Short answer
Four documents in this order: police receipt, certificate of loss, new passport or travel document from your embassy, then a visa or exit permit from the Exit and Entry Administration. Skipping a step blocks the next one, and none of them can be done out of order from abroad.
Report the loss at the police station covering the place it happened, on the same day. The Chinese government certificate that follows is valid for 30 days, and that is your legal footing for staying in the country while you sort out a replacement.
Expect the process to take days, not hours, and to involve a trip to a consulate in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Chengdu for most nationalities. Overstaying the 30 days is the expensive mistake: the law provides a warning plus a fine of ¥500 a day up to ¥10,000, or detention in serious cases.
The whole sequence at a glance
| Step | Where | What you walk out with | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Report the loss | Police station covering the place it happened | Printed receipt of the report, with your name on it | Same day |
| 2. Apply for the loss certificate | Exit and Entry Administration, municipal public security bureau | Certificate of reporting the loss of a foreigner's passport | Commonly issued the second day after acceptance |
| 3. Replacement travel document | Your embassy or consulate in China | New passport or emergency travel document | Days to weeks, depending on your country |
| 4. Visa or exit permit | Exit and Entry Administration again | Replacement visa, or an exit-entry permit valid up to 30 days | After step 3 |
The first two hours
Most passports that are reported lost come back within an hour. Check the hotel safe, the last backpack you carried, the pocket of the jacket you took off, the taxi or ride-hailing trip record, and the last restaurant. Ask the hotel to call the places you visited.
If it is genuinely gone, the sequence starts immediately, because the police receipt is dated. Nothing about this process works retroactively.
In parallel, protect the money. Freeze the cards that were with the passport, and suspend the phone line through your carrier or eSIM provider if the phone went too. Financial exposure runs faster than paperwork. If the loss was a theft and you want an insurance claim to survive, the police visit is also what produces the report your insurer will ask for.
Step 1: the police receipt
Go to the police station with jurisdiction over the place the passport went missing — the district where the theft happened, not the station nearest your hotel, although the hotel will usually tell you which one that is and sometimes send someone with you.
Ask for a written receipt of the report. Some stations call this a receipt for reporting to the police, and it lists the name of the person involved. Ask for a copy in Chinese, take a photograph of it the same day, and keep it on your phone as well as in your bag. This single sheet is requested at the Exit and Entry Administration, at the consulate counter and by your insurer.
Where the police station allows online reporting of lost documents, that route exists in some cities. The in-person visit remains the reliable one for a foreigner, and it is the one that produces the stamped document.
Step 2: the certificate of loss
Next, and in person, the Exit and Entry Administration of the municipal public security bureau. You are applying for the certificate of reporting the loss of a foreigner's passport. It is routinely issued the second day after acceptance, and it is valid for 30 days.
What to bring:
- The receipt from the police station, original.
- A completed application form for reporting the loss of a foreigner's exit-entry document — the office provides it, and the local government English-language service site often has a downloadable version.
- Photocopies of the lost passport and visa if you kept copies. This is where a phone photo of your passport data page turns into a genuine advantage.
- Recent passport-style photographs, in the format the office specifies.
- Proof of your accommodation, such as the hotel registration slip.
The exact list is set locally and shifts between cities, so confirm it with the Exit and Entry Administration for the city you are in before you travel across town for the counter.
Step 3: your embassy or consulate
With the loss certificate in hand, your embassy or consulate can act. Most require the Chinese loss certificate before they will process anything, which is why doing the police and immigration steps first is not optional.
Two kinds of document come out of this step. A full replacement passport is the cleaner outcome but takes longer, and the wait depends entirely on your country's process. An emergency travel document is faster and is usually enough for a direct flight home, but not always for onward travel through other countries.
Before you commit, ask three questions: which document the embassy can issue and when, whether the airline you hold a ticket with accepts it, and whether the Chinese exit desk at your departure airport accepts it. Airlines differ on this, and the answer decides which document you need. Consular sections are usually in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and a handful of other cities — check your own embassy's official site for which office covers where you are.
