LAW OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON CONTROL OF THE ENTRY ANDEXIT OF ALIENSImportant Notice:This English document is coming from " LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GOVERNING FOREIGN-RELATED MATTERS" (1991.7) which is compiledby the Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the StateCouncil of the People’s Republic of China, and is published by the China Legal System Publishing House.In case of discrepancy, the original version in Chinese sha ll prevail.Whole DocumentLAW OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON CONTROL OF THE ENTRY AND EXIT OF ALIENS(Adopted at the 13th Meeting of the Standing Co mmittee of the Sixth National People’s Congress, pro mulgated by Order No. 31of the President of the People’s Republic of China onNovember 22, 1985, and effective as of February 1, 1986)ContentsChapter I General ProvisionsChapter II Entry into the CountryChapter III ResidenceChapter IV TravelChapter V Exit from the CountryChapter VI Administrative OrgansChapter VII PenaltiesChapter VIII Supplementary ProvisionsChapter I General Provisions Article 1This Law is formulated with a view to safeguarding the sove reignty of th e People’s Republic of China, maintaining its security andpublic order and facilitating international exchange. This Law is applicable to aliens entering, leaving and transiting the territory of the People’s Re public of China and to those residingand travelling in China.Article 2Aliens must obtain the permission of the competent authorities ofthe Chinese Government in order to enter, transit or reside inChina.Article 3For entry, exit and transit, aliens must pass through ports opento aliens or other designated ports and must be subject toinspection by the frontier inspection offices. For entry, exit andtransit, foreign-owned means of transport must pass through portsopen to aliens or other designated ports and mu st be subject to inspection and supervision by the front ier inspection offices.Article 4The Chinese Government shall protect the lawful rights a ndinterests of aliens on Chinese territory. Freedom of the person ofaliens is inviolable. No alien may be arrested exc ept with theapproval or by decision of a people’s procuratorate or b y decision of a people’s court, and arrest must be made by a public securityorgan or state security organ.Article 5Aliens in China must abide by Chinese laws and may not enda nger the state security of China, harm public interests or disrupt public order.Chapter II Entry into the CountryArticle 6For entry into China, aliens shall apply for visas from Chinese diplomatic missions, consular offices or other resi dent agenciesabroad authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Inspecific situations aliens may, in complianc e with the provisions of the State Council, apply for visas to visa-granting offices atports designated by the competent authorities of the ChineseGovernment.The entry of nationals from countries having vis a agreementswith the Chinese Government shall be handled in accor dance with those agreements. In cases where another country has specialprovisions for Chinese citizens entering and transiting thatcountry, the competent authorities of the Ch inese Governmentmay adopt reciprocal measures contingent on the circumstances.Visas are not required for aliens in immedia te transit onconnected international flights who hold passenger ticke ts andstay for no more than 24 hours in China entirely within airport boundaries. Anyone desiring to leave the airp ort temporarily must obtain permission from the frontier inspection office.Article 7When applying for various kinds of visas, alien s shall present valid passports and, if necessary, provide pertinent evidence.Article 8Aliens who have been invited or hired to work in China shall,when applying for visas, produce evidence of the invitation oremployment.Article 9Aliens desiring to reside permanently in China shall, wh enapplying for visas, present status-of-residence identifi cation forms.Applicants may obtain such forms from public security or gans atthe place where they intend to reside.Article 10The competent authorities of the Chinese Government shallissue appropriate visas to aliens according to the pu rposes statedin their entry applications.Article 11When an aircraft or a vessel navigating international ro utesarrives at a Chinese port, the captain or his agent m ust submit a passenger name list to the frontier insp ection office; a foreign aircraft or vessel must also pr ovide a name list of its crew members.Article 12Aliens who are considered a possible threat to China’s sta tesecurity and public order shall not be permitted to ente r China.Chapter III ResidenceArticle 13For residence in China, aliens must possess ide ntification papers orresidence certificates issued by the competent authorize s ofthe Chinese Government. The term of validity of ident ificationpapers or residence certificates shall be determined according to the purposes of entry.Aliens residing in China shall submit their certif icates to thelocal public security organs for examination within t heprescribed period of time.Article 14Aliens who, in compliance with Chinese law s, find it necessary toestablish prolonged residence in China for the purpose ofinvesting in China or engaging in cooperative proje cts withChinese enterprises or institutions in the econ omic, scientific,technological and cultural fields, or for other purpo ses, areeligible for prolonged or permanent residence i n China uponapproval by the competent authorities of the Chinese Government.Article 15Aliens who seek asylum for political reasons shall be permi ttedto reside in China upon approval by the comp etent authorities ofthe Chinese Government.Article 16Aliens who fail to abide by Chinese laws may have their per iod of stay in China