries and other exit-entry matters. They do not replace the existing foreign employment and residence framework. Instead, they build on it by strengthening verification, regulatory oversight and accountability.
Truthful applications and actual activities
Article 3 of Order 841 requires the reasons given for entry, exit, stay and residence to be genuine and lawful. Authorities may question applicants and examine supporting documents, records and electronic data. Companies and individuals issuing invitation letters or other supporting materials are responsible for their truthfulness and must cooperate with verification.
What does this mean in practice? For example, someone holding a business visa may be asked to demonstrate that the business activities described in their application are genuine. The inviting company may also be asked to explain its relationship with the visa holder and provide supporting evidence. When applying for an extension, the applicant may need to explain why further time in China is necessary.
A fabricated invitation or a false account of the intended activities can have consequences for both the applicant and anyone responsible for providing false supporting materials. However, a genuine business relationship ending or a planned transaction falling through does not, by itself, mean the original application was fraudulent. The important questions are whether the information was truthful when provided and whether the person’s current activities remain consistent with their permitted purpose of stay.
Article 5 allows a discretionary entry restriction of one to five years where a foreigner provides false materials or makes false statements when applying abroad for a Chinese visa or seeking entry at a port. This is not an automatic consequence of every error in a domestic renewal application.
The practical message is straightforward: your explanation must accurately reflect what you are doing. Saying that your employer, clients or bank account are overseas does not, by itself, establish that work performed from China is authorized.
It is also important to distinguish two visa categories that are often confused. M visas cover commercial and trade activities. F visas cover exchanges, visits, study tours and similar activities. Neither provides general permission to take up employment in China.
M Visa – Business and Trade (商务)
The M visa is China’s business and trade visa. It is issued for commercial activities such as attending trade fairs, visiting clients, factories and suppliers, negotiating contracts, sourcing products and conducting sales meetings.
Applicants normally need supporting documents from a Chinese trade partner or event organizer, such as a genuine invitation letter or trade-fair invitation. The information must accurately describe the intended visit.
M visas may be issued for single, double or multiple entries. The permitted stay varies; 30, 60 or 90 days per entry are common examples, but the period printed on your visa is what matters. Some nationalities may qualify for visas valid for several years, including ten-year visas. A visa’s validity period is not permission to remain in China continuously for that entire period.
An M visa does not provide general permission to take up employment in China. Business visits and employment are different activities, and the appropriate authorization depends on what you will actually be doing.
F Visa – Exchanges and Visits (访问)
The F visa covers exchanges, visits, study tours and similar activities. Examples include academic, cultural and religious exchanges, NGO exchange activities, certain volunteering arrangements lasting no more than 90 days, and visits under an official foreign-expert invitation.
Applicants normally need an invitation from a relevant organization or individual in China. Depending on the activity, this might be a university, research institute or another host organization. The permitted stay and number of entries depend on the visa issued.
An F visa is not a general employment visa either. Activities involving volunteering, research, performances or expert services must be assessed under the rules applicable to that particular activity; describing something as an “exchange” does not automatically make it eligible.
What about visa-free entry?
China’s published unilateral visa-free policy currently covers ordinary-passport holders from 50 countries for visits of up to 30 days for permitted purposes, including business and exchanges. Separate bilateral visa-exemption arrangements also exist. Eligible visitors may therefore be able to make a short business trip without applying for a visa.
However, visa-free entry does not provide general permission to take up employment or establish long-term residence in China.
Business visits and living in China are different things
M and F visas authorize particular activities for a permitted period. They should not be treated as substitutes for appropriate work and residence authorization.
Repeated entry is not automatically unlawful: multiple-entry visas exist to accommodate repeated legitimate visits. However, someone effectively based in China through successive business visits may be asked to explain their activities, their reasons for remaining and whether their circumstances still match their immigration status.
If their day-to-day activities amount to employment in China, repeatedly leaving and re-entering does not remove the requirement to obtain the appropriate work authorization. Tax and income-declaration obligations must also be assessed separately.