While you are at it: report the loss to your home passport authority if your country requires it, so the old document cannot be used in your name.
Step 4: back to immigration for a visa or exit permit
The new passport is not the end. The visa that was inside the old passport is void, so you return to the Exit and Entry Administration and apply for a replacement visa or an exit-entry permit. The materials are the new passport, the original loss certificate plus a copy, a visa application form and a photograph receipt.
There is a route for the case where your embassy cannot reissue a passport at all. Chinese immigration can issue an exit-entry permit valid for up to 30 days on the strength of the loss report or a note from your embassy — enough to leave the country legally. That is the official fallback, and it is worth naming at the counter if you are stuck between an embassy that will not issue and a flight that will not wait.
Fees for these documents are set locally and change. Neither the police report nor the immigration certificate has a published price worth quoting from a travel guide — ask at the counter, or check the official channel, on the day.
Moving between cities while it is unresolved
Domestic travel is the part people underrate. Train tickets and flights are booked against your passport number, and hotel registration normally requires a valid identity document. You are working with a receipt and a certificate, not a passport.
| Task | Normally required | With a loss certificate and police receipt |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel check-in | Passport with a valid entry stamp | Ask the hotel to register you with the certificate, and let them call the local police station if they are unsure |
| High-speed rail ticket | Passport number at booking and at the gate | Possible in some cases, decided by the operator — confirm with the railway service before you book |
| Domestic flight | Passport at check-in and security | Airline policy varies — call the airline before buying the ticket |
| Leaving China | Passport with valid visa | New passport or travel document plus a replacement visa or exit-entry permit |
Practical effect: if you were planning to move cities after the loss, do the immigration steps in the city where you are, then decide. Requirement details change and are enforced locally, so check the official channel — the railway service line, the airline, or the Exit and Entry Administration — before you commit to a booking. If you entered under a visa-free arrangement, note the exit date stamped at entry and tell immigration which scheme you entered under, because the paperwork changes with it; the limits of the transit scheme are set out in the visa-free transit guide.
The overstay trap
Chinese law treats staying without a valid passport and visa as illegal residence. The provision most often cited is Article 78 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law: a warning, then a fine of ¥500 per day of unlawful stay, up to a maximum of ¥10,000, or detention of between 5 and 15 days in serious cases.
That is the number that turns a bad week into a costly one. The remedy is simple and entirely in your control: get the police receipt on day one, get the certificate, and if your embassy timeline is going to run past the 30 days, go back to immigration and ask what to do before the window closes. Officials deal with this routinely; nobody benefits from you staying quiet.
China's exit and entry administration framework was itself updated in September 2026, and the practical details of how foreign nationals are handled at the counter do shift with it. Check the official channel for anything you are relying on, rather than a forum post from an older year.
Registration rules do not pause
Foreign visitors register with the police through their hotel, and the registration depends on a valid identity document. A hotel that cannot register you may refuse the room. Explain the situation at the desk, show the certificate, and ask them to contact the local police station — most will work with you once the paperwork is visible. If you are staying in an apartment or with friends rather than a hotel, the registration duty is on you, and the loss certificate is the document you take to the station. The general rules are in hotels that accept foreign guests.
If it was stolen rather than misplaced
The paperwork is identical, but add three things. Check the police station handles the case as a theft so the report reflects it, which matters for insurance. Watch your identity rather than your money — a stolen passport is worth more to a fraudster than a stolen phone, and the report date is your evidence that anything done afterwards was not you. And tell your embassy that it was stolen, because some countries treat stolen and lost documents differently when they issue a replacement.
Cash is what keeps the days moving while banks and cards are frozen. Carry enough to cover a taxi to the immigration office and a meal, and know where the ATMs are — cash and ATMs in China covers the practical side. A translation app with offline Chinese is the other tool that earns its place, and the options that work on a foreign phone are set out in essential apps for China.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to do if my passport is lost in China?
