China Unifies Entry and Exit Rules with Tougher Checks from Sept. 15

China is consolidating its scattered exit-entry rules into a single framework starting September 15, bringing tougher verification, new penalties, and formal oversight of visa agents. The change, made under the Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration (State Council Decree No. 841), tightens enforcement rather than rewriting the country's visa categories.

What changed

Under the new rules, foreign nationals must provide truthful information and cooperate with checks when applying for visas, entry, stays, or residence. Visa offices and immigration authorities can request supporting documents, electronic data, and other evidence to confirm an applicant's stated purpose.

The stakes for inaccuracy are significant: false materials or statements made in a visa application or at a port of entry can trigger an entry ban of one to five years. Employers, sponsors, and anyone issuing invitation letters now carry greater responsibility for the accuracy and legality of the information they provide.

Paid immigration intermediaries are also being brought into a filing system. Agencies set up after September 15 must register with local immigration authorities within 15 days, while existing agencies have a 90-day window—running to around mid-December—to complete their filing. Agents are barred from publishing misleading information, submitting false documents, or helping clients improperly obtain visas, permits, or passports.

What stays the same

The underlying visa routes are unchanged. Tourist, business, work, and residence categories all remain available, as do China's current visa-free policies. Nationals from 55 eligible countries can still use the 240-hour visa-free transit policy at designated ports when traveling onward to a third country. That transit option covers tourism, business, and family visits, but employment, study, and news reporting still require the appropriate visa. Official notices do not list a fixed end date for the 240-hour policy.

China still has no dedicated digital nomad visa.

What it means for nomads

The main takeaway is honesty. Remote workers entering on tourist or business status should make sure their declared purpose genuinely matches what they plan to do on the ground. The new penalties specifically target fabricated employment records, false addresses, and questionable invitation letters—shortcuts that some travelers have relied on in the past.

Because sponsors and invitation-letter issuers now share liability, expect more scrutiny of documentation from employers and agents. If you use an immigration intermediary, check that it is properly registered under the new filing system, since agencies operating outside it may not be compliant.

For short stays and layovers, little changes in practice: the transit exemption and standard visa categories continue as before. But anyone stretching the definition of their visit should treat the tighter verification as a real deterrent, given the risk of a multi-year entry ban.

Originally reported by Stamped Nomad.