China Entry-Exit Documents — Recognize All 11 Official Document Types
Visa sticker, residence permit, group visa, travel permits — every Chinese entry-exit document the National Immigration Administration publishes sample images for and that actually matters to foreigners. Straight from NIA's official document library, each image labelled with its source, with the official Chinese titles and what each document is for. New here? Start with which China visa type you need.
The 11 documents at a glance
| Document (official Chinese title) | English | Held by | Main use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 电子普通护照样式 | Electronic Ordinary Passport | Chinese citizens | China's national passport for international travel |
| 普通签证样式 | Ordinary Visa | Foreigners entering China | The entry-permission sticker placed in your passport |
| 团体签证样式 | Group Visa | Foreign tourist groups of two or more people | Group entry permission, arranged through a Chinese travel agency |
| 外国人居留许可样式 | Foreigner's Residence Permit | Foreigners residing in China long-term | The in-China residence credential — work, study or family stays beyond a visa |
| 外国人旅行证样式 | Foreigner's Travel Document | Foreigners | A travel document issued to foreigners |
| 外国人出入境证样式 | Exit-Entry Document for Foreigners | Foreigners | An exit-entry document issued to foreigners |
| 一次有效出入境通行证样式 | Single-Entry Exit-Entry Document | Holder of a one-time exit-entry permit | A single-use exit-entry pass — the official title states it is valid once |
| 本式出入境通行证样式 | Booklet-Style Exit-Entry Document | Holder of a booklet-format exit-entry permit | A booklet-format exit-entry pass — the official title states the booklet form |
| 往来港澳通行证样式 | Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao | Mainland residents | The card mainland residents use to travel between the mainland and Hong Kong/Macao |
| 贴纸式签注样式 | Sticker-Style Endorsement | Shown on sticker-style endorsements | The endorsement sticker sample — the official title states the sticker form |
| 港澳居民来往内地通行证（非中国籍）式样 | Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (Non-Chinese Nationals) | Non-Chinese-national residents of Hong Kong and Macao | The newest card in the official library (2024) — travel between HK/Macao and the mainland for non-Chinese nationals |
Electronic Ordinary Passport 电子普通护照样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763438/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — no written description.
Ordinary Visa 普通签证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763288/content.html
Identification points
- The fields you verify on the sticker are the visa type, validity period of entry, duration of stay and remaining entry times — the same four fields NIA references when a new visa is issued to replace a lost passport.
- NIA's guidance works with letter-coded visa types such as F, J2, M, Q2, R, S2 and X2 — the letter appears on the sticker.
NIA visa change/replacement guidance (en.nia.gov.cn c158291), cross-referenced from our visa extension transcription.
Group Visa 团体签证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763294/content.html
Identification points
- Group tourist port visas cover groups of two or more people; the Chinese travel agency responsible for organizing and receiving the group applies in advance with invitation letters, lists of personnel and tourist reception plans.
- Group tourist port visa holders can enter and exit through all open ports in China.
NIA port visa FAQ (en.nia.gov.cn c156102, Q5), cross-referenced from our port visa page.
Foreigner's Residence Permit 外国人居留许可样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763273/content.html
Identification points
- Residence permits are issued by reason of stay — work-type and private-affairs type appear in NIA's guidance — with validity of up to 5 years in the official examples.
- A residence permit is not the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card: the permanent residence card is a stand-alone identity document, and obtaining it cancels your original visa or residence permit.
NIA visa extension guidance (en.nia.gov.cn c158291) and permanent residence policy documents, cross-referenced from our residence permit guide.
This sample page is still live on nia.gov.cn but no longer appears in the library index list (checked 2026-09-06) — kept in this guide because it is the document foreigners most often hold.
Foreigner's Travel Document 外国人旅行证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c1131471/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — no written description is published, and we do not invent identification features.
Exit-Entry Document for Foreigners 外国人出入境证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c1131442/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — no written description is published, and we do not invent identification features.
Single-Entry Exit-Entry Document 一次有效出入境通行证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763421/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — the title itself states the document is valid for one use.
