What is a Temporary Residence Registration Form?
According to China’s Exit-Entry Administration Law, if you are a foreign national or a resident of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan you need to register with a hotel or a local police station within 24 hours of arriving in China. After you register, the police station or hotel will give you a Temporary Residence Registration Form (TRRF), also known as Accommodation Registration Form or Registration Form of Temporary Residence. For those who have heard of China’s system of Hukou (household registration), you can think of the registration as the extension of Hukou to foreigners.
How to Get a Temporary Residence Registration Form?
To register with a police station, you typically need to take your passport and proof of your residence (e.g. tenancy agreement). You may have another person go through the registration on your behalf. Schools or employers often do the registration on behalf of their foreign students or foreign employees, sometimes without informing them properly.
Temporary Residence Registration Form & China Police Certificate Application
In many cities, foreign nationals who apply for a China police certificate are required to provide their TRRFs. A China police certificate issued to a foreign national can only cover the periods of his/her residence in a particular city or province. Some local authorities determine the periods based on the applicant’s TRRFs. In our guidance to applying for a China police certificate, you will find this requirement in many cities. A TRRF is usually valid for the period beginning on the date of the issuance and ending on the date when your China visa expires, except in a few cities where a TRRF is considered invalid once you exit from China and you have to re-register each time you re-enter China although the same visa is valid for the whole time.
Sample Temporary Residence Registration Forms
Below are sample TRRFs issued by local police stations in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Haikou, Tianjin. These 5 TRRFs represent the most commonly used formats. TRRFs issued in other cities are similar.
Shanghai 
Beijing 
Guangzhou 
Haikou 
Tianjin
Below are sample two TRRFs, one issued by a hotel and the other by a university. (University dormitories can function as a hotel.) Please note that for the purpose of a police certificate application, hotel and university TRRFs are not acceptable in many cities.
Hotel 
University
Conclusion
Many foreigners who traveled to China on short-term tourist or business visas did not register with local police, i.e. never obtained a TRRF. Despite having a law that specifically requires the registration, local authorities in some cities seem to be not very serious about enforcing the registration. You may not encounter any problem if you do not register with local police, but we strongly encourage you to comply with this rule and take the initiative to register with a police station if not staying at a hotel. And never throw away a TRRF. If for some reason you do not have the original document, make sure to keep a scanned copy!
Hello,
My husband stayed in Shanghai for 2 years on work permit. We need police clearance certificate for Canada PR. We have all visa and stampings of entry exit from china. We do not have temporary residence form how to get it. If it is not there how to proceed further please explain.
Hi Manju. Thanks for leaving a comment. There is a chance that you could retrieve a copy of the Temporary Residence Registration Form (TRRF) from the local police station where your husband registered. Another possible option is to provide other evidence of residence in lieu of TRRFs. For example, a school/employer letter confirming the residence or an apartment lease. The alternative evidence of residence may or may not be acceptable to authorities. You need to find it out by actually applying to the authorities.
Hi Pete,
My mom who is a HK resident and lives in Shenzhen with her China national husband on the weekdays and stay in HK for the weekend. She applied for the US green card . The officer asked for a China Police Certificate , yet she never apply for the TRRF in the past. Is there a way she can get the China Police certificate to cover the period she stayed in China before ? Thanks !
Hi Fung Lau. According to the rules of Guangdong Province, an applicant must have TRRFs as evidence of residence in Guangdong Province when he/she applies for a police certificate. If your mom never had any TRRFs, she is not eligible for the application. Click here to view the rules on the official website of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department.
Can she apply for the TRRF now and use it to apply for Police certificate ?
You cannot apply for a TRRF to cover the time in the past.
Dear Pete,
I lived in Beijing for 8months. I lost my TRRF and I didn’t make the scan for that. Currently I am applying for the Canadian visa and wanted to check with you if the tax paper and bank paper with address will work as an alternative for TRRF? If you feel it’s worth trying, please let me know.
Best regards,
Tanay
Dear Tanay. Thanks for leaving a comment. If you lived in Beijing on a China residence permit and you complied with the TRRF registration, you should be able to apply for a police certificate in Beijing. The local police will check your TRRF records in their database so you don’t have to present TRRFs yourselves although police prefer you present them yourselves.
Dear Pete
I want to apply for Canadian PR and need Shenzhen police certificate for that. I lived in shenzhen for a long time . The local police authorities can only retrieve my TRRF from 2015 onwards . They dont have computer records before 2015 and neither do I .
What do you think can be done in this case? The police authorities say that they will issue Police certificate only for the period they have TRRFs for.