Search the obvious places first — the hotel safe, the last bag you carried, the taxi or ride-hailing record, the last restaurant. If it does not turn up, report the loss at the police station covering the place it went missing and get a printed receipt naming you. That receipt is the document every later step depends on, and the same-day report also protects you if someone else tries to use the passport.
How long do I have before I am in China illegally?
The certificate of reporting the loss of a foreigner's passport is valid for 30 days. Within that window you are expected to obtain a new passport from your embassy or consulate and then return to the Exit and Entry Administration for a visa or exit document. Staying in China without a new passport and visa past that period is treated as illegal residence, which carries a warning and a fine of ¥500 per day up to a maximum of ¥10,000, or detention if the case is serious.
Which office issues the certificate of loss?
The Exit and Entry Administration of the municipal public security bureau covering the place where the loss happened. The application is made in person. The police station receipt from your first report is part of what you submit, and the certificate is commonly issued on the second day after acceptance. Requirements are set locally, so check the official channel for the city you are in.
What documents do I bring to the Exit and Entry Administration?
The receipt from the police station that reported the case, a completed application form for reporting the loss of a foreigner's exit-entry document, photocopies of the lost passport and visa if you kept any, and recent passport-style photographs. Some offices also ask for proof of where you are staying. Bring the hotel registration slip and a Chinese translation of anything not already in Chinese.
Can I fly home on an emergency travel document instead of a new passport?
Often yes. Most embassies and consulates in China can issue an emergency travel document or a temporary passport when a full replacement would take too long. Ask which document your airline and the Chinese exit desk will accept before you pay for either, because acceptance rules differ between carriers. Your embassy decides what it can issue and how fast.
Can I still travel between cities in China without a passport?
It is possible but not automatic. Train tickets and domestic flights are booked against your passport number, and hotel registration normally requires a valid identity document. Carry the police receipt and the certificate of loss together, tell the hotel at check-in, and confirm with the airline or railway operator before you book. Requirements change, so check the official channel for the specific booking.
Do I have to report a loss to the police if the passport was simply misplaced, not stolen?
Yes, if it is gone. The loss report is what starts the Chinese paperwork and satisfies immigration that you did not enter the country without documents. Whether the passport was stolen or dropped somewhere, the sequence of police receipt, loss certificate, embassy document and visa is the same.
Will my travel insurance cover a lost or stolen passport?
Usually the replacement costs, the new photographs, the transport to a consulate and sometimes the extra days of accommodation, within the limits of the policy. Notify your insurer early, keep every receipt, and send the police receipt with the claim. Passport replacement itself is a government fee and is rarely refunded by the issuing authority.
Can anyone speed up a passport replacement in China for a fee?
No. Passport loss reports, exit documents and visa replacements are handled only by the police, the Exit and Entry Administration and your own embassy or consulate. Anyone who offers to arrange a replacement, a visa transfer or an exit permit for a fee is not part of that chain. Never hand your documents or money to an agent you met online or on the street.
What if my visa was in the lost passport?
The visa is void once the passport holding it is declared lost. After your embassy issues a replacement passport or travel document, you apply to the Exit and Entry Administration for a new visa or an exit-entry permit that lets you leave legally. Where an embassy cannot reissue a passport at all, Chinese immigration can issue an exit-entry permit valid for up to 30 days on the strength of the loss report.
Related reading
If you still need to sort out a visa, the types and the application route are covered in the tourist visa guide. And the one habit that makes this whole page easier: keep photographs of your passport, visa and entry stamp somewhere that is not the same bag as the originals.
Compiled from municipal public security Exit and Entry Administration guidance on reporting the loss of a foreigner's passport, National Immigration Administration material on exit-entry permits, the Exit and Entry Administration Law, and consular guidance from foreign embassies in China, cross-checked 30 September 2026. Document lists, issue times and fees are set locally and change — the counter you attend and the guidance published by your own embassy are the authoritative versions. Nothing on this page is legal advice.