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（国令第841号）, current version in force from 2026-09-15
- The six prohibited acts in Article 10 bind the outsourced intermediary, not the client company — but a company that tolerates or benefits from a violation is not clean just because someone else signed the paperwork.
- A company carries its own duty under Article 3, paragraph 3: whoever issues an invitation letter or application materials for an exit/entry person answers for its truthfulness, whether or not an intermediary drafted the document.
- Article 8, paragraph 3 bars any overseas enterprise or institution from providing exit/entry intermediary services inside China at all — a threshold question before any other part of the engagement.
- Intermediaries face a filing duty under Article 7 — 15 days from establishment for a new institution, 90 days from 2026-09-15 for one already operating — but the implementing measures have not yet been published.
- Article 10, paragraph 2 singles out public officials and military personnel: an intermediary asked to unlawfully arrange（违规办理）foreign nationality or overseas permanent residence for such a person must refuse and report it.
- Approval of any visa, work-permit or residence matter always sits with the immigration authority; this firm's role is legal assessment of the arrangement, not case handling.
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（国令第841号） |
| Adopted / promulgated | Adopted at the 90th executive meeting of the State Council on 2026-06-29; text signed by Premier Li Qiang on 2026-07-22; promulgated 2026-07-31 |
| Current version in force from | 2026-09-15 (first version; 19 articles) |
| Issuing authority | State Council |
| Official text | https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202607/content_7077173.htm |
| What this page covers | How Article 10's six prohibited acts, the company's own Article 3 duty, and the Article 7 filing regime split compliance risk when a company outsources a foreign employee's exit/entry matter to an intermediary. |
2. Two regulated tracks, not one
Article 1 states the purpose: to standardise exit/entry administration and protect lawful rights and national interests, on the basis of the Exit and Entry Administration Law（《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》）. Two interface points, not this page's axis: Article 12(6) of that law is a general clause for "other circumstances" barring exit, which this Order's Article 4 partly fills in; and Article 41 already requires an employer to confirm a foreign employee holds a work permit and a work-type residence permit, regardless of whether an intermediary is used. Both are taken up in full elsewhere in this series.
Articles 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10 create two separate populations under obligation, and a company outsourcing a foreign employee's immigration matter sits in both. The first is the intermediary itself — the institution or individual providing exit/entry policy consultation, document-preparation support and formality-handling services on a client's instruction, in the sense of Article 7. It carries the filing duty, the operating conditions and the six prohibited acts below. The second is anyone — a company included — who issues an invitation letter or application material for an exit/entry person; Article 3(3) attaches a truthfulness duty to that act directly, regardless of who drafted the document. This page keeps the two tracks apart, because conflating them is the most common way a company misreads its own exposure.
3. The company's own duty does not depend on using an intermediary
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。
Where a unit or individual issues an invitation letter or other application materials for an exit/entry person, it shall be responsible for the truthfulness of the content of the invitation and the matters to be proven, and shall cooperate with the immigration authority or the visa authority in verifying the relevant information.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
This is the provision a company should read first, because it binds the company itself, not the intermediary it hires. Whether HR signs the invitation letter, or an intermediary turns HR's facts into the application form, the truthfulness of the content stays the company's own responsibility under Article 3(3) — outsourcing the drafting does not outsource the duty. Handing an intermediary incomplete or inaccurate facts and letting it produce a cleaner-looking application does not move the exposure across; it only adds a second party who may also be exposed under Article 10. The penalty is examined in Section 6.
境外企业、机构不得在中国境内提供出境入境中介服务。
An overseas enterprise or institution may not provide exit/entry intermediary services within the territory of China.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Ask this before any other part of the engagement. Article 8's first paragraph sets five conditions an intermediary must meet — lawful establishment, a clean criminal record for its legal representative and client-facing staff, adequate professional resources, and a sound management system — but paragraph 3 is a separate, absolute bar: an overseas enterprise or institution may not provide these services inside China, however its local presence is structured. A company facing what is, in substance, a foreign entity's on-the-ground operation should treat that as a reason not to proceed.
4. The six prohibited acts, and the clause aimed at public officials and military personnel
从事出境入境中介服务的机构不得有下列行为：
（一）发布虚假信息，或者通过夸大宣传、误导性宣传等方式招徕服务对象；
（二）提供或者协助提供虚假材料，协助他人违规办理签证、停留居留证件、护照等出境入境证件或者手续；
（三）泄露、出售、非法提供在中介服务活动中知悉的商业秘密、个人隐私或者个人信息；
（四）超出备案范围从事出境入境中介服务；
（五）组织或者协助他人从事跨境违法犯罪活动；
（六）危害国家安全、利益或者扰乱出境入境管理秩序的其他行为。
An intermediary institution may not: (1) publish false information, or solicit clients through exaggerated or misleading promotion; (2) provide or assist in providing false materials, or assist another person to unlawfully obtain a visa, stay/residence permit, passport or other exit/entry document or formality; (3) disclose, sell or unlawfully provide trade secrets, personal privacy or personal information learned in the course of its services; (4) provide services beyond the scope of its filing; (5) organise or assist cross-border unlawful or criminal activity; or (6) engage in other conduct endangering national security or interests, or disrupting exit/entry administration order.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Each item gives a company something specific to watch for, not a general impression to trust. Items (1)–(2) cover marketing and paperwork — exaggerated promises and doctored materials sit together. Item (3) is the confidentiality duty that matters once a company has shared an employee's personal data with the intermediary. Item (4) ties back to Article 7: a filed intermediary is filed for a defined scope, and stepping outside it is itself a violation. Items (5)–(6) are catch-alls for cross-border unlawful conduct and anything else disrupting exit/entry order. None describes the client company's own conduct — but a company that keeps using an intermediary after learning of a violation keeps a compromised counterparty in the chain handling its employees' documents.
