Delta Law Expat Services Desk ｜ Provisions of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration（《国务院关于出境入境管理的规定》）, State Council Order No. 841, in force from 2026-09-15
- Article 3, paragraph 1 turns "the purpose shall be genuine and lawful" from a screening convention into a stated legal duty on the applicant. Everything else in the article follows from it.
- Article 3, paragraph 3 places a separate duty on whoever signs the invitation letter or other supporting document: responsibility for the truth of its contents, plus a duty to cooperate in verification.
- Article 11, paragraph 2 attaches money to that duty on three levels — the individual signer, the entity, and, separately, the responsible managers and other directly liable persons within the entity.
- The entity's exposure does not displace the individual's. A company fine and a personal fine on the manager who signed sit in the same paragraph and can both apply.
- Order No. 841 takes effect on 2026-09-15. The interval before that date is the window in which internal sign-off rules, delegation of signing authority and contractual representations can be reviewed against the new text.
1. The document at a glance
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Full title | Provisions of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration（《国务院关于出境入境管理的规定》） |
| Document number | State Council Order No. 841（国务院令第 841 号） |
| Adopted / promulgated | Adopted at the 90th executive meeting of the State Council on 2026-06-29; signed 2026-07-22; released on the State Council portal 2026-07-31 |
| Current version in force from | 2026-09-15; full text 19 articles; first version, not yet amended |
| Issuing authority | The State Council（国务院） |
| Official text | https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/202607/content_7077172.htm |
| What this page covers | Article 3 and Article 11: who is answerable for an invitation letter or other supporting document, and what that answerability costs |
2. The new baseline: a genuine and lawful purpose, stated as a duty
Before Order No. 841, the proposition that an application must rest on a real reason lived in administrative practice rather than in the text of an administrative regulation. Article 3 states it, and then builds two further duties on top of it.
第三条 出境入境人员申请出境入境、停留居留的事由应当真实、合法。
移民管理机构、签证机关在核实出境入境人员的身份、申请事由时，可以询问相关情况，要求其出示、提供有关文件、资料、电子数据等信息，出境入境人员应当予以配合。
Article 3, paragraph 1: The reason for which a person applies for exit, entry, stay or residence shall be genuine and lawful. Paragraph 2: When verifying such a person's identity and stated reason, immigration administration bodies and visa authorities may make enquiries and require the person to produce or provide relevant documents, materials, electronic data and other information; the person shall cooperate.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Two features of paragraph 1 matter. It is framed as an obligation of the applicant rather than as a criterion applied by the authority, so a mismatch between the stated purpose and the actual one is a breach on the applicant's side, not merely a ground for refusal. And it covers four things in one sentence — exit, entry, stay and residence — so the duty does not end at the border; it continues to attach to the reason on which a stay or residence permit was granted. Paragraph 2 gives the verification power its own express footing and names electronic data alongside paper, while the duty on the person is stated flatly as 「应当予以配合」, without a stated limit; the regulation does not define what cooperation requires, and this page does not supply one.
3. Who signs, who answers: Article 3, paragraph 3
The third paragraph is the one that reaches a company that has never itself applied for anything.
单位或者个人为出境入境人员出具邀请函件或者其他申请材料的，应当对邀请内容和证明事项的真实性负责，并配合移民管理机构、签证机关核实有关信息。
出境入境人员提供虚假材料、作出虚假陈述的，移民管理机构、签证机关有权决定不予签发出境入境证件或者不准其出境、入境。
Article 3, paragraph 3: Where an entity or an individual issues an invitation letter or other application materials for a person seeking exit, entry, stay or residence, it shall be responsible for the truthfulness of the contents of the invitation and of the matters certified, and shall cooperate with immigration administration bodies and visa authorities in verifying the relevant information. Paragraph 4: Where the person provides false materials or makes false statements, immigration administration bodies and visa authorities have the power to decide not to issue an exit or entry document, or not to permit the person to exit or enter.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Four points of drafting deserve attention.
