Lost or damaged residence permit: the reissue papers

If your residence permit is lost, damaged or stolen, the National Immigration Administration's service guide asks for a passport loss report or a note from your country's embassy or consulate in China, or else the damaged document. You also need the new passport or another international travel document. Article 35 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law says the reissue application goes to the exit/entry administration of the public security organ in your place of stay or residence.

The papers in the Chinese service guide

Section (四), headed 申请居留证件的补发 (application for reissue of residence permits), of the NIA's Chinese service guide says that a foreigner whose residence permit is lost, damaged or stolen shall submit the following. The English below is this site's own translation of the Chinese text.

• a passport loss report (本人护照报失证明), or a note from the embassy or consulate in China of the holder's own country (所属国驻华使领馆照会), or the damaged document, which is presented (出示被损毁证件);
• and the new passport or other international travel document (新护照或者其他国际旅行证件).

Section (四) then says a residence permit may be reissued.

The general materials

Section (一) of the same Chinese guide covers applications in general, not reissue alone. It says the office shall require the applicant to complete the procedures and submit the materials. Its items are numbered as printed here:

1. a valid passport or other international travel document;
2. one completed application form for foreigners' visa documents, and one photograph that meets the standard in the Guide to Photographing for Exit-Entry Certificates (出入境证件相片照相指引);
3. certification materials related to the reason for the application;
4. other procedures to be completed and certification materials to be submitted.

Section (一) adds that certification may be shown in original, and a copy may be kept.

Section (一) is worded for residence permit applications in general. Section (四) is worded for reissue. Ask the office handling your case whether section (一) applies to your reissue.

The English service guide

Section 4 of the NIA's English service guide, "Application for Re-issuance of Residence Permit", reads:

For foreigners whose residence permit is lost, damaged, or stolen, the applicant shall submit a certification for passport loss report or a note from the embassy or consulate of the country of residence in China, or the damaged passport and the new passport or other international travel documents, and a residence permit may be re-issued.

The English and Chinese wordings differ in two places. The English says "the country of residence in China", where the Chinese says 所属国, the holder's own country. The English says "the damaged passport", where the Chinese says 被损毁证件, the damaged document. The two texts should be read together, and the office's current notice will show which wording it applies.

Suggestion, not a rule: bring the originals of each paper and keep a copy of each. Section (一) of the Chinese guide allows certification to be shown in original with a copy kept.

What Article 35 of the Law says

Article 35 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, in the English text published by the National Immigration Administration, covers ordinary visas, stay or residence permits held by foreigners that need reissuing after they enter China. The text reads: "those foreigners shall apply for a reissue with the exit/entry administrations of public security organs under local people's governments at or above the county level in the places of stay or residence in accordance with relevant regulations."

Article 35 does not list the papers. The list comes from the service guide above.

Sources

• National Immigration Administration — service guide for issuing, extending, replacing and reissuing foreigners' residence permits (Chinese)
• National Immigration Administration — Service Guide on residence permits for foreigners (English)
• Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China — National Immigration Administration (English text)

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. The official text and the current notice of the office handling your case prevail if they differ.