公职人员、军队人员等委托从事出境入境中介服务的机构违规办理外国国籍、境外永久居留资格、境外居留证件或者其他出境入境证件、手续的，从事出境入境中介服务的机构不得办理，并及时向监察机关等报告。
Where a public official, a military member or other similar person entrusts an institution engaged in exit/entry intermediary services to unlawfully handle matters concerning foreign nationality, overseas permanent residence status, an overseas residence document or other exit/entry document or formality, the intermediary may not handle the matter, and shall promptly report it to the supervisory organ and other relevant authorities.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
Written to the intermediary, but a hard stop a company connected to a public official or military member should know before routing such a request anywhere. The trigger is the nature of the handling sought: the paragraph bites where what is asked for would be handled in breach of the applicable rules（违规办理）, and it is only then that the Regulations stop leaving the matter to discretion — refusal and a prompt report become mandatory. Treating that situation as routine misreads who Article 10(2) protects.
5. Filing and timing, and what has not yet been published
Article 7's first paragraph defines who this filing duty reaches: institutions and individuals that, on a client's entrustment, provide exit/entry policy consultation, document-preparation support and formality-handling services. The two paragraphs quoted below set the deadlines and flag the one piece still missing.
从事出境入境中介服务的机构，应当自设立之日起15日内向所在地移民管理机构备案。从事出境入境中介服务的人员，应当由所在机构办理备案手续。本规定施行前已经从事出境入境中介服务的，应当在本规定施行之日起90日内办理备案手续。
从事出境入境中介服务的机构和人员备案管理的具体办法，由国家移民管理部门会同国务院市场监督管理等主管部门制定。
An institution engaged in exit/entry intermediary services shall file with the immigration authority of its locality within 15 days of establishment. An individual so engaged is filed through the institution employing them. Anyone already so engaged before these Regulations took effect shall complete filing within 90 days of the effective date.
The specific measures for this filing management are to be formulated by the national immigration authority together with the market regulation authority and other competent State Council departments.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
| Event | Deadline | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| New intermediary institution established | Files within 15 days of establishment | Art. 7(2) |
| Institution already operating before 2026-09-15 | Files within 90 days of 2026-09-15 (by 2026-12-14) | Art. 7(2) |
| Individual providing the services | Filed through the employing institution, same deadlines | Art. 7(2) |
| Company's own truthfulness duty for materials it issues | Attaches at the moment each document is issued; no filing involved | Art. 3(3) |
6. Penalties and who pays
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。
Where an individual issues a false invitation letter or other application materials for another's exit/entry, stay or residence application, the immigration authority fines RMB 5,000 to 10,000, with confiscation of any illegal gains. A unit engaging in the same conduct is fined RMB 10,000 to 50,000, with confiscation of any illegal gains, plus RMB 5,000 to 10,000 on the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel. Where the law provides otherwise, that provision governs.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
This reaches back to Article 3(3): a company issuing, or having an intermediary draft in its name, a letter or material it knows or should know to be false need not be the intermediary to be fined — Article 11(2) hits the issuing unit, plus a further fine on its responsible individuals.
从事出境入境中介服务的机构违反本规定第十条规定，扰乱出境入境管理秩序的，由移民管理机构责令限期改正；有违法所得的，没收违法所得；违法所得2万元以上的，并处违法所得1倍以上5倍以下罚款；没有违法所得或者违法所得不足2万元的，并处2万元以上5万元以下罚款；拒不改正或者情节严重的，通报有关主管部门责令暂停相关业务、停业整顿、吊销相关业务许可证或者吊销营业执照；对直接负责的主管人员和其他直接责任人员处1万元以上5万元以下罚款。法律另有规定的，从其规定。
Where an intermediary institution violates Article 10 and disrupts exit/entry administration order, the immigration authority shall order it to correct within a time limit; illegal gains, if any, shall be confiscated; where illegal gains are RMB 20,000 or more, an additional fine of one to five times the gains applies; where there are no gains or they are under RMB 20,000, a fine of RMB 20,000 to 50,000 applies; where the institution refuses to correct or the circumstances are serious, the matter is reported to the competent authority for suspension of business, shutdown for rectification, or revocation of the relevant licence or business licence; the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel are fined RMB 10,000 to 50,000. Where the law provides otherwise, that provision governs.