Dear Harry
Your issue is very common. I think you should get a police certificate covering as much time as possible and write a letter of explanation regarding the unobtainable periods. Submit to IRCC both the police certificate and the letter. It is likely that IRCC will accept the combination.
Dear Pete
I am applying for Canadian PR and need a Guangzhou police certificate for that. I lived in Guangzhou for 4 years . I do not have the TRRF, on account of it being for than 7 years since I lived there.
What do you think can be done in this case? I also do not have any way of returning to China or sending someone in my place.
Hello Stacy. Thanks for leaving a message. In a case like yours, we always contact the police station in Guangzhou where you actually registered and ask if they could retrieve copies of your TRRF(s). If you are interested in using our service, please click here to fill in a quote request form.
Hi Pete
Hope you are well!
I completed my Masters from Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Chaoyang, Beijing, China from Sept. 2014- July 2017. I lived in University dormitory and never given any TRRF by university office. Now, I want to get Police clearance certificate for my Canada immigration, but as i am in Dubai i do not know how to proceed. Please guide!
Thanks
Ali
Hi Ali. Thanks for leaving a comment. The university might have done the TRRF registration without informing you. When you go to apply for a police certificate in Beijing, the police authorities can check your TRRF records in their database. It means you don’t have to present your TRRFs so long as the police can find them in the database. We provide services for getting police certificates. If you are interested in our service, please click here to fill in a quote request form.
Hi there,
I am applying for PR here in Canada and I need a PCC from Guangzhou, China but I don’t have my TRRF with me now since It has been 8 years that I left China I don’t remember either if I did register for TRRF but I do remember I did fill out an entry form each time I entered the country. Is there a way to find out if the police offices my TRRF or I am not if during the year 2013 that TRRF was required or they make it a requirement later these years? Please give me some info.
Hi Nina. You can contact the local police station having jurisdiction over your residence in Guangzhou and ask if there are any records of your TRRFs in their database. The TRRF requirement was in place much earlier than the year 2013. However, many foreign nationals fail to comply with the requirement because they are not aware of the need for registration.
hai where are you from india.?
Hi Pete
I hope you good!!
I competed my hotel management from HNA Sanya Aviation & tourism college Hainan China from May 2016 -May 2017. at the same time I have done my job training in Shangri-la’s Sanya resort and spa I lived in resort accommodation Hainan. sir now I need police clearance certificate for undated kingdom visa process. i have all other documents like visa, residence permit, and all stamping entry exit from china except ”Registration form of temporary residence ” .sir i do not know how to proceed could you please help me to got that registration form of temporary residents
thank you
NIMIN
Hi Nimin. It is likely we can assist you in obtaining a police clearance certificate in Sanya without your Temporary Residence Registration Form. If you are interested in using our service, please get started by filling a quote request form.
I have a Q1 Visa and I’m leaving at the end of April to go to China. I didn’t know about all this and my plan was to do site-seeing which I already bought tickets for.
I’m only staying for 28 days and going back to America. Do I need to bother registering anything? I’m not staying with anyone except myself in hotels.
The people I’m technically in relation with don’t have accommodations I can tolerate. But if I have to do this registration thing, what address would I use? The hotel or the relative?
Hi ES, thanks for leaving a message. The hotel in which you will stay should complete your residence registration on your behalf using the hotel computer system. If you stay in the hotel during your entire stay in China, you will not need to register at a police station.
Hi there!~
I’m currently in China, I’ve lived in two cities across two years, both in Guangdong.
I am currently changing jobs so my work & residence permits have been cancelled and I am on a 30 day humanitarian visa while I apply for my new documents.
My new job wants me to obtain a police certificate but apparently, I need to submit my TRRF. While I have the TRRF from my first city, when I submitted my passport to convert my visa to a stay permit, the entry and exit bureau in my current city kept my TRRF.
I have a picture of the TRRF and am able to scan the QR code for a pdf copy however I’ve noticed each time the number at the top right hand side changes…so I’m unsure if I can use a print out of these versions to submit for the police certificate?
I would appreciate any advice on this matter.
Hi Isa,
Thanks for your question. Yes, you can use copies of TRRFs for applying for a police certificate in Guangdong. Original TRRFs are not required.
Thank you so much for your quick reply.
Since I posted I went to the Police station and updated with my stay permit to receive a new TRRF.
Can I ask, for the police certificate do I need to submit copies of all the TRRF’s I’ve ever had covering my time in Guangdong? In my case I’ve now had three, one from my first city, one from my first residence permit in my second city and now the third updated version with my 30 day stay permit on?
Thank you again for your help, I really appreciate it.
Usually, only one TRRF is needed in each city.