Before you start

A Nanjing employer or institution willing to sponsor — the only self-sponsored national route is the new K visa
Degree certificate and criminal record certificate, notarised then apostilled (China joined the Hague Apostille Convention in November 2023)
Passport with sufficient validity and blank pages
A Nanjing address with a landlord willing to attend the police station, or campus accommodation

Step-by-step

1
Employer or institution files the sponsoring document
For work, the employer files the Notification Letter through the national work permit system, which classifies you A, B or C on the points table. For study, the institution issues an admission notice and a JW201 or JW202 form. These are different processes with different downstream rules.
Via employerWho: Your employer or institution2–5 weeks
2
Apply for the Z or X1 visa at a Chinese mission abroad
Not possible from inside China, and a tourist L visa cannot be converted here. Both Z and X1 are entry documents that expire; neither is permission to reside.
In personWho: You1–3 weeks
3
Register at the neighbourhood police station within 24 hours of moving in
Passport, visa, lease and normally the landlord with their property ownership certificate. Campus accommodation usually files this for you — which is precisely why students who later move into a private flat miss it entirely. Keep the slip.
In personWho: YouWithin 24 hours of moving in
4
Collect the work permit card if you are working
The employer completes the work permit application after entry, generally within about fifteen days. You are not lawfully working until it exists.
Via employerWho: Your employerWithin ~15 days of entry
5
Apply for the residence permit within 30 days of entry
At the Nanjing Exit–Entry Administration, with passport, work permit or study documents, registration slip, medical certificate, photographs and sponsor letters. Fees roughly RMB 400 under a year, RMB 800 for one to three years, RMB 1,000 for three to five. About fifteen working days.
In personWho: YouWithin 30 days of entry
6
If you are a student, do not take informal work
Employment without the endorsement recorded on your study residence permit is illegal employment and is enforced against students specifically. In a city with this many universities and this much demand for English tutoring, the temptation is constant and the consequences run to fines, detention and removal.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with Z or X1 visa
Notification Letter and work permit card, or admission notice and JW201/JW202 form
Notarised and apostilled degree and criminal record certificates, for work
Medical examination certificate from a designated facility
Lease plus the landlord's property ownership certificate and ID, or campus accommodation documents
Temporary residence registration slip

Things most newcomers don’t know

Students who move out of campus accommodation lose the police registration they never knew they had.

University international offices file temporary residence registration on behalf of students living in campus halls, invisibly and correctly. The moment a student moves into a private flat — second year, a shared place, a partner's apartment — the obligation transfers to them and nobody tells them. In a city with Nanjing's student population this is the single most common status failure, and it surfaces at the next residence permit renewal when the slip is requested and does not exist.

Source: Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 39

Informal teaching work is the most common way a student loses their status here.

A study residence permit permits work only where the institution and the immigration authority have endorsed it on the permit itself. Demand for English tutoring in a city of this many universities is enormous and the offers are constant. Undeclared teaching is illegal employment, it is enforced against foreign students specifically, and the consequences include fines, detention and removal — with a bar on returning. The endorsement route exists and is worth using.

Source: National Immigration Administration

The points table awards extra points for Chinese ability, and Nanjing is a good place to earn them.

The A/B/C table scores HSK-evidenced Chinese proficiency alongside salary, education, age and location. Nanjing has one of the largest concentrations of Chinese language programmes in the country, aimed at exactly this. For someone arriving as a student or a junior researcher intending to convert into a work permit later, taking HSK seriously while you are already in a university city is the cheapest available route toward Category A.

Source: Service System for Foreigners Working in China

Graduating from a Chinese university shortens the route into the work permit system.

Recent reforms allow outstanding graduates of Chinese universities — and, in some cities, graduates of well-ranked foreign universities — to obtain a work permit without the two years of post-graduation experience the standard Category B test requires. In a city built around universities this is the most relevant single provision for a large share of the foreign population, and it is not something a university careers office will necessarily raise.

Source: Service System for Foreigners Working in China

Common mistakes to avoid

Moving out of campus accommodation and never doing your own police registration.
Taking informal teaching work on a study residence permit.
Treating the Z or X1 visa as permission to reside and missing the 30-day deadline.
Arriving without an apostille on the degree and criminal record certificates.
Assuming a Nanjing permit lets you take a job in Shanghai an hour away.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.