curtailed or their status of reside nce in Chinaannulled by the competent authorities of the Chinese Government.For a temporary overnight stay in Chin a, aliens shall completeregistration procedures pursuant to the relevant provisi ons.Article 18Aliens holding residence certificates who wish to chang e theirplace of residence in China must complete removal formalitiespursuant to the relevant provisions.Article 19Aliens who have not acquired residence certificates or who are on a study programme in China may not seek employmen t in Chinawithout permission of the competent authorities of the C hineseGovernment.Chapter IV TravelAliens who hold valid visas or residence certificates may t ravel to places open to aliens as designated by the Chinese Government.Article 21Aliens desiring to travel to places closed to aliens must a pply tolocal public security organs for travel permits.Chapter V Exit from the Country Article 22For exit from China, aliens shall present their valid passp orts orother valid certificates.Article 23Aliens belonging to any of the following categories shall n ot be allowed to leave China:(1) defendants in criminal cases or criminal suspe cts confirmedby a public security organ, a people’s procuratorate or a people’scourt;(2) persons who, as notified by a people’s court, shal l be deniedexit owing to involvement in unresolved civil cases; and (3) persons who have committed other acts in violation of C hinese law who have not been dealt with and aga inst whom thecompetent authorities consider it necessary to institute prosecution.Article 24Frontier inspection offices shall have the power to stop aliensbelonging to any of the following categories from leavin g thecountry and to deal with them according to law:(1) holders of invalid exit certificates;(2) holders of exit certificates other than their own; a nd3) holders of forged or altered exit certificates.Chapter VI Administrative Organs Article 25China’s diplomatic missions, consular offices and other re sidentagencies abroad authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affai rs shall be the Chinese Government’s agencies abroad to handle aliens’applications for entry and transit.The Ministry of Public Security, its authorized local public security organs, the Ministry of Fo reign Affairs and its authorizedlocal foreign affairs departments shall be the Chinese G overnment’sagencies in China to handle aliens’ applicatio ns for entry, transit,residence and travel.The authorities handling aliens’applicatio ns for entry, transit,residence and travel shall have the power to refuse to issue visasand certificates or to cancel visas and certificates alread y issued or declare them invalid.The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreig nAffairs may, when necessary, alter decisions made by theirrespectively authorized agencies.Article 27An alien who enters or resides in China illegally ma y bedetained for examination or be subjected to residential surveillance or deportation by a public security organ a t or above the countylevel.While performing their duties, foreign affairs police of the publicsecurity organs at or above the county level shall have the powerto examine the passports and other certificates of alien s. Whenconducting such examinations, the foreign affairs polic e shallproduce their own service certificates, and relevant organizations or individuals shall have the duty to offer t hem assistance.Chapter VII PenaltiesArticle 29If a person, in violation of the provisions of this Law, en ters orleaves China illegally, establishes illegal res idence or makes anillegal stopover in China, travels to places closed to alienswithout a valid travel document, forges or alters an entry or exitcertificate, uses another person’s certificate as his o wn or transfers his certificate, he may be penalized by a public security organ ator above the county level with a warning, a fine or d etention fornot more than ten days. If the circumstances of the case areserious enough to constitute a crime, crimin al responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the law.If an alien subject to a fine or detention by a public security organ refuses to accept th e penalty, he may, within 15 days ofreceiving notification, appeal to the public securit y organ atthe next higher level, which shall make the final decision; hemay also directly file suit in the local people’s court.Article 30In cases where a person commits any of the acts stated i n Article 29 of this Law, if the circumstanc es are serious, the Ministryof Public Security may impose a penalty by ordering h im toleave the country within a certain time or may expel him from the country.Chapter VIII Supplementary ProvisionsArticle 31For the purposes of this Law the term "alien" means any per sonnot holding Chinese nationality according to the Nati onality Lawof the Peop le’s Republic of China.Article 32Transitory entry into and exit from China by aliens who arenationals of a country adjacent to China and who reside in areasbordering on China shall be handled according to any relevantagreements between the two countries or, in the ab sence of suchagreements, according to the relevant provisions of the Chi neseGovernment.Article 33The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall, pursuant to this Law, formulate rules for i ts implementation, which shall go into effect after bein g submitted to and approvedby the State Council.Article 34Affairs concerning members of foreign diplomatic miss ions andconsular offices in the People’s Republic of China a nd otheraliens who enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities, after theirentry into China, shall be administered in accordance wi th therelevant provisions of the State Council and its c ompetentdepartments.Article 35This Law shall go into effect on February 1, 1986.。