One thing I should add.

If the PSB suspect you are breaking Chinese law, they will issue another form to you. That form has to be stamped and signed by 2 police departments, first the police department in charge of the city, and then the local police station.

If that happens, don't panic. Just follow the procedure. Don't be caught out telling lies. Nothing to worry about.

Well will they? Or will they expect you to hire one?

After all, I can't see wifey being too pleased if you have to spend your own money on something that she is capable of doing for nothing.

She needs to get her arse in gear and get a job. We have already established that the police who will interview me will only be available Monday through to Friday. I will need to attend these grillings on my own. They, the police, have reassured me it's all about my safety and well-being. Happiness is the keyword they feel. I can't see me being very happy if I have to pay an interpretor. Personally I think they have been trying to bully me into applying for the permit elsewhere. It's the wife's idea to withdraw her services, and i agree with her. If we do have to stay in her village I don't find the prospects of being looked down on once a fortnight daunting as i will have plenty of time on my hands-I will just keep saying 'hurry hurry as the bus has arrived!' that being the extent of my Chinese. If we do get to the big city it will offer better employment for the wife as a translator.

Well will they? Or will they expect you to hire one?

After all, I can't see wifey being too pleased if you have to spend your own money on something that she is capable of doing for nothing.

You put things nicely in perspective for me. At some stage of the application I have been told I will be sent to the big city (small by chinese standards) where secretly we want to live and to move to. Do you see any important complications about that at all, if after receiving our passports back with residence permits we suddenly announce to the local police that we are off to live in the city?

I suggest to you that you stop thinking in terms of 'we'. You are an alien in the eyes of Chinese immigration, but not your wife. She decides to move to the city, not you nor 'we'. It's much easier for her to do so than for you. You tag along as you are her alien appendage. Your reason for changing your digs is merely to be with her. Her reason for changing her digs is her business.

So, get your RP organized while living in your sparrow-fart village/county. Then report to the PSB THAT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE CHANGED, IN THAT YOU HAVE HAD TO MOVE TO THE BIG CITY TO BE TOGETHER WITH WIFEY.

Your RP WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL IT EXPIRES. THEN RE-APPLY, THIS TIME TO THE BIG CITY PSB.

Ensure that your wife isn't caught out lying, coz that would possibly have negative consequences. You and your wife should be able to sing from the same hymn sheet, to the letter, if necessary.

It'

s interesting, (though a little sad), that wifey won't accompany you as a matter of principle. May I ask what principle you are referring to?

She wants to make it difficult for the police to interview me every two weeks- she's pissed off with them. She said they should hire an interpretor.

It's interesting, (though a little sad), that wifey won't accompany you as a matter of principle. May I ask what principle you are referring to?

What you say has a ring of truth about it which is more than can be said for other advice I'm getting from the Chinese. I do believe one thing that has been suggested by the Chinese "the local police want to push me away because they don't want the responsibility" They wish, so they have told me that I should apply in the main city to which where I am is a prefecture. Although the main city is where i want to end up it would be costly to apply there at the moment. It could also be risky as my wife suggests we tell PSB that her relative is our landlady. So I am glad you have warned me that the PSB could check that out unannounced. There's absolutely nothing on the Internet to tell me if I can move to a different location(the main city) But I will accept what you have informed me, whilst not blaming you if things go wrong.. I think you know what you are talking about. I will get wife to write that letter saying she won't leave me until the money runs out. The local police although they tell me I have a temporary residence permit won't let me see it. They said there were only two copies; one for them and one for another police station in a bigger town, Many thanks again.

My impression of local police in China is that they are underlings to the PSB. If your abode is near the PSB, the PSB will check it out. But if it's not, the PSB will demand that the local police check it out

As far as paperwork to prove your accommdation as stated by you and your wife is correct, you will be asked to provide the original of a rental contract., which will have to be photocopied. The landlord's ID card and a photocopy of it will also be necessary. One Chinese marriiage certificate is not enough. They will need to see both, and need photocopies of both of them too.

The PSB won't accept her written statement that she will stay with you until the money runs out. What they need is her signed declaration on the date of your application that she asks them to grant you an RP so that you can stay with her.

