Registration, banking and utilities in Shanghai

Police registration

Foreign nationals living in private accommodation must register their temporary residence with the police within 24 hours of moving in or of arriving back in the country. Hotels do this automatically at check-in; landlords generally do not. Shanghai now takes most registrations online, through the police's self-service accommodation registration system (in English) or the Suishenban app, and most foreigners living in residential compounds use it. The alternative is the local station, the paichusuo, with your passport, visa or residence permit and the tenancy; expect the landlord's identity document and ownership certificate to be asked for too. Either way you end up with a registration record, and you will need it repeatedly.

• Register within 24 hours of moving in — and again after every international trip.
• Online: the Shanghai police's self-service accommodation system or the Suishenban app, with photos of your passport and lease.
• In person: passport, visa or residence permit, the lease and the landlord's documents.
• Keep the registration record; residence permit applications and renewals ask for it.

The work and residence permit chain

Employment in China runs on a sequenced chain rather than a single application: the employer obtains a work permit notification letter, you use it to get a Z visa, and after arrival you collect the work permit card and then a residence permit from the Exit-Entry Administration. The Z visa gives you thirty days from entry to complete that last step. Work permits are graded A, B or C on a points score for salary, education, experience and age, and the usual baseline is a bachelor's degree plus two years of relevant experience. Prepare the authentications before you leave — they are slow to obtain from inside China.

• Degree certificates and criminal record checks need an apostille (China joined the Apostille Convention in November 2023) or legalisation if your country is not a member.
• A medical examination at a designated centre is a standard part of the process; some checks done abroad are accepted.
• Your passport is held for up to about fifteen working days while the residence permit is processed, so plan no travel.
• Rules and categories change frequently — confirm current requirements with the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau or the National Immigration Administration rather than acting on this page.

Phone, bank and payments

A Chinese mobile number in your own name is the first practical step, because almost everything else verifies against it. The bank account follows, and typically wants your passport, residence permit, employment evidence and that phone number. Once the account exists, you link it to Alipay and WeChat Pay, which between them cover almost all everyday payment — cash is accepted by law but genuinely awkward in practice, and foreign cards are useful only in hotels and a handful of international retailers.

• SIM cards are sold on real-name registration against your passport.
• Bank account: passport, residence permit, employment letter, local number, local address.
• Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards link to Alipay and WeChat Pay, up to US$5,000 a payment and US$50,000 a year, with a 3% fee on payments above ¥200.
• Expect transfer limits and additional checks on foreign currency conversion.

Visa-free entry, and what it does not cover

Citizens of a long list of countries, including most of the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, can currently enter for up to thirty days without a visa, a unilateral arrangement that runs to 31 December 2026. A separate 240-hour transit rule lets 57 nationalities stay up to ten days on the way to a third country. Both are for visits, viewings and business meetings. Neither lets you take up paid work or apply for a residence permit, so a recce trip can be visa-free but the move itself needs the right visa from a consulate.

• Visa-free stays of up to 30 days for listed nationalities, extended to 31 December 2026; check whether yours is on the list.
• 240-hour visa-free transit needs an onward ticket to a third country or region.
• A Z, X1 or S1 visa is what converts to a residence permit; a visitor visa or visa-free entry does not.

Connectivity and daily infrastructure

A significant share of the services you currently use for work and personal life are not reachable from a domestic connection, and the situation changes without notice. Companies that operate here generally provide a corporate connection or a dedicated line for staff, and that is the arrangement to ask about before you arrive rather than after. Plan on Chinese equivalents for maps, messaging and payment regardless — WeChat in particular is not optional social software here, it is the address book, the payment method and the way your building's management contacts you.

• Ask your employer what corporate connectivity they provide before you arrive.
• WeChat carries payments, group chats, official accounts and building notices.
• Domestic maps and ride-hailing apps work well; the international ones largely do not.

In order

1. 1Get authentications and the criminal record certificate done at home before you fly.
2. 2Register your temporary residence online or at the police station within 24 hours of arriving.
3. 3Complete the medical examination if it is required for your permit.
4. 4Get a Chinese SIM registered in your own name.
5. 5Collect the work permit card, then apply for the residence permit within the required window.
6. 6Open a Chinese bank account and link Alipay and WeChat Pay.
7. 7Re-register with the police after every move and every re-entry to the country.