The "Regulations of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration" have been announced, clarifying the application requirements for exit and entry.

On July 31, the "Regulations of the State Council on Exit and Entry Management" were announced, to come into effect on September 15, 2026. The regulations consist of 19 articles aimed at standardizing exit and entry management, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of individuals exiting and entering the country, and safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests. The regulations mainly reflect four aspects: First, improving the exit safety risk prevention system, stipulating that relevant departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Culture, and Tourism of the State Council should promptly release overseas safety warnings and travel destination security risk tips; Second, clarifying the requirements for exit and entry applications, stating that the reasons provided by individuals for exiting and entering the country or for temporary residence should be truthful and legal; Third, refining exit and entry restriction measures, indicating circumstances under which Chinese citizens are legally prohibited from exiting the country and foreigners are banned from entering; Fourth, regulating exit and entry intermediary services, requiring record management for organizations and personnel engaged in such services. Original text: Regulations of the State Council on Exit and Entry Management Article 1 In order to standardize exit and entry management, protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals exiting and entering the country, and safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the "Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China" and other laws. Article 2 The country establishes and improves the safety risk prevention system for Chinese citizens exiting the country. The relevant departments of the State Council, including those in charge of foreign affairs, culture, and tourism, as well as diplomatic missions abroad, should promptly publicly release safety warnings and travel destination security risk tips based on safety situations such as wars or armed conflicts, social security conditions, natural disasters, accidents, and infectious disease outbreaks in relevant countries and regions. Chinese citizens should pay attention to safety warnings and travel destination security risk tips and avoid traveling to or residing in high-risk countries or regions. Immigration management agencies, when processing and approving Chinese citizens' applications for exit and entry documents and carrying out exit border inspections, should alert Chinese citizens intending to travel to high-risk countries or regions to be cautious or to closely monitor the local safety situation, remain vigilant, strengthen precautions, and pay attention to safety. Specifically, for Chinese citizens preparing to travel to countries or regions deemed as having the highest risk levels or experiencing serious risks to personal safety, they should be advised against traveling when necessary. Article 3 The reasons provided by individuals for exiting and entering the country, or for temporary residence, must be truthful and legal. Immigration management agencies and visa authorities may inquire about relevant circumstances, require individuals to present or provide related documents, materials, electronic data and other information when verifying the identity and application reasons of those exiting and entering the country, and those individuals must cooperate. Organizations or individuals providing invitations or other application materials for those exiting and entering the country must be responsible for the truthfulness of the invitation content and confirming matters and cooperate with immigration management agencies and visa authorities in verifying the relevant information. If individuals provide false materials or make false statements, immigration management agencies and visa authorities have the right to refuse to issue exit and entry documents or deny their exit or entry. Article 4 Chinese citizens who are administratively detained for fraudulent acquisition of exit and entry documents or illegal exit and entry may be prohibited from exiting the country for a period of 6 months to 3 years from the date the penalty is completed, based on the nature of the violation and the need to prevent illegal activities. Chinese citizens who engage in illegal criminal activities abroad that endanger national security and interests may be forbidden by relevant departments of the State Council or, after verification by diplomatic missions, by the provincial people's government in their domicile from exiting the country for a period of 6 months to 3 years from the date of their return. Those who violate export controls, technology import and export management regulations, and may endanger national economic security or technological security may be prohibited from exiting the country by relevant departments of the State Council, such as commerce. Article 5 Foreigners who provide false materials or make false statements when applying for a Chinese visa abroad or at a port of entry can be prohibited from entering the country for between 1 to 5 years by immigration management agencies and visa authorities. Foreigners who are subjected to criminal penalties for obstructing national (border) management or administratively penalized for fraudulent acquisition of exit and entry documents, illegal exit, or entry may be prohibited from entering the country for 1 to 5 years from the completion of their penalties, depending on the violation circumstances and the need to prevent illegal activities. If laws provide otherwise, such provisions prevail. Measures regarding foreigners being listed in countermeasures, unreliable entity lists, malicious entity lists, or being subject to countermeasures and restrictions requiring legal action for not issuing exit and entry documents or denying entry should be implemented by immigration management agencies and visa authorities as per their responsibilities. Article 6 For individuals deemed legally prohibited from exiting the country, the deciding authority should promptly notify immigration management agencies to enforce the decision and provide written notice to the individual regarding the facts, reasons, basis for denial of exit, and avenues for relief; if there are considerations that could affect national security, criminal investigations, etc., notification to the individual may be omitted. When immigration management agencies execute the exit prohibition decision, they should inform the individual according to the contents notified by the deciding authority. Article 7 The nation implements record management for organizations and individuals entrusted by exit and entry persons to provide consulting services on exit and entry policies, document handling, and related procedures. Organizations engaged in exit and entry intermediary services should register with the local immigration management agency within 15 days from the date of establishment. Staff engaged in exit and entry intermediary services should register through their organization. Those who have been providing exit and entry intermediary services prior to these regulations must complete the registration procedures within 90 days from the date these regulations