Registration, banking and utilities in Shanghai

Police registration

Foreign nationals living in private accommodation must register their temporary residence at the local police station, the paichusuo, within 24 hours of moving in or of arriving back in the country. Hotels do this automatically at check-in; landlords generally do not. Take your passport, your visa or residence permit, and the tenancy, and expect the landlord's identity document and ownership certificate to be requested too. You leave with a registration form, and you will need it repeatedly.

• Register within 24 hours of moving in — and again after every international trip.
• Bring passport, visa or residence permit, the lease and the landlord's documents.
• Keep the registration slip; permit renewals and some bank processes ask for it.
• Some districts allow online or app-based registration; ask the local station what they accept.

The work and residence permit chain

Employment in China runs on a sequenced chain rather than a single application: an employer-side notification, then a visa, then the physical work permit card, then a residence permit issued by the Exit-Entry Administration. Each step has a window and the last one is normally required within thirty days of entry. The evidence commonly asked for includes authenticated qualifications, a criminal record certificate legalised in your home country, and a medical examination. Prepare the authentications before you leave — they are slow to obtain from inside China.

• Degree certificates and criminal record checks usually need notarisation and legalisation or apostille at home.
• A medical examination at a designated centre is a standard part of the process.
• The residence permit is issued by the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau, not by your employer.
• Rules and categories change frequently — confirm current requirements with the Exit-Entry Administration or a licensed adviser 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 cards can now be linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay with limits, which covers the first weeks.
• Expect transfer limits and additional checks on foreign currency conversion.

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 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.