出境入境管理规定：申请事由与材料须真实

English

China's Exit-and-Entry Rules: Applications Must Be Truthful

The State Council's Regulations on the Administration of Exit and Entry set out a truthfulness obligation for applications and new rules for agencies that handle paperwork on an applicant's behalf. For foreigners planning to come to China, two points matter most: the purpose and documents in a visa or residence application must be genuine and lawful, and any agency you engage to handle the paperwork must be a properly filed, compliant one. This article summarises the points relevant to people applying to come to China.

• What the document is: issued in the form of a State Council decree, it is an administrative regulation, a targeted piece of legislation addressing pressing problems in exit-and-entry administration. It sits alongside the Exit and Entry Administration Law and its supporting regulations and rules.
• What it requires of applicants: Article 2 states that the purpose given by a person applying to enter or leave China, or to stay or reside in China, must be genuine and lawful. An expert commentary published on the National Immigration Administration website notes that this matches Article 31 of the Administrative Licensing Law, which requires applicants to submit truthful materials, reflect the true situation and be responsible for the substantive authenticity of what they submit.
• What it requires of agencies: China applies a filing (record-keeping) system to firms and individuals that, for a fee or commission, provide exit-and-entry policy advice, document handling and procedural assistance on behalf of applicants. Such firms must have staff with knowledge of exit-and-entry laws and policies, as well as funds, premises and sound management systems suited to the business.
• Prohibited conduct: agencies may not publish false information or attract clients through exaggeration or misleading publicity; may not provide or help provide false materials, or help anyone obtain visas, stay or residence permits, passports or other documents or procedures in violation of the rules; and may not disclose or sell personal information learned in the course of business.
• Legal liability: operating without filing, or issuing false materials to obtain exit-and-entry documents, can lead to orders to rectify within a deadline, confiscation of illegal gains, fines and revocation of the business licence; criminal liability applies where an offence is constituted.
• What it means for people applying to come to China: foreigners submitting visa applications at Chinese embassies, consulates or visa application centres, and applying for stay or residence permits inside China, are equally bound by the requirement that the purpose be genuine and lawful. If you use an agency, check first whether the firm and the individual handling your case have completed filing.

This is not a departmental rule but an administrative regulation at State Council level. It does not replace the Exit and Entry Administration Law; it refines that law on issues that have become pressing, for example linking fraudulently obtained exit-and-entry documents and administrative detention for illegal border crossing to the rules on being barred from leaving China, and establishing, for the first time in a regulation, a filing and supervision system for intermediary agencies.

For people applying to come to China, the practical impact centres on documents: the purpose of entry stated on the visa form, the invitation letter or enrolment certificate, and the travel and accommodation details all need to match reality. The expert commentary stresses that this is not a new formality but a long-standing principle of administrative licensing — the applicant is responsible for the substantive truth of the materials, and bears the consequences of misrepresentation.

When choosing an agency, check two things. First, whether the firm has completed filing: according to an incomplete count cited in the expert commentary, by June 2026 more than 160,000 businesses had private exit-and-entry intermediary services in their registered scope, a large and uneven field. The National Immigration Administration maintains a nationwide public register of filed agencies, so you can check whether the firm and the individual case handler are listed before you pay. Second, who prepares the materials: even when an agency fills in the forms or drafts the itinerary, the applicant remains responsible for their accuracy, and any promise of a guaranteed visa or guaranteed approval falls outside what the rules allow. The specific documents, deadlines and filing authorities are set out in the filing measures published under Announcement No. 6 of 2026 by the National Immigration Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation.

The above is a summary of key points only. Please refer to the official announcement for the authoritative version.