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Overstaying in China & Penalty

Overstaying, also called illegal residence, means that one remains in a country after his/her visa or residence permit has expired. If an alien’s total length of stay in China exceeds the appointed time on the visa, it will be deemed to have overstayed the visa. For instance, if a foreigner enters China on June 19 with a 30-day visa, he is supposed to leave on July 19. Since the stay length in China is counted from 00:00 the next morning following the entry date, if the foreigner leaves on July 22, he will have overstayed his visa by three days.

Note that if the scheduled time on your departure ticket is later than your visa’s expiration time, you will be regarded as having overstayed even if you go through the immigration inspection before the visa expiration time. However, if your scheduled departure time precedes the visa expiration time, but the carrier changes the schedule, you won’t have overstayed your visa.

Do I Have A Grace Period?

According to the current policy, there is no grace period for illegal aliens overstaying in China, so overstaying your visa is not recommended. However, if you have overstayed your China visa for only one or two days, go to the exit and entry administration of the local PSB (Public Security Bureau) to apologize and explain the reasons. In this case, you might not need to pay the fine.

What Are the Penalties for Overstaying in China & How Much Does It Cost?

Based on the current immigration regulations, there are different punishments to foreigners according to the length of the overstay.

1. Aliens overstaying the visa or residence permit for a short period will be given a warning and be required to pay a fine. Usually, the penalty is CNY500 per day not to exceed CNY10,000.

2. If one overstays the visa for a significant period, usually over one month, he might be put into a detention camp for 5 to 15 days and repatriated to his home country. It's possible he will be blacklisted, which will affect his re-entry to China, and he may be prohibited from entering the country for ten years. In addition to this, it might also influence one's visa application for other countries.

What Can I Do after Overstaying?

If you have overstayed your visa in mainland China, you should report your situation to the local police station as soon as possible, pay the fine, and then apply for an exit permit to leave the country.

How Do I Prevent Unintentional Overstaying in China?

In order to prevent unintentional overstaying, you should remember your date of entering the country and length of your visa. Moreover, you should learn how to calculate the stay length. Understanding that the stay length is counted from the next day is critical to prevent overstaying in China unintentionally. In addition, if you want to stay longer, you can apply for an extension 7 days before your visa expires.

- Last updated on Sep. 05, 2024 -

Questions & Answers on Overstaying in China & Penalty

Asked by Goncalo from UK | Oct. 28, 2024 05:01

2 hours overstay

Hello,

Hope you are well.

I will arrive on 21st december to china and will leave on the 5 january at 2am. So in total will be 16 days..
China opened now 15 days free visa for some european countries.
Do i still need to apply for the visa for this 2 overstay hours? Or if i pass the international boarder at the airport before midnight it will be ok? I have sent a email to china embassy asking but they didnt gave too much info.

Answers (1)

Answered by Lori | Oct. 29, 2024 20:10

I'm afraid it's not OK. While entering you need to provide the flight ticket to leave China within 15 days to the immigration staff. If the flight schedule proves that you may overstay, your entry may be denied.

Asked by Daniel from ZAMBIA | Oct. 26, 2024 08:42

Can I still return to China after I had two overstay incidents( each less than 7days)

Hi all I would really like your guidance on a problem that I’m currently facing regarding my potential return to China.

I graduated from a Chinese University last June afterwards I returned to my country. I had planned to go on and pursue my master’s degree in China, however I hadn’t been home in 5 years so I decided to come home before carrying on my studies.

The problem comes in because I had 2 separate incidents of overstaying my visa, each time was less than 5 days and the first time I was let off with a warning the second time however I paid a fine of 500RMB. Both times were caused by me messing up the dates of when my residence permits needed to be renewed.

. So my question is will this record cause my application for a new study visa to be rejected? Can I still return to China successfully and carry on my studies?

Answers (1)

Answered by Emily | Oct. 28, 2024 00:28

I personally think it has little influence on your new visa as you overstayed for a very short of time which usually doesn't cause troubles in new application.

Asked by Corinna from IRELAND | Oct. 22, 2024 01:38

Student permit

My son is an international student in Wuhan university. His teacher told him that she would take care of applying for his student visa which she did not.
He now has a fine to pay of £917 that he needs to pay within ten days. Who should I contact to discuss this. Thanks

Answers (2)

Answered by Rita | Oct. 22, 2024 20:47

Well, he has to pay the fine. The teacher broke her words. You son has to learn from it and needs to deal with such important thing on his own. Maybe you can contact the college supervisors to complain.

Answered by Non | Oct. 28, 2024 22:24

I'm not surprised. It's a common occurrence due to negligence from those responsible, yet no one seems willing to take accountability. If the university isn't providing her documents, how can she manage this on her own?

It's a mistake, and it's all too common to see students suffering due to others' errors. For foreigners, the situation is even more precarious—they can be prosecuted without any justice or even a chance to explain themselves.

Asked by CD from MALAYSIA | Oct. 04, 2024 17:55

Overstay 3 hours due to flight rescheduling

Hello, Below is my flight details, if I check in and go thru the immigration pass 0:00 on 24/11 it’s consider over stay 2 hours?
DEPARTURE FROM KUALA LUMPUR TO CHINA
09/11/24 KUL-WUH CZ5770 0900-1655
DEPARTURE FROM CHINA TO KUALA LUMPUR
24/11/24 CKG-KUL D7807 0200-0710

Please advise. TQ

Answers (2)

Answered by Joshua | Oct. 09, 2024 17:51

09/11/24 will be counted the first day, so you should leave before 24:00, 23/11/24 (00:00, 24/11/24).

Answered by Tom | Nov. 03, 2024 17:57

Is that really true? After a flight delay that resulted in a missed flight, I asked the airline and they called immigration. They told me the day after the stamped day is counted as the first day. I just passed customs at the 16th day (counted including the day of arrival) and everything was okay. I entered the 20th of October and left today, November 4.

Asked by Steve from NIGERIA | Sep. 20, 2024 16:43

Overstayed in China.

I unintentionally stayed in China for 1day while I was waiting for my work card. I was given a warning letter which I submitted to the exit&entry dept. I am wondering if I will be asked to return to my country or will be given an extension. The fee I was told to pay for the visa is 160¥ as against 400¥ if applying for a business residence.

Answers (1)

Answered by Daniel | Sep. 22, 2024 20:56

You will be asked to return to your own country and you will also be given a short-term temporary stay visa to get more time for leaving.