The trigger is issuance, not employment. The paragraph attaches to whoever issues the document. A group company that signs a secondment confirmation for a person payrolled elsewhere is within it; so is a subsidiary certifying a visiting executive's role, and so is a natural person signing a private invitation.
The object of the duty is stated twice. 「邀请内容」 is the substance of the invitation — what the person is being invited to do. 「证明事项」 is the matters certified — the facts the document asserts as true, such as a title, a duration, a place of work, or an undertaking. Both are covered. A letter whose invitation is real but whose certified particulars are not is not outside the paragraph.
The duty is stated as responsibility for truthfulness, not as a duty of care. The text says 「应当对……真实性负责」. It does not require reasonable diligence, and it says nothing about a signer who was itself misled. Order No. 841 defines neither falsity nor the effect of negligence; this page does not fill that gap.
Paragraph 4 is a consequence for the applicant, not for the signer. Refusal to issue a document, or refusal of exit or entry, falls on the person who provided the false material or made the false statement. The signer's own consequence sits elsewhere — in Article 11.
One further consequence attaches to the applicant and is worth naming here because it is the most severe one in the Order.
外国人在境外申请办理中国签证或者在口岸申请入境时提供虚假材料、作出虚假陈述的，移民管理机构、签证机关可以决定1年至5年以内不准其入境。
Article 5, paragraph 1: Where a foreign national provides false materials or makes false statements when applying for a Chinese visa abroad or applying for entry at a port, the immigration administration body or visa authority may decide that the person shall not be permitted to enter for a period of one to five years.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
The link between Article 3, paragraph 3 and Article 5, paragraph 1 is the point an employer most often misses: a defective letter signed in China can produce a multi-year entry bar on the person it was written for — a consequence that lands on the individual, not on the signing company, and one the company cannot undo. Article 5 is analysed separately (see Further reading).
4. What it costs: Article 11, paragraph 2
第十一条 通过提供虚假材料、作出虚假陈述等方式弄虚作假骗取签证、停留居留证件、护照等出境入境证件的，由移民管理机构依照《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》、《中华人民共和国护照法》的规定予以处罚。
个人为他人申请出境入境、停留居留出具虚假邀请函件或者其他申请材料的，由移民管理机构处5000元以上1万元以下罚款；有违法所得的，没收违法所得。单位有前述行为的，处1万元以上5万元以下罚款；有违法所得的，没收违法所得；对直接负责的主管人员和其他直接责任人员处5000元以上1万元以下罚款。法律另有规定的，从其规定。
Article 11, paragraph 1: Where a person fraudulently obtains a visa, a stay or residence permit, a passport or other exit or entry document by providing false materials, making false statements or other deception, the immigration administration body shall impose a penalty in accordance with the Exit and Entry Administration Law and the Passport Law. Paragraph 2: Where an individual issues a false invitation letter or other application materials for another person's exit, entry, stay or residence application, the immigration administration body shall impose a fine of not less than RMB 5,000 and not more than RMB 10,000; any unlawful gains shall be confiscated. Where an entity commits the foregoing act, a fine of not less than RMB 10,000 and not more than RMB 50,000 shall be imposed; any unlawful gains shall be confiscated; and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly liable persons shall each be fined not less than RMB 5,000 and not more than RMB 10,000. Where a law provides otherwise, that law applies.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Read against paragraph 1, the structure is clear: paragraph 1 punishes the person who obtained the document by deception, under the two statutes named; paragraph 2 punishes the person who supplied the false document to that end. They are separate exposures arising from the same file. The closing words of paragraph 2, 「法律另有规定的，从其规定」, are not idle: Article 74 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law already penalises issuing an invitation letter or other application materials（「为外国人出具邀请函件或者其他申请材料」）for a foreign national, in the same three tiers and at the same amounts, and adds one thing Order No. 841 does not repeat — an order to bear the invited foreign national's departure costs（「责令其承担所邀请外国人的出境费用」）. Paragraph 2 is therefore a parallel provision rather than a first, and its closing words point to Article 74.
