Health verification after arrival: the papers a scholarship notice and Order No. 42 name

Sources checked 11 October 2026 · After arrival

Your home medical examination is one of the papers these texts name, but each text asks for it at a different moment. Article 39 of Order No. 42 asks for it at enrolment, item 2 of the ACYLS guidebook's Tips for Coming to China sets a health verification for students staying more than six months, and the residence permit service guide asks for a health certificate for a permit valid one year or more. Item 12 of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship asks for a photocopy of the form when you apply.

The four moments

Text	Moment	Paper or check it names
Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, item 12 of section VI	Application	Photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form, for study of more than six months
ACYLS guidebook, item 1 of Tips for Coming to China	Visa application	Original Foreigner Physical Examination Form, among the visa documents
Order No. 42, Article 39	Enrolment	Confirmation of the Foreigner Physical Examination Record with the quarantine authority, or an examination
ACYLS guidebook, item 2 of Tips for Coming to China	Health verification	Submission to the local health quarantine office; re-examination if requirements are not met
Residence permit service guide	Residence permit application	Health certificate for a permit valid one year or more

The texts use different names for the form (Record in Order No. 42, Form in the others). This article uses each text's own name and does not treat them as the same document.

Application: item 12 of the Application Guide

Item 12 of section VI (Application Documents) of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship says: "An applicant to study in China for more than six months shall submit a photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form (the original document, printed by Chinese quarantine authorities, shall be filled in in English and kept by the applicant)."

The same item says that the medical examinations must cover all the items listed in the form. It says incomplete records, or records without the signature of the attending physician, the official stamp of the hospital, or a sealed photograph of the applicant, are invalid. It says medical examination results are valid for only six months.

Item 12 names no place where the examination must be carried out. It gives no start date for the six months. This item is a condition of that scholarship's application, not a general rule for self-funded students.

Visa: item 1 of the ACYLS guidebook

Item 1 (Visa Application) of the Tips for Coming to China lists, among the required visa documents, "the original document of Foreigner Physical Examination Form". The same item says that students who come without the requested documents "will not be able to register with the universities, nor will they be able to apply for the residence permit in China."

Item 1 asks for the original form at the visa stage. Item 12 of the Application Guide asks for a photocopy at the application stage. These are two different steps in two different texts.

Enrolment: Article 39 of Order No. 42

Order No. 42 was issued by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security. The English below is this site's translation of the Chinese text of Article 39; the official text is in Chinese.

Article 39 says that international students shall, in accordance with the rules of China's health administrative department, go to the China health quarantine department to complete the confirmation procedure for the Foreigner Physical Examination Record, or undergo a physical examination, when they enrol. Its second sentence says that where an examination confirms a serious mental disorder, pulmonary tuberculosis, or another infectious disease that may cause major harm to public health, as set out in the Exit and Entry Administration Law, the public security authorities handle the case according to law.

Article 39 gives no deadline for this step.

After arrival: item 2 of the ACYLS guidebook

Item 2 (Health Verification and Residence Permit) of the Tips for Coming to China says: "Scholarship students who are to stay in China for more than 6 months are requested to submit their passport, Admission Letter, Foreigner Physical Examination Form and Blood Test Report to the local health quarantine office to have their physical examination report verified."

The same item says: "Scholarship students who do not meet the requirements of the above authority will be required to re-take the physical examination." It adds: "Those who refuse to re-take the physical examination or are diagnosed with diseases that are not permitted to stay in China according to Chinese laws and regulations will be required to leave China."

Item 2 gives no date for the health verification. It places this step between registration and the residence permit, in that order.

Residence permit: the service guide

The English below is this site's translation of the Chinese text of the National Immigration Administration's service guide for issuing, extending, replacing and reissuing foreigners' residence permits. The official text is in Chinese.

The guide's section on the documents needed to apply for a residence permit says that where a visa states that a residence permit must be handled after entry, the foreigner shall apply within 30 days from the date of entry to the exit-entry administration of the public security authority of the intended place of residence.

The same section says that a foreigner applying for a residence permit valid for one year or more shall submit, in accordance with the rules, a physical health certificate issued by the local quarantine health department or by a county-level or higher health medical department. The certificate must prove that the applicant has no serious mental disorder, pulmonary tuberculosis, or other infectious disease that may cause major public health hazard.

Item 2 of the ACYLS guidebook lists a "verified health report" among the papers for the residence permit. That is a separate provision from the guide's health certificate requirement, and this article does not treat the two as one document.

A planning suggestion (not a rule)

Before you travel, you might keep the original form, the blood test report and the Admission Letter in one folder. Item 2 of the Tips for Coming to China names these three papers together with your passport.

Sources

Checked 10 and 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council, the National Immigration Administration, any embassy or any university, and it is not legal advice. If the official text or the current notice of the office handling your case differs from this page, the official text and that notice prevail.