Living in China
Work permit health checks in China: a practical guide
Where to book, what to bring, how overseas reports work and which health certificate your employer may need.
The simplest route is usually this: ask your employer which work-permit stage you are in, confirm the health document named in that city's current checklist, then book the local International Travel Health Care Center or other route named by the authority. Before entry, some applications allow the employer to upload a health commitment; after arrival, the accepted China-issued health certificate or verification result normally has to be supplied. Do not book an ordinary hospital checkup until the employer or work-permit service confirms it will produce the right document. City rules, exemptions, booking channels and turnaround times differ, so use the practical steps below and confirm the final details locally.
Use this as a practical starting point
Provider procedures can change, so confirm time-sensitive details with the hospital, insurer or service. A licensed professional must make clinical decisions for an individual patient.
At a glance
Key points
- Ask HR first: Is this for the pre-entry notification, the after-entry work permit, a renewal, a change of employer or another transaction?
- Before entry, a health commitment may be accepted in some routes. It postpones the document; it does not cancel the after-entry step.
- After arrival, book only the center or service route named for your city. An ordinary hospital checkup may not issue the accepted certificate.
- Expect to bring the original passport plus the appointment confirmation and purpose-specific work documents. Photograph, copy and form requirements are city-specific.
- A recent overseas report may be reviewed or verified, but acceptance is not automatic. Bring the original report and all supporting test or imaging records requested by the center.
- Work-permit guides commonly use a six-month window for the issued certificate or verification result. Confirm which date and filing event your city uses.
- Follow the booked center's instructions for fasting, water, medicines, clothing and arrival time; do not change prescribed medicine because of a generic checklist.
- Check the name, passport number, issue date, issuer, seal and certificate number before leaving, and keep the receipt and a secure copy.
- The work-permit file and the later work-type residence-permit file are separate. Ask whether the same original can be reused.
- A work-permit health certificate is administrative paperwork, not proof of fitness for every job and not a substitute for a required occupational-health examination.
Start here: get two answers from your employer
Before arranging a medical examination, ask HR or the authorized filing agent two questions: “Which exact application are you filing?” and “What exact health document does the current city checklist name?” The answer should identify the city and the stage—pre-entry Notification Letter, after-entry Foreigner's Work Permit, renewal, change of employer or another service. Ask for a screenshot or link to the live requirement rather than relying on an old employee's checklist.
Then ask whether you should complete a new examination in China, take an overseas report for verification or use a pre-entry health commitment and complete the document after arrival. Save the work-permit authority's answer, the center name, the date checked and the deadline. The medical center issues or verifies the record; the permit authority makes the work-permit decision.
- City and exact work-permit transaction
- Required document name in English or Chinese
- Pre-entry or after-entry deadline
- Named examination or verification center
- Who books, pays, uploads and keeps the original
Do not buy an ordinary hospital checkup first and try to convert it later. Confirm the accepted output before booking.
Choose the route that matches your stage
For a pre-entry notification, current Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen municipal guidance all show routes where a health commitment may be used in the stated circumstances. This lets the employer continue the notification filing before the final health document exists. It is an administrative promise to supplement the file, not an examination result or permanent exemption.
After entry, the employer usually needs the accepted China-issued verification certificate or health examination certificate if it was not provided earlier. Some local applicant categories or transactions can have exemptions, so do not assume every first application, renewal or employer change is identical. The current local checklist from the responsible authority should decide the route.
A commitment moves the health-document step; it does not remove it. Put the examination and upload deadline on the arrival checklist.
Find the right place to book
Search for the city's International Travel Health Care Center (国际旅行卫生保健中心), but book only through the website, official account, email, telephone number or service window linked by the city government or center. Confirm the exact campus and service name. A center can operate several sites, and not every branch necessarily handles a foreigner's work-permit examination or overseas-record verification.
Shanghai's city guide, updated on 14 July 2026, currently directs applicants to the Shanghai International Travel Healthcare Center's official WeChat booking route and provides an email option for new arrivals without WeChat. Beijing's city directory identifies the General Administration of Customs (Beijing) International Travel Health Care Center. Our Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen city guides collect the current local routes, but the booking confirmation remains the final operational instruction.