The practical point is that your immigration status must match your actual activities. This is where the new emphasis on truthful applications and verification becomes relevant, and it brings us to another argument frequently raised.
Remote work: the relevant rules already exist
The absence of a provision labelled “remote work” does not create permission to perform a regular overseas job from China on non-work status. The legal basis extends beyond the September measures.
Overseas contracts and overseas pay are expressly addressed
The argument that “my employer is overseas and I am paid abroad” is already addressed in Chinese employment rules.
Paragraph 1 of Labor Ministry General Office Notice 劳办发〔1996〕65号, issued on 19 April 1996, states that a foreigner whose employment contract is with an overseas legal entity, whose remuneration comes from overseas and who works in China for more than three months is treated as employed in China. The required employment and immigration formalities therefore apply, subject to a specified exception for certain engineering and technical personnel implementing technology-transfer agreements.
The Ministry of Commerce’s legal database lists the notice as currently effective, although it uses the employment-document terminology of the time.
An overseas contract and overseas salary do not, by themselves, exempt someone from China’s employment requirements. The notice does not specifically mention internet-based work, but its wording provides a direct basis for assessing sustained remote employment performed physically in China.
Its reference to three months should not be interpreted as permission to work freely for a shorter period. Short-term activities remain subject to the rules applicable to the activity and the person’s immigration status.
Tax obligations also matter
Being paid overseas does not automatically mean your income falls outside China’s tax system. Income from work physically performed in China can be treated as China-source income, even when the employer, clients and receiving bank account are overseas. Your tax obligations depend on factors including tax residency, the nature of the income and any applicable exemptions or tax treaty. These obligations are separate from immigration requirements: paying tax does not authorize otherwise unauthorized work, and holding a family residence permit does not exempt you from tax.
Family residence, work authorization and truthful declarations
Living in China with your spouse or family on a family visa or residence permit does not automatically give you the right to work here. A family-reunion residence permit is not a work permit. A genuine family relationship provides a basis for family residence; it does not exempt the holder from employment requirements.
Article 2 of the Provisions on the Employment of Foreigners in China defines employment by reference to remunerated labor performed in China by foreigners without settlement rights. Article 8 expressly restricts employment by accompanying family members of foreign workers unless they complete the required approvals and changes to their immigration status. Although these provisions use older document names, they must be read alongside the current work-permit system.
The Exit-Entry Administration Law reinforces this framework. Article 37 prohibits activities inconsistent with the purpose of stay or residence. Articles 41 and 43 require the prescribed work authorization and classify unauthorized work as illegal employment. The National Immigration Administration’s enforcement standards also identify working outside the authorized employer or geographical scope as illegal employment. These general requirements also apply when assessing work undertaken by foreign spouses of Chinese citizens.
Someone regularly performing an overseas job from their home in China cannot establish compliance simply by pointing to an overseas contract, a foreign salary account or their family residence permit. Independent consulting and running an online business similarly require an assessment of the actual activities and applicable authorization. Calling the work “remote” does not create an exemption.
Work authorization and truthful declarations are separate obligations. Someone may accurately disclose their overseas employment arrangements but still lack the authorization required to perform that work from China. If they also deny working or misrepresent their activities because their employer or clients are overseas, this raises an additional concern about the accuracy of the information provided to immigration authorities.
Order 841 strengthens application verification alongside existing employment controls. Applicants must therefore consider both whether their activities are authorized and whether their declarations accurately reflect what they are doing.
Sponsoring employers: requirements communicated in practice
Another issue frequently raised is whether companies now face stricter requirements when employing foreigners or renewing their work permits. There is considerable discussion about new regulations making it harder for foreigners to run businesses in China. While establishing a company and obtaining a work permit through it may have become more demanding in practice, this is not an entirely new issue, and the situation is more nuanced than those discussions often suggest.
Registering a company has never automatically entitled its foreign owner to a work permit. The company and the applicant must satisfy the relevant employment and immigration requirements.
As in many other countries, China’s foreign-employment framework takes the domestic labor market into account. Employers must be able to justify the foreign employee’s role, rather than assuming that any position can simply be filled by a foreign national. For a foreign entrepreneur, this also means demonstrating that the business is genuine and contributes to the local economy, including through local employment where required.
