The short answer
A China green card application has four phases:
- Route confirmation. Identify the legal category and the local document list.
- Document preparation. Obtain the health certificate and police clearance certificate, authenticate foreign documents, and translate them.
- Filing and acceptance. Submit at the municipal exit-entry administration. Acceptance starts the statutory clock.
- Three-level review and card issuance. Investigation, provincial review, and final approval by the National Immigration Administration.
The statutory decision is made within six months of acceptance. Preparation before acceptance is outside that period, which is why the calendar feels longer than six months.
What is different in 2026
Authentication is faster for Hague-member documents. China has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since November 7, 2023. A public document issued in another member state can generally be authenticated with an apostille rather than consular legalization, which removes a consular appointment and several weeks from the front end of the file. Documents from non-member states still go through Chinese consular legalization. Some Chinese offices may still require translation or a verification step, so confirm the document type before ordering.
Shanghai has published route-specific 2026 guides. The March 2026 doctoral guide requires three years of continuous work and either a three-times salary test or a top-100/Double First-Class doctorate, and sets a 90-working-day review target. The recommended-talent guide sets 30, 45, or 90 working days depending on the category, with no salary or degree threshold. These are local service standards inside the national six-month outer limit, not a change to the national regulation.
The police and health certificates still have short windows. The apostille shortcut does not extend them. A foreign police clearance certificate is usually treated as valid for six months, and a Chinese health certificate for six months from issuance. Local guides may also ask for a domestic criminal-record check covering every passport number used in China, valid for three months in Shanghai’s 2026 guide. Sequence these documents last.
Where to file
File with the exit-entry administration of the municipal public security organ — or the district or county sub-bureau in a directly governed municipality — at the place where the investment was made or where the applicant has long-term residence.
In practice:
- Employment and salary routes: the city where the employer is registered and the applicant works.
- Investment route: the city where the invested enterprise operates.
- Spouse route: usually the city of the Chinese spouse’s household registration, or the long-term residence of a foreign spouse who already holds permanent residence.
- Parent route: the city of the direct relative’s household registration or long-term residence.
An applicant may file through an entrusted person with a notarized power of attorney. A minor may file through a parent or an entrusted person.
Baseline documents
Every route starts with the same core:
| Document | Notes |
|---|---|
| Application form | Completed and signed; local form |
| Valid foreign passport | Usually at least six months’ validity; check the local rule |
| Health certificate | From a designated or recognized medical institution; confirms no serious mental illness, tuberculosis, or other dangerous infectious disease |
| Police clearance certificate | From each country where required; usually issued within six months; authenticated |
| Photographs | Recent color photos to the local specification |
| Proof of current status | Current visa or residence permit |
| Route-specific documents | Employment, investment, family, or talent evidence |
Foreign-issued police, marriage, birth, kinship, and name-change certificates generally need Chinese consular legalization, or an apostille where the issuing state is a Hague Convention member and the local authority accepts it, followed by a Chinese translation. The translation should be done by a qualified translator and, where required, stamped.
The validity windows are short. A police clearance certificate issued six months before filing may already be stale. A health certificate obtained too early may need to be redone. Sequence these documents last, after the slower authentications are underway.
Documents by route
Employment by position or title
- Employment certificate or appointment letter showing the position.
- Foreign Work Permit, or the historical employment document accepted by the local office.
- Employer’s business license and registration certificate.
- Annual report or joint annual inspection record.
- Project certificate, high-tech enterprise certificate, or encouraged-enterprise confirmation where relevant.
- Individual income tax records for the qualifying years.
- Evidence that the employer is a qualifying entity under Article 8.
Salary and tax
- Employment contract and payroll records for four years.
- Individual income tax records showing salary income and tax paid.
- Social insurance records, where available.
- Employer letter confirming the salary, position, and continuous employment.
- Local average wage reference showing the six-times threshold.
Investment
- Business license of the invested enterprise.
- Capital verification report showing paid-in registered capital.
- Foreign-investment project confirmation or encouraged-industry certificate where relevant.
- Annual inspection or annual report records for three years.
- Enterprise and personal tax records.
- Evidence of stable operation, such as audited financial statements.
Spouse and family
- Marriage certificate, authenticated and translated.
- Spouse’s Chinese ID and household registration, or the foreign spouse’s passport and permanent residence card.
- Birth certificate or parent-child relationship certificate for a child.
- Proof of stable income: employment, bank statements, tax records, or a frozen deposit where the local office requires one.
- Proof of housing: property title or a lease of at least one year, sometimes notarized.
- Exit-entry record showing continuous residence and the nine-month years.
- For a parent aged 60 or over: proof of no direct relatives abroad and proof of the relationship with the relative in China.
Special contribution and talent
- Recommendation letter from the competent government department.
- Awards, project approvals, publications, patents, or institutional proof.
- Employment or appointment documents.
- For the foreign-Chinese doctoral route: doctoral degree, authentication or verification, and evidence of Chinese-origin status.
The three-level review
The file moves through three levels:
- Municipal acceptance and investigation. The receiving office checks the documents, may interview the applicant, and investigates the facts. The internal target is to complete this within three months.
- Provincial review. The provincial exit-entry authority reviews the investigation and the legal basis. The internal target is two months.
- National Immigration Administration approval. The NIA makes the final decision. The statutory outer limit is six months from acceptance.
The decision is final. There is no appeal to a higher immigration authority within the same process; a refusal is usually addressed by fixing the file and filing a new application, or by seeking other status.
Fees
The national fee schedule is:
- Application fee: CNY 1,500 per person, paid on acceptance.
- Card fee: CNY 300 per card on approval.
- Replacement for loss or damage: CNY 600.
- Renewal on expiry: CNY 300.
Local service fees, translation, authentication, medical examination, and photography are separate. A family application multiplies the per-person fees.
What the six months does not cover
The six-month period is the decision period after acceptance. It does not include:
- Time spent obtaining a police clearance certificate.
- Time spent on consular legalization or apostille.
- Time spent on translation and notarization.
- Time waiting for an appointment.
- Time to correct a file that was accepted but later found incomplete.
The internal investigation and review targets sit inside the six months, but the authority may extend the work if it needs a background check, additional documents, or an interview. In practice, a straightforward file can finish within the six months; a file with gaps can run longer.
After approval
When the card is issued:
- The old valid visa or residence permit is canceled.
- The applicant receives the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card, valid for 10 years for adults and 5 years for minors.
- Travel is on the passport plus the card; no visa is needed.
- Work is permitted without a separate work permit.
- The card can be used as a standalone identity document for transport, hotels, banking, telecom, medical, tax, and government services.
The card does not grant citizenship, a Chinese passport, voting rights, or household registration. Those are separate legal statuses.
The practical order of work
- Confirm the route and obtain the local document list in writing.
- Start the slow authentications first: police clearance, marriage, birth, and degree documents.
- Book the medical examination close to filing.
- Translate and notarize as required.
- Review the residence and tax records against the route test.
- File, keep the acceptance receipt, and respond to requests within the deadline.
- Prepare for an interview by reconciling every date and figure in the file.
For the route decision, read China Permanent Residence Routes. For the spouse-specific file, read China PR for Spouses.