In a hotel in China, registration is handled for you at check-in. In an apartment, a friend’s spare room or anything booked through a short-let platform, it is your job. Nothing in the booking process mentions it.
The rule
Foreigners staying in private homes must register their accommodation within 24 hours of arrival.
Failure to register can bring a warning and a fine. Article 76 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law allows a fine of not more than 2,000 yuan alongside the warning. The hotel side of the same rule, where the property files it for you, carries its own separate penalty.
Registering online
Online registration has the same legal effect as registering in person. You can use:
- the National Immigration Administration website
- the NIA 12367 app
- the NIA 12367 WeChat mini program
- Alipay
Limit: online registration is a pilot, currently running in seven provincial-level regions including Hebei, Liaoning and Zhejiang. Outside those areas you still register in person, so check before you rely on the app.
Ask your host
Complete the first registration with the help of whoever owns or manages the accommodation. They hold details you will not have, and they have usually done it before. Ask before you arrive, not at the door.
Choosing where to stay
The duty can be settled at booking. A licensed hotel files the registration as part of check-in, so on a short trip it never reaches you, and filtering for licensed hotels while you are still searching settles it early.
The doubt is with independent guesthouses and small city hotels, since the chains all file it. Establish whether an independent property takes foreign guests and files the registration while you are still choosing. If you hold or want status with a chain, book direct as usual: a third-party booking forfeits points and night credit, and the registration is handled either way.
If the private stay is already booked, the rest of this page applies.
When you do not need to repeat it
You do not need to register again for a repeat stay at a residence where you have registered before. Foreigners returning to their own residence in China after travelling do not need to re-register either.
Find an independent property that takes foreign guests and files the registration (affiliate link)