| Who | Exposure under Article 11, para. 2 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| An individual who issues a false invitation letter or other application materials | Fine of RMB 5,000–10,000; confiscation of any unlawful gains | Applies to a natural person signing in a private capacity |
| An entity committing the same act | Fine of RMB 10,000–50,000; confiscation of any unlawful gains | The entity's own liability |
| The directly responsible person in charge, and other directly liable persons, within that entity | Fine of RMB 5,000–10,000 each | Runs in addition to the entity fine, in the same sentence of the same paragraph |
| The applicant who obtained the document by deception | Penalty under the Exit and Entry Administration Law and the Passport Law（Art. 11, para. 1）; and, for a foreign national, a possible one-to-five-year entry bar（Art. 5, para. 1） | A different person and a different provision |
The third row is what changes the internal conversation. The text does not make the personal fine an alternative to the entity fine, and does not confine it to a legal representative: it names 「直接负责的主管人员」 and 「其他直接责任人员」, categories defined by responsibility for the act rather than by title. A signature delegated downward does not obviously move the exposure with it — the paragraph reaches the person in charge as well as the signer. Order No. 841 does not delimit the two categories, and this page does not speculate. The amounts are modest; what matters to an employer is rarely the fine but the finding that its supporting document was false, and the effect of that finding on the individual under Article 5.
5. Where this meets employment: the Exit and Entry Administration Law
An invitation letter is often only the first document in a sequence that ends in employment, and the employment leg has its own, older rule.
第四十一条 外国人在中国境内工作，应当按照规定取得工作许可和工作类居留证件。任何单位和个人不得聘用未取得工作许可和工作类居留证件的外国人。
Article 41, paragraph 1: A foreign national working within China shall obtain a work permit and a work-type residence permit as prescribed. No entity or individual may employ a foreign national who has not obtained a work permit and a work-type residence permit.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
The two duties are independent. Article 3, paragraph 3 asks whether the supporting document told the truth; Article 41 asks whether the permit and residence permit were in place before the work began. A file can fail either test on its own.
非法聘用外国人的，处每非法聘用一人一万元，总额不超过十万元的罚款；有违法所得的，没收违法所得。
Article 80, paragraph 3: Where a foreign national is unlawfully employed, a fine of RMB 10,000 for each person unlawfully employed shall be imposed, up to a total of RMB 100,000; any unlawful gains shall be confiscated.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
The per-head structure is the feature to note: it scales with the number of people, whereas Article 11, paragraph 2 of Order No. 841 scales with the act. An employer reviewing a population of foreign staff is looking at two different arithmetics on the same files.
6. Timing, and what falls outside this page
| Point in time | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 2026-09-14 | Order No. 841 is published but not yet in force. The Exit and Entry Administration Law continues to apply on its own terms. | Art. 19 of Order No. 841 |
| From 2026-09-15 | Articles 3 and 11 apply. The duty in Article 3, paragraph 3 attaches to documents issued from that date; the Order contains no provision addressing documents issued before it. | Art. 19; Arts. 3, 11 |
| Ongoing, for the person | The duty that the stated purpose be genuine and lawful covers stay and residence, not only the moment of entry. | Art. 3, para. 1 |
Article 10 of the same Order lists prohibited conduct for organisations providing exit and entry intermediary services, including providing or assisting in providing false materials. That is a separate liability track directed at those organisations rather than at an inviting employer (see Further reading). Decisions on issuance, entry and penalties rest with the immigration administration bodies and visa authorities.
7. Who runs into this, and how it is used
Three groups meet Article 3 directly: companies that issue invitation letters for visiting staff, customers or auditors; group entities certifying secondment and intra-group transfer arrangements; and individuals signing private invitations. For all three, the question the Order poses is narrow — who signed, and was what the document asserted true.
- Misconception: The risk in an invitation letter belongs to the person who uses it. In fact: Article 3, paragraph 3 places a duty on the issuer, and Article 11, paragraph 2 attaches a penalty to the issuer — separately from anything that happens to the applicant under Article 11, paragraph 1 or Article 5, paragraph 1.