take effect. The specific methods for record management of organizations and personnel engaged in exit and entry intermediary services will be formulated by the national immigration management department along with the relevant departments of the State Council, such as market supervision. Article 8 Organizations engaging in exit and entry intermediary services must meet the following conditions: (1) Legally established; (2) The legal representative or responsible person has not been criminally punished for intentional crimes; (3) There are staff with specialized knowledge of relevant laws, regulations, and policies related to exit and entry, and appropriate funds and premises for the intermediary services provided; (4) Staff directly providing intermediary services to those exiting and entering must not have been criminally punished for intentional crimes that endanger national security, public safety, or border management; (5) There must be sound management systems, including personnel management, education and training, document preservation, data security, compliance management, etc. Organizations providing exit intermediary services must have established cooperative relationships or signed effective collaboration agreements with relevant overseas service organizations. Overseas enterprises or institutions are not allowed to provide exit and entry intermediary services within China. Article 9 Immigration management agencies should work with foreign affairs, education, judicial administration, human resources and social security, commerce, culture and tourism, and market supervision departments at the same level to establish and improve regulatory systems, strengthen supervision of organizations providing exit and entry intermediary services, and publish relevant illegal information and unfavorable records. Relevant authorities and their staff should keep confidential national secrets, work secrets, trade secrets, personal privacy, and personal information known in the course of carrying out their duties. Article 10 Organizations engaged in exit and entry intermediary services must not engage in the following activities: (1) Publish false information or attract service objects through exaggerated or misleading promotional methods; (2) Provide or assist in providing false materials, or assist others in improperly handling visas, residence permits, passports, or other exit and entry documents or procedures; (3) Disclose, sell, or illegally provide trade secrets, personal privacy, or personal information known during intermediary service activities; (4) Engage in exit and entry intermediary services beyond the scope of their registration; (5) Organize or assist others in engaging in cross-border illegal criminal activities; (6) Other actions that endanger national security and interests or disrupt exit and entry management order. Organizations providing exit and entry intermediary services should not engage in or process foreign nationality applications, overseas permanent residency qualifications, overseas residence documents, or other exit and entry documents improperly when entrusted by civil servants, military personnel, or others; violations should be reported to supervisory agencies in a timely manner. Article 11 Those obtaining visas, residence permits, passports, or other exit and entry documents through false materials or statements will be punished by immigration management agencies in accordance with the provisions of the "Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Passport Law of the People's Republic of China." Individuals who provide false invitation letters or other application materials for others applying for exit and entry or residence will be fined between 5,000 to 10,000 yuan by immigration management agencies; if there are illegal gains, they will be confiscated. Units with similar violations will be fined between 10,000 to 50,000 yuan; illegal gains will be confiscated; fines of 5,000 to 10,000 yuan will apply to directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible personnel. If laws provide otherwise, such provisions prevail. Article 12 Organizations engaged in exit and entry intermediary services that violate the provisions of Articles 7 or 8 of these regulations will be ordered to rectify within a specified time by immigration management agencies; if they refuse to rectify, they will face fines between 5,000 to 10,000 yuan and be reported to the relevant authorities to suspend related business or undergo business rectification; if the circumstances are serious, they will face fines between 10,000 to 50,000 yuan and be reported to the relevant authorities for revocation of relevant business licenses or operating licenses. Individuals violating these regulations by providing exit and entry intermediary services will be ordered by immigration management agencies to cease their illegal activities; if they have illegal gains, those will be confiscated; in severe cases, fines of up to 5,000 yuan may apply. Article 13 Organizations engaged in exit and entry intermediary services that violate Article 10 of these regulations, disrupting exit and entry management order, will be ordered to rectify within a specified time by immigration management agencies; illegal gains will be confiscated; if the illegal gains exceed 20,000 yuan, fines between one and five times the illegal gains will apply; if there are no illegal gains or illegal gains under 20,000 yuan, fines will be applied between 20,000 to 50,000 yuan; if they refuse to rectify or the circumstances are serious, they will be reported to the relevant authorities to suspend related business, undergo business rectification, or revoke relevant business licenses or operating licenses; fines between 10,000 to 50,000 yuan will be imposed on directly responsible personnel and others directly accountable. If laws provide otherwise, such provisions prevail. Article 14 Administrative penalties exceeding 5,000 yuan in fines or confiscation of illegal gains imposed by immigration management agencies at the county level or above will be decided by the respective public security agencies. Article 15 Relevant departments of the State Council should strengthen collaboration in safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of exit and entry personnel, preventing safety risks for Chinese citizens going abroad, and managing exit and entry intermediary services. Article 16 Immigration management agencies should facilitate reporting channels for violations of exit and entry management and deal with relevant reports in a timely manner. Reports not within their agencies' responsibilities should be forwarded to the appropriate units for legal processing. Article 17 Violations of these regulations that constitute crimes will be subject to criminal responsibility in accordance with the law. Article 18 The immigration management agency referred to in these regulations refers to the national immigration management department, border inspection agencies, and immigration management agencies of public security organs of local people's governments at or above the county level. The visa authorities referred to in these regulations refer to overseas visa authorities and port visa authorities. Article 19 These regulations will be implemented starting from September 15, 2026. This article is compiled from the "State Council official website"; GMTEight editor: Li Fo.