Another thng is that visa fees at big PSB premises can only be paid by bank transfer, not in cash.

Finally, don't be caught out telling lies to the PSB. That would invalidate your RP application, MEANING THAT YOU'LL HAVE TO LEAVE CHINA, AND WIFEY WILL BE VERY SAD WITHOUT YOU!

amused - 2016-06-08
In response to Re residence permit (Odd Bob Job)

1) They are obviously interested in closely monitoring your activity.
2) The local police can cancel your residency permit an any time.
3) It matters not at all whether their actions are in accordance with the regulations established in Beijing.

That's cheered me up no end! They told me it wasn't for to spy on me but to keep me well and happy. I shall trundle along on my own to see them every fortnight. The will however need to hire an interpreter an they speak no English and I speak no Mandarin and the wife won't accompany me as a matter of principle. It's a nice walk actually with a shop on the way back selling warm beer for 3.5 yuan a bottle and some nice shady glades with a concrete retaining wall I can sit on to drink it. But if the the other poster is right i should be able to move to the main city when i get the permit.

The PSB has 2 forms for you. One is called 'Accommodation Registration Form For Foreign Nationals' The other is called 'VISA/STAY PERMIT/RESIDENCE PERMIT APPLICATION FORM.

The PSB will get round to checking your address to ensure that you and your wife are in fact both living there. If you change address, they will check again.

The first form is for your local police station to complete. When that is done, you take that completed and stamped form along with the other form to the PSB. Originals and photocopies of various documentation belonging to you and to your wife will need to be submitted along with your application.

And last but not least, your wife will need to write a note informing the PSB that she wishes you to stay with her. So make sure she is on good terms with you!

You have to apply for your RP at the PSB office in your Chinese wife's family register area. You can live in another province if you like provided you submit the accommodation form from the other provinc to that PSB office in your wife's hometown. Obviously in such a situation fortnightly interviews won't occur.

Sorry answered you too quickly before. What is the 'accommodation form' and where do you get it? I take it it has something to do with where you'll be staying.

1) They are obviously interested in closely monitoring your activity.
2) The local police can cancel your residency permit an any time.
3) It matters not at all whether their actions are in accordance with the regulations established in Beijing.

Never heard of such fortnightly interviews for all foreigners

It won't be for all foreigners, just me. Hereabouts I'm the only one they have or have ever had.

What I am interested in is when you get issued with a residence permit can you up-sticks and move to somewhere else in the same province?

Your moniker suggests you like doing odd jobs.

Of course, you are not permitted to take a paid teaching job with your RP as it is not linked to a Z visa. Your initial RP will likely be of 180 days' duration even though you may have applied for one of 360 days or 720 days. If you leave the area of your RP to reside somewhere else overnight, you must register there with the local PSB within 24 hours of your arrival to avoid the possibility of a 2,000 RMB fine. if you aren't staying at a hotel.

This enforced 2-week interview routine seems very strange.

Peruse the 'Know Your Rights' section for more information.

Yes I know I won't be allowed to work. What I want to know is will I be able to up sticks and move to a different town/city in the same province and keep the same residence permit taking into account that I would need to register at a police station/PSB in that different place?

We need some advice. We, me and my Chinese wife have just moved to China. I registered with the local police station. And have provided them with all the documentation they asked for. They told me that when I get a residence permit I will be required thereafter to be interviewed every fortnight throughout my stay which I don't like as I want a two year residence permit. What I want to know is will once I get the permit will I be able to flee to the town(where I hope they don't have the same intrusive attitude) away from the countryside but in the actual City that the visa will be issued from I think? Or will they enter on the residence permit that I must stay in the same village and endure the interviews?

Your moniker suggests you like doing odd jobs.

Of course, you are not permitted to take a paid teaching job with your RP as it is not linked to a Z visa. Your initial RP will likely be of 180 days' duration even though you may have applied for one of 360 days or 720 days. If you leave the area of your RP to reside somewhere else overnight, you must register there with the local PSB within 24 hours of your arrival to avoid the possibility of a 2,000 RMB fine. if you aren't staying at a hotel.

This enforced 2-week interview routine seems very strange.

Peruse the 'Know Your Rights' section for more information.