China visas and residence: visa-free entry, permits and permanent residence for foreigners

If you are thinking about China as a place to buy, work or stay, the first question is not the price of a flat but your legal status. This article sets out what we could confirm about visa-free entry, the main visa and residence-permit categories, permanent residence, registration, tax residency and everyday practicalities for visitors. It is general information, not immigration or tax advice. Chinese rules and local practice change often: confirm every point with the Chinese embassy or consulate, the National Immigration Administration or a lawyer in China before you act. Several figures come from secondary sources and are marked as such.

Visa-free entry: the short-stay window

Polish citizens are on China's unilateral visa-free list. Polish and international press reported in November 2025 that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended the scheme until 31 December 2026, with stays of up to 30 days for business, tourism, family visits, exchanges or transit. The number of countries on the list is reported differently (from 45 to 50, with Canada and the UK added in February 2026 according to one update), so check the current list. We found nothing on what happens after 2026.

Separately, a 240-hour (ten-day) visa-free transit policy covers nationals of 55 countries, Poland among them, who pass through China on the way to a third country or region. It requires onward tickets with confirmed seats and applies to permitted areas of 24 provincial-level regions through 65 open ports. Work, study and journalism still need the right visa. These windows let you look around, including at property, but they do not let you work, study or settle.

Visa categories that matter for staying

Visa-free entry is for visits. To stay longer you need a visa that fits your purpose and, for stays beyond a short visit, a residence permit issued by the local public security bureau after you arrive. As described by consultancy and university guides (some of them dated), the categories most relevant to a would-be resident are:

• Z: the work visa, for a pre-arranged professional job. The holder then applies for a residence permit.
• X1 and X2: long-term study (over six months) and short-term study. University pages say X1 holders have 30 days after entry to register and apply for a residence permit.
• S1 and S2: long and short stays for family members of work or study visa holders. S holders cannot work.
• Q1: for relatives of Chinese citizens or of foreign permanent residents staying more than 180 days, with a residence permit application within 30 days of entry.
• L and M: tourist and business visas. One guide gives the M visa as 30 to 180 days.
• D: for people who plan to live in China permanently.

We did not confirm the R (high-level talent) category in this round. Deadlines such as the 30 days after entry come from guides and may have changed.

Does buying a flat give you the right to stay?

None of the sources we found describes a residence route based on owning property. The guides describe the opposite order: foreigners generally need to have lived, worked or studied in China for at least one continuous year on a valid residence permit before they may buy a residential unit, and they are generally limited to one residential property for personal use. A tourist or short business visa does not count. City rules differ, and one source says Beijing can ask non-local residents for several years of social-security and tax payments. These points come from consumer guides rather than official pages, so read the China property guide for foreign buyers and confirm locally.

In practice the sequence is residence first, property later. That is the reverse of the residence-by-investment schemes that some EU countries have offered: for comparison see retirement visas compared by country and, in Asia, Thailand's visa options for property buyers and Thailand's visas for remote workers.

Permanent residence (the green card)

Permanent residence is possible but narrow. According to the municipal government pages that mirror national rules (Chongqing, June 2026) and older China Daily investor pages, the main routes are:

• Investment: direct investment that produces stable operations and a good tax record for three consecutive years. One summary gives 500,000 USD in an encouraged industry as a benchmark. This is about an operating business, not about property.
• Employment: four consecutive years of work, at least six months in China each year, an annual salary at least six times the local urban average and at least 20 percent of it paid in individual income tax. A widely repeated figure of 1,500,000 CNY a year for Beijing comes from a secondary news site and is not an official figure, so we do not rely on it.
• Talent or special contribution, on the recommendation of national or provincial authorities.
• Family reunion: for example five years of marriage to a Chinese citizen or a foreign permanent resident, five consecutive years of residence with at least nine months each year, plus a stable income and a home.

Meeting the criteria only makes you eligible to apply; approval is discretionary. A permit can be cancelled, for example if the holder spends less than three months a year in China or less than a year in total over five years.

Registration, tax and insurance

Foreigners must register their place of stay with the police within 24 hours of arrival. Hotels do it for you when you show your passport. If you stay in a private home, you or your host register at the local police, usually with the passport and the rental contract or ownership certificate; failing to register can bring a warning or a fine of up to RMB 2,000. Forms and procedures vary by city.

For tax, a foreigner who spends 183 days or more in China in a year is a tax resident. Under the so-called six-year rule, a foreigner who is resident for fewer than six consecutive years is taxed on foreign-source income only when it is paid or borne by a Chinese entity or individual; the count resets after more than 30 consecutive days outside China in a year, and worldwide taxation applies from the seventh year. Sources disagree on whether the first taxable year was 2024 or 2025, and we found no 2026 change. We did not research the Poland-China tax treaty. Take advice from a tax adviser in both countries.

Foreigners who work in China are generally covered by the statutory social-insurance scheme (pension, medical, work-injury, unemployment and maternity), registered within 30 days of the work permit. China has bilateral social-security agreements with 13 countries, 12 of them in force as of August 2026; we did not check whether Poland is one. Many expatriates add private medical cover.

Practical points for a viewing trip

• Payments: foreign cards can be linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay. Alipay raised its single-payment cap for foreign visitors to 5,000 USD and its annual cap to 50,000 USD in 2024. WeChat Pay figures conflict between sources, so check the limit inside the app. Red packets and person-to-person transfers are reported as not supported on foreign cards.
• Phone and internet: a government-linked tourism site says visitors can buy a SIM from China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom with a passport; vendor guides say it is harder in practice. Travel eSIMs use local networks and are filtered like any local connection, and guides report that Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and Gmail are blocked. Prepare maps, messaging and payment options before you arrive. We did not research the legal status of VPN services.

FAQ

Can a Polish citizen enter China without a visa to look at property? For a short visit, yes under the current policy (up to 30 days, announced until 31 December 2026). Check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the embassy before travelling, and note that the policy does not allow work or study.

Will buying a flat in China give me a residence permit? We found no source describing such a route. Guides describe the opposite: you generally need a year of residence on a valid permit before you may buy.

Do I register with the police if I stay in a hotel? The hotel files the registration for you within 24 hours. In a private home, you or your host must register with the local police.

What this means for a normal buyer

• Sort out your legal status before the property question. In China, residence usually comes first and buying later.
• Treat visa-free entry as a way to visit and view, not as a way to settle or work.
• Rules differ by city and change often. Confirm each step with a lawyer in China and the relevant authority.
• Count your days: 183 days or more in a year can make you a Chinese tax resident, and Polish residency rules still apply.
• Read the neighbouring guides: best cities for foreign buyers, cost of living in China and, for Hong Kong's different rules, Hong Kong visas and residence. The overview is in our China and Hong Kong guide.

If you want an independent view before you commit, D.H. Realting, an independent consultant based in Warsaw, can help compare options and bring in a local lawyer.