Unofficial translation; the Chinese text as officially published prevails.
| Who is penalized | Conduct | Provision | Penalty, per the officially published text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual / unit issuing false invitation or application materials | Breach of Art. 3(3) | Art. 11(2) | Individual RMB 5,000–10,000; unit RMB 10,000–50,000 + RMB 5,000–10,000 on responsible personnel; gains confiscated |
| Intermediary institution | Violates Art. 7 (filing) or Art. 8 (conditions) | Art. 12(1) | Correction ordered; refusal: RMB 5,000–10,000 + suspension report; serious: RMB 10,000–50,000 + licence-revocation report |
| Unfiled individual | Provides the services unlawfully | Art. 12(2) | Ordered to stop; gains confiscated; serious cases: up to RMB 5,000 more |
| Intermediary institution | Any Art. 10(1) or 10(2) act | Art. 13 | Gains confiscated; RMB 20,000+ gains: 1–5× fine; under RMB 20,000: RMB 20,000–50,000; serious cases: licence revocation + RMB 10,000–50,000 on responsible personnel |
| Who decides | Fines over RMB 5,000 or confiscation under this Order | Art. 14 | County-level+ public security exit/entry agencies, via their own public security organ |
Article 9 places intermediaries under coordinated monitoring by the immigration authority and several other State Council departments, each within its own jurisdiction; violations are published according to law. Article 16 requires an accessible reporting route for conduct violating exit/entry administration — usable to report an intermediary rather than simply stop using it.
7. Who runs into this, and how it is used
Three groups need this reading of the Order: a company's HR or mobility function instructing an outside intermediary on a foreign employee's visa, work-permit or residence matter; counsel assessing an existing vendor relationship before renewal; and anyone conducting due diligence on an intermediary before a first engagement.
- Misconception: if the intermediary broke none of Article 10's six rules, the company's own paperwork is automatically clean. In fact: Article 3(3) is a separate duty for whoever issues the invitation letter or application materials — a company answers for its own materials whether or not an intermediary drafted them.
- Misconception: any intermediary registered as a company inside China satisfies Article 8. In fact: Article 8(3) bars an overseas enterprise or institution from providing these services inside China outright — local registration does not resolve where the entity is actually organised or controlled.
- Misconception: the Article 7 filing duty is the intermediary's problem, not the client's. In fact: a company that keeps using an intermediary unfiled after the 90-day transition ending 2026-12-14 is relying on a counterparty already exposed to the Article 12 penalties above.
- Misconception: this firm's contacts can get a case processed faster. In fact: approval always sits with the immigration authority; this firm's role in an outsourcing relationship is legal assessment of the arrangement, not securing outcomes.
- Verify the intermediary's organisational status against Article 8(3) before any engagement — where it is established and who controls it — since an overseas enterprise or institution may not lawfully provide these services inside China.
- Confirm the intermediary's Article 7 filing status and keep dated evidence of that confirmation, especially for one already operating before 2026-09-15, given the implementing measures have not yet been published.
- Trace which party actually drafted each invitation letter or application material issued in the company's name; Article 3(3) attaches the truthfulness duty to whoever issues the document, so keep a review record rather than relying solely on the intermediary's work product.
- Assess any request touching a public official's or military member's foreign nationality or overseas permanent residence against Article 10(2) before it reaches an intermediary — where the handling sought would be in breach of the applicable rules（违规办理）, the Order requires the intermediary itself to refuse and report it.
- Treat any of the six Article 10(1) acts as grounds to end an engagement, and record the assessment against the specific item and article number rather than a general impression of reputation.
- Laws and Regulations — the index this page sits in
- Arrive · Visas, Work Permits & Permanent Residence — the individual applicant's side of the same paperwork
- Work & Invest · Employment Rights and Starting a Business — the employer's obligations toward the foreign employee itself
- Entry, Stay, Residence, Permanent Residence: The Four Legal Statuses a Foreign National Holds Under the Exit and Entry Administration Law
- The K Visa Added by State Council Order No. 814: Its Legal Definition, and Where It Sits Against the R and Z Visas
- 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（国令第841号）, adopted 2026-06-29, signed 2026-07-22, promulgated 2026-07-31, in force from 2026-09-15, 19 articles. Cites Articles 1, 3, 4 (upper-law interface, one sentence), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16. Official text https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202607/content_7077173.htm
- Exit and Entry Administration Law（《中华人民共和国出境入境管理法》）, Presidential Order No. 57, in force from 2013-07-01. Cites Article 12(6) and Article 41, each one sentence as an upper-law interface only; full treatment is a separate article in this series. Official text https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741547/c1013311/content.html
- 《国务院关于出境入境管理的规定》专家解读, National Immigration Administration website, published 2026-07-31, cited as background only; this article does not adopt that commentary's article numbering. https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741577/c1793272/content.html
- Status and timing note 效力与时点提示：State Council Order No. 841 is a first-issue regulation with no amendment history as of 2026-09-05. The specific filing-management measures referred to in Article 7, paragraph 3 have not yet been officially published as of this date; readers should confirm the current position with the competent immigration authority. Any procedural step not addressed by the officially published text of this Order is 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。
