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Regulations on Examination and Approval of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China

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Approved by the State Council on December 3, 1986, promulgated by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 27,1986, amended with the approval of the State Council on July 13, 1994 and promulgated by the Ministry of the Public Security and the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs on July 15, 1994)

These Rules are formulated in accordance with Article 33 of The Law of the People's Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens(hereinafter referred to as The Law on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens).

Chapter I

Entry into the Country

Article 1 For entry into China, aliens shall apply for visas from Chinese diplomatic missions, consular posts or other resident agencies abroad authorized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Aliens who hold ordinary passports issued by countries which have diplomatic relations or official trade contacts with China as well as letters or telegrams from authorized organization in China, may, under any of the following circumstances where they must necessarily rush to China but have no time for visa application to the aforesaid agencies, apply for visas to the visa-granting agency at the entry port as authorized by the Ministry of Public Security:

(1) they are invited at the last moment by a Chinese host to come to China for a trade fair;

(2) they are invited to China to make a tender or to formally sign an economic or trade contract;

(3) they come to China by appointment to supervise an export shipment, inspect an import commodity or to participate in a check-and-accept operation in accordance with contracts;

(4) they are invited to participate in the installation of equipment or in the emergency repair of an engineering project;

(5) they come to China at the request of the Chinese side to solve a problem of claims;

(6) they are invited to come to provide technical advisory services;

(7) they come to China due to a last-minute change in the composition of a visiting group which took place after the visa had been granted to the group and which is approved by the Chinese side;

(8) they come to China to see patients in critical conditions, or to undertake funeral matters;

(9) owing to force majeure, persons in immediate transit cannot leave the country within 24 hours by taking the original plane, or have to change to other means of transport for leaving the country; or

(10) they are invited to China for other matters, and really have no time to apply for visa to the aforesaid Chinese resident agencies abroad but hold letters or telegrams from the designated competent authorities that give the consent for them to apply for visa from the visa-granting agency at the entry port.

Visa-granting agencies at entry ports shall not handle visa applications of aliens who do not come under the aforesaid circumstances.

Article 2 Visa-granting agencies at entry ports, as authorized by the Ministry of Public Security, are stationed at the following ports: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Dalian, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Xi'an, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, Guangzhou (Baiyun Airport), Shenzhen (Luohu, Shekou) and Zhuhai (Gongbei).

Article 3 Different categories of visa, such as diplomatic, courtesy, service and ordinary visas, shall be issued to different aliens in accordance with the different status in which they visit China and the different categories of passport they hold.

Article 4 According to the stated purpose of aliens' visit to China, the ordinary visas shall be marked with certain Chinese phonetic letters:

(1) D visa to aliens who come to China for permanent residence;

(2) Z visa to aliens and their accompanying family members who come to China for a post or employment;

(3) X visa to aliens who come to China to study, to engage in advanced studies, or to do fieldwork, for a period of 6 months or more;

(4) F visa to aliens who are invited to China for a visit, investigations, giving lectures, doing business, carrying out scientific, technical or cultural exchanges, or for short-term advanced studies or fieldwork, etc. for a period of not exceeding 6 months;

(5) L visa to aliens who come to China for sightseeing or visiting relatives or for other private purposes (group visa may be issued to a group of nine or more aliens on a sightseeing trip to China);

(6) G visa to aliens passing through China;

(7) C visa to train attendants, airline crews and seamen and their accompanying family members in international operations; and

(8) J-1 visa to aliens who come to China as a resident correspondent, whileJ-2 visa to foreign correspondents who come to China for covering special events.

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