- If your passport is lost, stolen, or damaged in China, your first step should be to contact your own embassy, consulate, or relevant institution in the country.
- China has a separate document that many foreigners may not know about: 外国人出入境证 (Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners)
- This document is not a replacement passport and is not issued by your embassy.
- It applies only when your embassy, consulate, or relevant home-country institution in China cannot reissue a passport or travel document.
Losing a passport in China can create problems quickly. It is not only an identity issue. It can affect visa or residence procedures, hotel registration, transport bookings, bank checks, and your ability to leave the country. Foreign nationals aged 16 or above are also required under Chinese law to carry their passports, other international travel documents, or stay and residence documents for inspection.
Upon losing a passport, one of the first things to do is contact your embassy, consulate, or relevant institution in the country. You need to find out whether it can issue a replacement passport or emergency travel document. If it can, that is the best route, and you should confirm the next Chinese immigration step with the local exit-entry administration.
There is also a narrower Chinese procedure that many foreign residents may not know exists. China’s National Immigration Administration has a documented procedure for a document called 外国人出入境证, officially translated as the Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners. It is issued through the public-security exit-entry administration system in specific cases.
What this document is
The official English name is Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners. The official Chinese name is 外国人出入境证. It is not a passport. It is not issued by the foreigner’s home country. It is a Chinese public-security exit-entry document.
The legal basis is Article 23 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners. That article covers foreigners in China who do not hold a valid passport or other international travel document because it has been lost, damaged, stolen, robbed, or is unavailable for similar reasons, and who cannot obtain a reissued document through the relevant institution of their own country in China.
The procedure is handled by public-security exit-entry administrations. The NIA service guide says prefecture-level or above public-security exit-entry administrations are entrusted to accept and issue this document. County-level offices may also do so where authorised after a provincial-level request and NIA approval.
The key point is the trigger: this is not the normal route for every lost passport case. It becomes relevant only when the foreign national has no valid passport or international travel document in the circumstances covered by Article 23 and cannot obtain a reissued document through their home-country institution in China.
When it applies
Two conditions matter. First, the passport or international travel document must be lost, damaged, stolen, robbed, or otherwise unavailable in the circumstances covered by Article 23 and the NIA guide. Second, the foreign national must be unable to obtain a reissued document through their own country’s embassy, consulate, or relevant institution in China.
The second condition is strict. The official standard is inability to obtain reissued documents through the home-country institution in China. The official wording does not describe the trigger as inconvenience, delay, weekend closure, or inability to get a document before a preferred flight.
If the home-country institution cannot issue a replacement travel document in China, the 外国人出入境证 route may become relevant. Even then, the document is not issued automatically. The handling authority must review the case and may consider other legal factors, including exit-bar rules.
What to do first
First, report the loss and obtain a passport-loss report certificate. In Haikou, local official guidance says foreigners who have lost passports and have urgent needs can receive a passport-loss certificate immediately through exit-entry police. That certificate will be used as proof of the passport loss. It is not the Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners itself.
Haikou also lists a 24-hour exit-entry policy consultation number: 0898-68590746. Treat this as a consultation number, not an approval line. The document itself is handled through the public-security exit-entry administration procedure.
Second, contact your embassy, consulate, or relevant home-country institution in China. The purpose is to establish whether it can issue a replacement passport or emergency travel document. That answer is a key factor in deciding which Chinese procedure comes next.
Third, call the Chinese exit-entry administration before changing your travel plans. The national immigration service hotline is 12367. Hainan’s April 2024 convenience measures say foreigners with urgent visa-document matters may call 12367, and public-security exit-entry administrations provide expedited document-processing service where applicable.
Do not book an international flight, move to another city, or assume you can depart until the exit-entry administration confirms the correct procedure for your case. Chinese law requires foreigners leaving China to present the required exit-entry documents and complete border-inspection formalities before departure is permitted.
What documents are required
The NIA service guide lists three categories of application materials. The first is a completed foreigner visa-document application form and one photo that meets the official exit-entry document photograph requirements.
The second category depends on each individual case. It may be a Confirmation of Reporting the Loss of Passport, an official note from the embassy or consulate, or the damaged, invalid, or expired document plus a temporary identity document used instead of the passport.
The third category is, other materials related to the reason for issuing the permit, as required by the handling office, depending on the facts of the case.
Where to apply
Applications are handled by public-security exit-entry administrations. The NIA guide says prefecture-level or above exit-entry administrations accept and issue the document. County-level offices may do so if authorised through the required approval process.
In Hainan, provincial convenience measures say foreigners may choose any public-security exit-entry administration in the province that has visa-document acceptance authority to apply for visa-document matters. However, the measure does not specifically name 外国人出入境证, so confirm the document-specific window before going.
In Haikou, local guidance lists the municipal exit-entry reception window at the Haikou Citizen and Visitor Center, as well as district-level windows in Longhua, Meilan, Xiuying, Qiongshan, and Jiangdong New Area.
The same guidance also lists the 24-hour consultation number 0898-68590746.
Call before going. A window may accept visa-document matters generally, but you still need to confirm whether it can handle this specific 外国人出入境证 case.
Processing time, fee, and personal attendance
The NIA guide gives a decision period of up to 30 working days from the date the application is accepted. This is not a guarantee that the document will be issued. It also does not mean every case will take exactly 30 working days.
Hainan’s urgent-handling measures may be relevant in urgent visa-document cases, but the published Hainan measure does not specifically name this permit. If you’re in a tight spot, the safest step is to call 12367 or the local exit-entry administration and ask how the urgency procedure applies to your specific case.
The applicant should expect to attend in person. The NIA guide says the applicant must personally go to the public-security exit-entry administration to complete the relevant procedures and accept an interview. The NIA English portal guide also says the applicant collects the document in person with the acceptance receipt.
The NIA English portal guide lists the fee for the Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners as CNY 100. However, applicants should still confirm the fee with the handling office.
What official sources do not say
Official sources reviewed for this article do not state the validity period of the Exit-Entry Permit for Foreigners. They also do not state whether the document is single-exit, multi-use, usable for domestic travel, or usable for continued residence.
Article 23 refers to applying to handle exit formalities. That supports a departure-related reading, but it does not answer every operational question about validity, domestic movement, or continued residence while waiting.
Readers should not fill those gaps with assumptions. If the matter is urgent, the safe step is to contact 12367 and the local exit-entry administration before acting.
The practical sequence to remember
- If a passport is lost or stolen in China, report it and obtain a passport-loss report certificate.
- Then contact the embassy, consulate, or relevant home-country institution in China to establish whether it can issue a replacement passport or emergency travel document.
- If the home-country institution can issue a replacement document, ask the exit-entry administration which Chinese visa, stay permit, or residence permit process applies next.
- If the home-country institution cannot issue a replacement document in China, ask whether the 外国人出入境证 route applies.
- If the case is urgent, call 12367. In Haikou, also call 0898-68590746 for exit-entry policy consultation. Those numbers can help route the issue, but the document is handled by the public-security exit-entry administration.
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