Booklet-Style Exit-Entry Document 本式出入境通行证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763407/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — the title itself states the booklet format.
Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao 往来港澳通行证样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763351/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the sample image and title only — no written description is published, and we do not invent identification features.
Sticker-Style Endorsement 贴纸式签注样式
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763333/content.html
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763333/content.html
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c763333/content.html
Identification points
The official page provides the three sample images and the title only — no written description is published, and we do not invent identification features.
Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents (Non-Chinese Nationals) 港澳居民来往内地通行证（非中国籍）式样
Source: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/c1670441/content.html
Identification points
- Holders of this permit are on the official exemption list for China's online arrival card — they do not need to file one.
NIA arrival card Instructions page (s.nia.gov.cn), cross-referenced from our arrival card guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I check the number of entries on my Chinese visa sticker?
On the sticker itself. The fields to verify are the visa type, the validity period of entry, the duration of stay and the (remaining) entry times — the same four fields the National Immigration Administration references when a replacement visa is issued. The official sample image above shows what an ordinary visa sticker looks like, including the letter code (M, L, F, Q2, S2, X2 and so on) for the visa type.
What is the difference between a Chinese visa and a residence permit?
A visa is the entry permission you get before travelling — the sticker in your passport. A residence permit (居留许可) is the in-China credential for foreigners staying long-term, issued by reason of stay (work, study, family or private affairs) with validity of up to 5 years in NIA's guidance examples. They are different credentials: if you obtain the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card, it replaces your visa or residence permit — the original is cancelled.
How do I recognize a Chinese residence permit in my passport?
It is a sticker-style permit placed inside your passport — see the official sample image in the residence permit section above, straight from NIA's document library. The official page publishes the image and title only, without a written description, so the sample image is the entire official visual record — be wary of any source describing the permit in more detail than the official sample shows.
What is a Chinese group visa and who gets one?
A group visa covers a foreign tourist group of two or more people. The Chinese travel agency responsible for organizing and receiving the group applies in advance, submitting invitation letters, lists of personnel and a tourist reception plan. Group tourist port visa holders can enter and exit through all open ports in China. The official sample image is in the group visa section above.
I lost my passport in China and need to leave — what should I do?
NIA's guidance provides expedited acceptance for foreigners who lost a passport and urgently need to leave: you present a confirmed (air, bus or ship) ticket with the departure date plus an explanation letter from your inviting unit, and the application is accepted and processed without delay. See our China visa extension guide for the official wording and scope.
Why does one document in this guide no longer appear in the official library index?
The foreigner's residence permit sample page is still live on nia.gov.cn, but when we re-checked the library on 2026-09-06 it no longer appeared in the index list. We keep it in this guide — it is the document long-term foreigners most often hold — and we record the discrepancy openly rather than quietly dropping or replacing the official sample.
Are these Chinese document images official?
Yes. Every image on this page is downloaded from the National Immigration Administration's official document library (出入境证件宣介, www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/), hosted locally, and labelled with its source page and the page's official date (the samples are dated from 2018-09-29 to 2024-09-02; last verified 2026-09-06). We do not alter the images — only lossless file-size optimization.
Does an endorsement (签注) work like a visa?
The official library publishes the sticker-style endorsement sample with the title and three sample images only — no written definition — so this page will not invent rules for it. If someone shows you a sticker in a Chinese travel document and calls it an endorsement, compare it with the official sample images above; for your own China visa questions, the ordinary visa and residence permit sections are the ones that matter.
Source & verification
Source: National Immigration Administration — 出入境证件宣介 (entry-exit document samples library), www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/. Sample pages dated 2018-09-29 through 2024-09-02. https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741629/index.html
Last verified: 2026-09-06
All images are downloaded from the official NIA library and hosted on this site — no hotlinking — with each image's source page labelled directly beneath it. The official pages publish sample images and titles only; identification points that go beyond the official titles are attributed to their specific NIA guidance documents. Where the official record is just the image, we say so instead of filling the gap.