- 国际旅行卫生保健中心 — International Travel Health Care Center
- 外国人工作许可 — Foreigner's Work Permit
- 境外人员体格检查记录验证证明 — verification certificate for an overseas physical-examination record
- 健康检查证明书 — health examination certificate
Prepare the documents the center actually requests
The original passport is the usual identity anchor, but the rest of the pack varies. Use the booked center's current list. It may include copies of passport identity, visa, entry or information-change pages; recent photographs; an appointment confirmation; downloaded application and consent forms; and a work-permit notice, employment certificate, employer registration record or existing work permit.
For example, Shanghai's current center guide asks for the original passport and specified copies, three recent two-inch photographs, the forms produced after booking and work-purpose supporting material. That is a Shanghai example, not a nationwide packing list. Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities may use different photo sizes, forms, copies or digital steps.
- Original passport and the exact copies named by the center
- Appointment confirmation and downloaded forms
- Recent photographs in the required size and background
- Work-purpose document supplied by the employer
- Original overseas report and attachments, if requesting verification
- A payment method and a secure way to keep receipts
Follow the center's preparation and appointment instructions
Read the instructions attached to the actual appointment. They should control arrival time, eating and drinking, clothing, photographs, forms, payment and any medicine-related questions. Shanghai currently tells applicants not to eat for five hours while allowing water, but that instruction must not be copied to another center or used to change prescribed treatment.
If you take regular medicine, are pregnant or could be pregnant, have an implanted device, need disability access or have another concern about an examination item, contact the center before attending and ask for individualized instructions from the responsible professional. Do not stop medicine, arrange extra imaging or omit a booked item based on a generic internet checklist.
Preparation rules are provider-specific. Use the instructions from the center that accepted your booking.
Bring an overseas report as evidence, not as a guarantee
An overseas physical-examination report can be useful if the local route allows verification. Before arranging it abroad, ask the Chinese embassy or consulate and the intended China center whether the overseas institution and form can be considered. Ask what originals, laboratory reports, imaging, photographs, signatures, seals, translations and date limits must accompany it.
Bring every original attachment requested by the center. A notarization, legalization, apostille or translation may help with document authenticity or readability, but it does not automatically satisfy the clinical content and verification requirements. The center may accept the record, request missing items or require a new local examination. Keep enough time for that possibility.
Collect, check and copy the result
Ask at check-in when and how the result will be issued, whether collection is in person or by courier, which receipt or original ID is needed and how re-examination or correction is handled. Turnaround is local: Shanghai's current guide states three working days for its standard collection or courier route, but another center may take a different time or contact the applicant for follow-up.
Before handing the document to HR, compare the passport name and number, nationality, date of birth, photograph, examination and issue dates, issuing institution, seal, signature, certificate or verification number and page count. Ask the issuer to correct an objective error through its official process. Never edit the PDF, paste in a photograph or recreate a seal yourself.
- Certificate or verification result received
- Identity fields match the passport
- Issue date and six-month window checked
- Every page, attachment, seal and number present
- Collection receipt and secure scan retained
- Correction or re-examination contact saved
Give HR the minimum needed for the work-permit file
The employer or authorized representative normally handles the work-permit upload. Ask which page or certificate is required, whether a Chinese translation is needed, whether the original must later be shown and when you will receive the application number or submission receipt. Beijing's current service page, for example, calls for color uploads and Chinese translations in the stated route and later verification of originals.
Health information is sensitive personal information. Use the official work-permit system or a verified employer channel, not an informal group chat. Share the certificate or pages needed for the stated application rather than an unrestricted link to a complete medical file. Keep your own copy and a record of who received it.
Apply the six-month rule to the right document
National and current municipal work-permit guides commonly describe an accepted certificate or verification result issued within the previous six months. Use the issue date printed on that final document—not just the appointment date, an early laboratory date or the day the overseas examination began.
Ask HR whether the city measures the six months at online submission, acceptance, original verification or another event. If the date is close, get a current answer before booking travel or relying on an upload. This work-permit window should not be copied automatically to a routine checkup, school form or other administrative process.
Handle the residence permit and job health separately
The work permit and the work-type residence permit are separate applications. Ask the local exit-entry office whether it needs a health certificate, whether the work-permit document can be reused, whether it requires the original and whether HR or the applicant files it. Do not give away the only original until the next recipient and return route are clear.
