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Health certificate and physical examination for study in China: which one, when

Unofficial summary · Sources checked

Three health documents appear in the scholarship guide, Order No. 42 and the residence permit rules, and each belongs to a different stage: the Foreigner Physical Examination Form goes into a Chinese Government Scholarship application to study in China for more than six months; Order No. 42 Article 39 covers confirmation of the physical examination record, or a physical examination, at enrolment; and a health certificate goes with an application for a residence permit valid one year or more. No one document replaces another. Where a Chinese official text is quoted below, the English wording is this site's translation of that Chinese text.

Before the details: the X1 or X2 visa check prints the residence-permit steps that follow on from the length of study you enter, including the health-certificate step, each with the text it comes from; it does not decide a visa or a permit.

The three documents at a glance

Stage Document Who issues or confirms it Which text
Scholarship application Photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form; the original, printed by Chinese quarantine authorities, is filled in English and kept by the applicant The hospital or physician carrying out the examination; the validity rules come from the scholarship guide Chinese Government Scholarship Application Guide, item 12
Enrolment at the school Confirmation of the Physical Examination Record for Foreigners, or a physical examination, at the Chinese health quarantine department Chinese health quarantine department Order No. 42, Article 39
Residence permit application after entry Health certificate confirming none of the listed conditions Local sanitary and quarantine department, or a health and medical department at county level or above National Immigration Administration residence permit service guide (Chinese), section 六（二）; Regulations Article 16

1. Scholarship application: the Foreigner Physical Examination Form

Item 12 of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship applies to an applicant who is to study in China for more than six months. The rules it sets are these:

  • Submit a photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form. The original is kept by the applicant, printed by Chinese quarantine authorities and filled in English.
  • The medical examinations must cover all items listed in the form.
  • Records that are incomplete, or that lack the attending physician's signature, the official hospital stamp, or a sealed photograph of the applicant, are invalid.
  • Medical examination results are valid for only six months.

The scholarship guide page carries no publication date and no academic year, so check the current cycle page before relying on any of its items.

2. Enrolment: what Order No. 42 Article 39 requires

Article 39 of the Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, dated 20 March 2017, in force from 1 July 2017) states that international students shall, at enrolment, go to the Chinese health quarantine department to complete confirmation of the Physical Examination Record for Foreigners or to undergo a physical examination, in accordance with the provisions of the Chinese health administration department.

The same article provides that a student confirmed through examination to have a serious mental disorder, infectious tuberculosis, or another infectious disease liable to cause major harm to public health, as specified in the Exit and Entry Administration Law, is dealt with by the public security authorities in accordance with the law. Article 39 sets no validity period for the record or the examination.

3. After entry: the health certificate for the residence permit

The National Immigration Administration's Chinese residence permit service guide is the text that ties the certificate to a stay. Section 六（二） of the guide says:

  • A foreigner holding a visa marked as requiring a residence permit shall apply to the exit and entry administration of the public security organ at the intended place of residence within 30 days of entry.
  • A foreigner applying for a residence permit valid 有效期1年以上 (one year or more) shall submit a health certificate issued by the local sanitary and quarantine department, or by a health and medical department at county level or above, confirming that the applicant does not have a serious mental disorder, infectious tuberculosis, or any other infectious disease liable to cause major harm to public health.

The regulations carry the parallel rule. Article 16 of the Regulations on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (State Council Decree No. 637, English text) says: "When applying for a residence permit valid for more than 1 year, a foreigner shall, in accordance with relevant provisions, submit his or her health certificate. A health certificate is valid for six months beginning from the date of issue." The same article requires the applicant to appear in person before the exit and entry administration of the public security organ of the people's government at or above county level, to submit passport, qualified photos and material relating to the purpose of the application, and to provide biometric identification information such as fingerprints; for a residence permit for study, it requires certification documents such as a letter indicating the duration of study provided by the admission institution.

The two texts do not use identical wording for that threshold: the Chinese guide says 有效期1年以上, and the English text of the Regulations says "valid for more than 1 year". This page does not tell you which wording to follow. Take both to the exit/entry administration handling your case and follow its instruction. Note also that the Chinese residence permit guide gives no validity period of its own for the certificate, while the Regulations text gives six months from the date of issue.

For X1 holders, the Administration's English residence permit service guide (page dated 1 April 2021) says that a foreigner who enters China on an X1 visa submits a letter from the school or university indicating the term of study, plus a letter of admission or enrolment, and that the residence permit may be issued with a residence period consistent with the term of study indicated by the school or university. Article 31(3) of the Exit and Entry Administration Law lists failure to provide relevant supporting materials in accordance with relevant regulations as a circumstance in which a residence permit shall not be issued.

How this site's visa check handles step 3

The visa check asks for the length of study in days (or a start and end date), where you will live, and whether you plan an off-campus internship or work-study. It applies more than 180 days to X1 and 180 days or fewer to X2, then prints the documents for that visa as listed by one embassy, plus the after-arrival steps that apply to your answers. That printed list includes the health certificate step when the study period entered is 365 days or more; this is how the tool is written, not how any official text counts a year. The tool's day counting covers the length of study only and does not count the 30-day residence permit period after entry or any other deadline. Exit/entry administrations decide residence permit applications, and embassies and consulates decide visa applications; the tool result is neither. You can also use the application document checklist for the paperwork set as a whole.

Questions people ask

Does one medical document cover all three stages?

The three texts name their documents differently and attach them to different stages, so keep them apart. Item 12 of the scholarship guide, Article 39 of Order No. 42, section 六（二） of the Chinese residence permit guide and Article 16 of the Regulations do not say that one of these documents satisfies the requirement written in another text, or that reusing a document taken for one stage is accepted at another. Ask the body handling that step.

Who issues the residence permit health certificate?

The Chinese residence permit guide names the local sanitary and quarantine department, or a health and medical department at county level or above. Section 六（二） of the Chinese guide names no university admission office or scholarship body as an issuer, and Article 16 of the Regulations names no issuer.

Where is the six-month rule written?

Two places: scholarship guide item 12 says medical examination results are valid for only six months, and Regulations Article 16 says a health certificate is valid for six months beginning from the date of issue. Order No. 42 Article 39 gives no period, and the Chinese residence permit guide gives none either.

Sources

Checked 10 October 2026 and 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or immigration advice, and is not published by the bodies named above; where anything here differs from the official text, or from what the office handling your application asks for, that official text and those instructions prevail.

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