IS there a fee of 500 Kuai to pay to the police to officialise the changed residence?

[Andrea.dispe]

2 weeks ago I moved from university dormitory into an apartament. I have been told I have to go to the police station and officialise the change of residence. I spoke with the real estate agent who found me the apartment and she told me that she can handle my change of residence to the police station on behalf of me but that there is a fee the police station required: 500 Kuai.

Is it true? shall I trust her? I mean: is there really a fee to pay or is she cheating me?

thank you

[imtanuki]

Get yourself a new real estate agent. You didn't pay a fee when you moved into your first residence, and there is no fee to change. Unfortunately, a lot of real estate agents take advantage of newbies like you.

[chaiknees]

The police registration is free of charge. The 500 RMB might be a service fee for the agent. But you can save that money when you go by youself.

[Erbse]

If you go to the police yourself it should be for free. However if I ask someone to do something for me and that person is not a relative or friend, I'm not to surprised if I have to pay for such service. 500 RMB doesn't sound cheap, but maybe other foreigners are more lazy....

[icebear]

You're paying for the agents time. Get a copy of your lease, landlord's ID, and do it yourself.

[joshuawbb]

From what it sounds like, you are being ripped off and the agent is collecting an extra fee. However - and I don't know if all city PSBs do it this way - when updating your address at the PSB (the goverment office and not the police station) a fee is usually required. For example, this is how it is done in Xiamen:

1) Move into new apartment, sign contract, finish with the agent.

2) Take contract and passport to the police station (派出所) and register, receiving a new temporary residence permit (the printed stamped sheet).

3) Take passport, permit from police station and any other documents (e.g. permission slip and address change application from university if applicable) to the PSB, hand them over and the PSB will update your address on their systems, holding your passport for 7 days. After the 7 days a fee of Y200 is payable before getting your passport back.

The above is how it's done in Xiamen so note that different cities may have different procedures. Everything at the police station is free and if that's what your agent is offering, just decline and do it yourself. Even if the agency was offering to do part 3 (if applicable), there's not much reason not to do it yourself.

[skylee]

I agree with Erbse.

That said, I once used an agent who agreed to arrange all the changes in registration (water, electricity) for me, all free of charge. And she did it, no complications or problems. But later when I thought about how she could do all those things for me, I figured that it was that she had all my important data, full name, ID, DoB, old and new addresses, and without proper authorisation in fact she pretended to be me to make those arrangements. Afterwards I made all such arrangements myself. It was not difficult as most things could be done online (in Hong Kong).

[Andrea.dispe]

Thank you all. There's no way I'd pay her. I'll do it by myself.

I paid the room for 1 month and had to decided if I'd stay for one year here or moved into another room, so I thought she was doing this as a favor to keep me as a customer and encourage me to stay here for one year but it seems these marketing usages are not common here.

There are 2 question I have: when I paid she gave me a small piece of paper as receipt with written the address, price paid, dates and signatures. So is this enough for the police to officialise my changed residence? Since it's already almost 3 weeks I changed my residence could it be I have to pay some fine for delay or have to go some day into jail?

[ChTTay]

When i first moved into my apartment in wudaokou I was charged a "registration fee" but it seemed legitimate (paperwork, receipts) and not in the way that you are all discussing. We were told that apartments in this ... "Something" (ive forgotten, maybe just "area") ... have to pay a fee when registering foreigners to live there. Usuually the landlord simply pays this and, i guess, just reclaims the cost from the often higher rent they charge foreigners here. In this case, I was the first foreigner to move into this apartment and the landlord didn't want to pay it - probsbly didn't think it was legit!

Anyway, this was dealing direct with the local PSB and not through the agent - although she did tell her about it in the first place. Communication with PSB and agent was not an issue as my girlfriend is Chinese. She did not have to pay any fee.

I guess it could have been a grand scheme by someone in the PSB and our agent but it didn't seem like it (a pretty good scheme if it was one then!). I think i paid 200 RMB.

Oh, we did actually argue for quite a while about this and refused to pay it. In the end, they wouldnt let me register until i paid it. :-(

[icebear]

There are 2 question I have: when I paid she gave me a small piece of paper as receipt with written the address, price paid, dates and signatures. So is this enough for the police to officialise my changed residence? Since it's already almost 3 weeks I changed my residence could it be I have to pay some fine for delay or have to go some day into jail?

Your documentation may be insufficient. I've always needed at least the full lease papers and the landlord's identification (photocopy) - and in some cases the deed may be required. Not sure how it works for short term rentals.

You're supposed to register within 24 (48?) hours of a change of residence. I've gone in days late before, even weeks, without issue, but technically you are liable for a fine if the police are in a bad mood.

[roddy]

The Wudaokou police station must spend half its time dealing with foreigners, I wouldn't be surprised if they've decided to start doing some extra fee-collecting.

ChTTay, do you still have the receipt? Would be interesting to see what they're calling it. "Wudaokou Tax", perhaps.

Andrea, just go to your local police station with whatever documentation you've got and try to register. If they need anything different they'll tell you. You won't go to jail.

[Andrea.dispe]

thank you. Yes it is what I'am going to do now!

[imron]

Be sure to come back and provide an update with what happened.

[Andrea.dispe]

I went to the police station in wudaokou and they told me they do not do the changing residence and that I should have to go to this address of which I took a picture. Here's the link.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/41979334701904199605742.jpg/

Anybody knows where this is? I asked to 5 taximen, 4 of them didn't know, the other took me to king club and that wasn't exactly the right place....

[imron]

Do you perchance happen to live in an apartment complex called Dongshengyuan Apartments? If so, go to the first floor of Building 10, and they'll be able to sort you out.

The address says:

Dongshengyuan Apartments, Building 10, southern service center, Foor 1

[pokey]

While it isn't an answer to the OP's question, this reminds me that when I lived in Shanghai in 2011, I received phone calls from the police at least every month related to this. It went something like this, with the questioner being a English as a second language speaker who was generally competent enough to get the message across, but not confident enough to be 100% clear.

• Q. Hi, is this Pokey?
  
• A. Uh, yes.
  
• Q. Where do you live?
  
• A. Who is this?
  
• Q. This is the police. What is your address?
  
• A. Uh, [MY ADDRESS].
  
• Q. Do you still live there?
  
• A. Yes.
  
• Q. OK. Goodbye.
  

The first time I was called, I thought about it afterwards and wondered if I would find my place burgled when I got home that evening. I'd get these calls at around 9 AM, and the same co-worker would be the only other person in the office. He'd never heard of anyone else getting these calls, and I'd never either.

[verita]

I changed my address once in Beijing and there was no charge. Just went with my homestay family, they did all the talking, and worked fine. Took about 10 minutes.