- Misconception: If the company is fined, the individual who signed is covered. In fact: the entity fine and the fine on the directly responsible person in charge and other directly liable persons appear in the same sentence of Article 11, paragraph 2, in addition to one another, not as alternatives.
- Misconception: An invitation letter is a formality once a work permit is in hand. In fact: the duties are independent. Article 41 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law governs whether the permit and residence permit were in place; Article 3 of Order No. 841 governs whether what the supporting document said was true. Either can fail on its own.
- Misconception: The duty ends when the person has entered China. In fact: Article 3, paragraph 1 covers stay and residence as well as exit and entry, so the requirement that the stated purpose be genuine attaches to the basis on which a stay or residence permit was granted, not only to the border crossing.
- Identify who actually signs each category of invitation letter and supporting document, and check that against Article 11, paragraph 2 — the paragraph reaches the directly responsible person in charge and other directly liable persons, categories defined by responsibility for the act rather than by job title.
- Test each recurring template against Article 3, paragraph 3's two objects — the substance of the invitation（邀请内容）and the matters certified（证明事项）— and assess whether the entity is in a position to stand behind each factual assertion the template makes.
- Review representation and warranty clauses in employment, secondment and intra-group service agreements against Article 3, paragraph 3, and assess whether an internal allocation of risk between group entities changes the position of the entity that in fact issued the document — on the text, the duty follows issuance.
- Assess the Article 41 leg separately, since the per-head penalty in Article 80, paragraph 3 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law scales with headcount while Article 11, paragraph 2 of Order No. 841 does not.
- Laws and Regulations index
- Arrive · Visas, Work Permits & Permanent Residence
- Work & Invest · Employment Rights and Starting a Business
- Entry Bans of One to Five Years: Three Different Grounds in One Article, and Three Different Routes of Recourse (forthcoming)
- The Six Prohibited Acts in State Council Order No. 841: How a Company Should Read Its Own Liability When Outsourcing Foreign Employees' Immigration Matters
- 《国务院关于出境入境管理的规定》，国务院令第 841 号，2026 年 6 月 29 日国务院第 90 次常务会议通过，2026 年 7 月 22 日成文，2026 年 7 月 31 日发布，自 2026 年 9 月 15 日起施行，全文 19 条。本文引用其第三条（四款）、第五条第一款、第十一条（两款）、第十九条，并提及第十条。官方原文 https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/202607/content_7077172.htm ；国务院文件库版 https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202607/content_7077173.htm
- 《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》，主席令第五十七号，2012 年 6 月 30 日通过并公布，2013 年 7 月 1 日施行，全文 93 条，至今未修正。本文引用其第四十一条第一款、第八十条第三款，并援引第七十四条（两款：为外国人出具邀请函件或者其他申请材料的三层罚则——个人 5000 元以上 1 万元以下、单位 1 万元以上 5 万元以下、对直接负责的主管人员和其他直接责任人员依照前款规定处罚，并均责令其承担所邀请外国人的出境费用）。官方原文 https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741547/c1013311/content.html
- 司法部、公安部、国家移民局负责人就《国务院关于出境入境管理的规定》答记者问，https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1793235/content.html （背景参考，本文未引用其中条号）。
- Status and timing note 效力与时点提示：Order No. 841 was published on 2026-07-31 and takes effect on 2026-09-15; the position stated on this page is the position from that date. Order No. 841 does not define falsity for the purposes of Article 3, paragraph 3, does not address the position of a signer who was itself misled, and contains no transitional provision for documents issued before it takes effect; this page does not supply what the text does not state. Decisions on issuance, entry and penalties rest with the immigration administration bodies and visa authorities. All procedural matters are subject to the current published requirements of the accepting authority.
This article is general legal research and does not constitute legal advice; by law, a law firm may not guarantee case outcomes. 本文为一般性法律研究，不构成法律意见；依据法律规定，律所不得承诺办案结果。