Also keep occupational health separate. If the job involves regulated occupational-disease hazards, the employer may need to organize and pay for a job- and exposure-specific occupational-health examination through the appropriate institution. An administrative work-permit health certificate is not a universal job-fitness decision and does not replace that process.
One person may have three different files: work-permit health evidence, residence-permit health evidence and a job-specific occupational-health record.
Useful language
Navigation phrases
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At the center
Documents
Results
Avoidable problems
Common mistakes
- Booking a popular hospital instead of the center or service named for the application.
- Using another city or a previous employee's packing list without checking the current local page.
- Treating a pre-entry health commitment as a permanent exemption.
- Arriving without the original passport, appointment forms or purpose-specific work document.
- Following a fasting or medicine instruction copied from a different provider.
- Bringing only a summary of an overseas examination and leaving the original supporting reports behind.
- Assuming an apostille, notarization or translation guarantees acceptance of the medical content.
- Counting six months from the appointment rather than the issue date on the final certificate.
- Editing a name, date, photograph or seal yourself instead of using the issuer's correction route.
- Sending the full health file in a group chat when the work-permit filing needs only a certificate.
- Giving away the only original before checking the residence-permit step.
- Treating the administrative certificate as proof of fitness for every job.
- Replacing a required occupational-health examination with the work-permit health check.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the health check before I enter China?
Not always. Current Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen guidance includes pre-entry routes where the employer can submit a health commitment in the stated circumstances and provide the accepted certificate after arrival. Your employer must confirm that this option applies to your city, applicant category and transaction and record the after-entry deadline.
Where do foreigners get a work-permit health check in China?
Start with the city's International Travel Health Care Center or the other service route named by the local work-permit authority. Confirm the exact campus and service through an official city or center channel. Do not assume that an international hospital or ordinary health-check department can issue the required administrative certificate.
What should I bring to the appointment?
Bring the original passport, appointment confirmation and the photographs, copies, forms and work-purpose document named by the booked center. If asking the center to verify an overseas report, bring the complete original record and every requested laboratory or imaging attachment. Use the actual appointment list because city requirements differ.
Do I need to fast before the examination?
Follow the instruction from the center that accepted your booking. Shanghai currently tells applicants not to eat for five hours and permits water, but another center can publish a different rule. Contact the provider about prescribed medicine or an individual health concern; do not stop or change medicine based on this website.
How long does it take to receive the certificate?
It depends on the city, booked service and whether follow-up is needed. Shanghai's guide updated in July 2026 states three working days for its stated standard collection or courier route. Ask your center at booking and allow extra time for a missing document, overseas-record supplementation, re-examination or correction.
How much does a work-permit health check cost?
There is no reliable nationwide price to quote because the provider, city, service and follow-up can differ. Ask the exact center for the current fee, accepted payment methods, what the fee includes and whether verification, courier delivery, missing items or re-examination can cost extra. Get a receipt.
Can I use a health examination completed overseas?
Possibly, but acceptance is not automatic. Before the examination, ask whether the overseas institution and form can be considered. The China center may require the original, supporting laboratory or imaging records, signatures, seals, photographs and a six-month date window, and it may still request supplementation or a local examination.
Will an apostille make my overseas report acceptable?
Not by itself. An apostille can address the origin of a public document where applicable, but the China verification center still decides whether the institution, clinical content, form, dates and attachments meet its requirements. Confirm before relying on the report.
Is the work-permit health certificate valid for six months?
Work-permit guidance commonly requires the final certificate or verification result to have been issued within the previous six months. Confirm which printed issue date and which filing event your city uses. Do not transfer that rule automatically to every medical or administrative document.
Can HR use the same certificate for my residence permit?
Sometimes, but only the local exit-entry office can confirm. Ask whether it needs the original, accepts reuse from the work-permit file and applies a separate freshness or residence-validity rule. Keep the work-permit and residence-permit submissions and receipts separate.
Does this examination prove that I am fit for my job?
No. It is an administrative health document used in a work-authorization process. A job-specific assessment or an occupational-health examination linked to workplace hazards has a different purpose and responsible professional route. Neither process automatically replaces the other.
Evidence
Sources consulted for this guide
National rules are separated from city and provider examples. Access dates show when a source was collected; source pages and procedures can change afterward.