Office premises are another important requirement. A minimum office area of 30 m² has long been required for foreign entrepreneurs seeking work and residence authorization through their own companies.
In practical terms, an office of that size can accommodate a small team, for example, the foreign entrepreneur and two local employees. The underlying point is that the premises should support a functioning business, with sufficient space for its actual staff and activities.
Although not all of the specific thresholds have been formally published, authorities have communicated requirements for particular applications concerning operating premises, Chinese staffing, social insurance contributions, genuine business activity, and tax filings or payments. Office suitability is now receiving closer scrutiny. Figures encountered include two or three Chinese employees, at least two months of social insurance contribution records and, in some cities, approximately RMB 5,000 in annual corporate income tax.
Businesses should prepare valid leases, staffing and social insurance records, tax documents, contracts or orders, and evidence explaining the foreign employee’s role. Company registration alone does not demonstrate the genuine operations needed to support an application.
Although the new national regulations took effect on 15 September 2026, we began seeing closer scrutiny of these employer requirements around August 2026. We have seen both new applications and renewals refused because the sponsoring company had no Chinese employees or its office premises were considered inadequate. For applicants, these are practical requirements that can determine the outcome of an application, even where the specific thresholds have not been publicly set out.
Immigration service providers: mandatory filing and ongoing oversight
The final major change primarily affects us—the companies and people providing immigration services. However, it also matters to anyone choosing a provider to assist with their application.
The new regulations establish a mandatory filing framework for providers of paid immigration policy advice, document assistance and procedural services relating to tourism, business, study, work and settlement. Agencies and relevant personnel must complete the required filing with the competent authorities. Branches operating across different regions must file locally.
Providers already operating before the regulations took effect have 90 days from 15 September 2026 to complete their filing. Newly established providers must file within 15 days of establishment, while existing companies entering this field must file within 15 days of starting the relevant activities.
Companies such as Personal Connect must therefore complete this regulatory filing to comply with the requirements governing these services. The process requires agency and personnel information, identity and employment evidence, relevant criminal-record declarations, proof of operating premises, and internal procedures covering personnel management, training, record retention, data security and compliance. Providers offering outbound intermediary services must also submit the required evidence of cooperation with overseas service organizations.
The obligations continue after filing. Providers must maintain client and service records, cooperate with regulatory inspections, and update specified changes to their filed information within 15 days.
Personal Connect has completed the required filing and received its filing certificate. This confirms our compliance with the filing requirements; it does not guarantee approval of any individual visa, work-permit or residence-permit application.
What applicants should take from these changes
The main message is straightforward: your immigration status, actual activities and declarations must be consistent. An overseas employer, foreign bank account or family residence permit does not, by itself, establish that your work arrangements are compliant or remove potential tax obligations.
Employers sponsoring foreign workers should be prepared to demonstrate genuine business operations, suitable premises and compliance with the requirements applicable to their applications.
If you use an immigration service provider, check whether it has completed the required filing, taking account of the transition period for existing providers.
Official sources
- State Council Order 841, official government reproduction, especially Articles 3 and 5.
- NIA/SAMR intermediary filing measures, Announcement No. 6 of 2026.
- Labor Ministry Notice 劳办发〔1996〕65号, Ministry of Commerce legal database, paragraph 1; database reproduces externally supplied legal text and identifies it as currently effective.
- Provisions on the Employment of Foreigners in China, NIA publication, Articles 2 and 8.
- Exit-Entry Administration Law, NIA English publication, Articles 32, 37, 41, 43, 62, 73, 80 and 81; Chinese text controls.
- NIA identification and penalty standards for exit-entry violations, section 24.
- Individual Income Tax Law Implementing Regulations, State Taxation Administration, Articles 2–5.
- MOF/STA Announcement No. 35 of 2019, income sourcing and salary allocation.
- Individual Income Tax Law, State Taxation Administration, Article 1.
- Shenzhen work-permit extension guidance.
- Shenzhen residence-permit extension attendance guidance.
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