Why register?
 
Foreign nationals in China are required by law to register their temporary residence with the public service bureau (PSB) within 24 hours. This registration is very important as it is a prerequisite for almost everything at the PSB Exit-Entry Division such as extending and renewing your visa.
 
Police have the right to visit your home, registered or not (your neighbor may have reported you) if you haven't registered, to check your temporary registration form at any time. It is not common, but it has definitely happened especially in the bigger cities and especially in recent years.
 
Keep the original temporary registration form safe and make copies. If you lose it go to the PSB you registered and get it replaced.
 
For rental apartments, service apartments and villas

Risk/Importance: High
For your main living arrangement that include apartments, service apartments and villas we recommend to get registered within 24 hours, with either your landlord or your agent accompanying you to help get it registered. If the agent or landlord are unwilling we do not recommend leasing with them and that you should find another one willing to help you get it done.
 
Risk/Importance: High/Medium
If you stay with Airbnb you will need to register, as they are officially classified as businesses. This is important especially if your planning to continue to stay in China. Some Airbnb are not necessarily registered businesses so they may not be willing to cooperate with you for registration. We recommend you to change your accommodation especially if this is a long-term living situation for you and if you continue to plan to stay in China.
 
Risk/Importance: Medium/Low
Even if you stay with your friend you will need to register, however this may not be easily possible as you will need to procure lease and your landlord's ID which the landlord may not be willing to provide. If its short-term for a visit, you should be fine, but if you are planning to stay longer in China you should take it into consideration, as it will affect your visa later, but do so at your own risk.
 
Regarding the various risks of getting caught, we highly recommend that you register wherever you stay, if you do not do so you may face legal consequences.
 
 
[pic of police temporary registration]
 
 
For tourists staying in a hotel
 
Risk/Importance: High
If your staying in a hotel, the check-in process will register you with the police. However do note that if your staying in small hotels or in smaller cities this may not be available at all hotels, because of this some of the hotels disallow foreign guest. If you want to play it on the safe side stay in major international hotel chains as they will always have this feature.
 
Risk/Importance: Medium
If your using Airbnb or staying with your friend, if it’s a short-term visit you may risk without registration as it may be complicated for these kinds of situations. Generally it depends on how long you plan to stay in China and how long you plan to stay in one particular location/city. AirBnb generally should be easier for you to get the registration done, whereas if your staying with your friend you may weigh the risk of not registering.
 
Protip: If you book your hotel on English sites they generally all accept foreigners, however if you browse Chinese sites or ask your assistant or friend to book hotels for you, make sure that they make note of any hotel advertising “内宾“ which means it cannot register foreigners. Sometimes these hotels will still book you and let you stay at their room, but you will not get registered at the local police station, sometimes they will refuse you outright once they see your passport and you may or may not get a refund. Use at your own risk.
 
[pic of hotel temporary registration]
 
If you move your residence
Whenever you move your residence (hotel, apartment, Airbnb etc) you will be required to update your residence. Bring your old residence permit slip. Depending on where you stay you may be required to re-register when you come back from abroad, but this is a fairly grey area and not heavily enforced as long as you have an up-to-date residence permit.
 
If you renew or change your visa
There is no clear information regarding this, however it would be prudent to simply re-register as the residence permit will be registered with your new visa.
 
Preparation
In order to cut down time you should prepare all the documents before you travel to China, to avoid any potential complications once you reach your destination. Sometimes finding to get your picture can be quite a feat especially in a new environment. However if you do find yourself in such a situation, you should ask the police officer for advice, often resourceful entrepreneurs have set up shop nearby foreigner heavy PSB stations for just such as a case.
 
Checklist:
• Your passport
• 1-3 passport photos (the amount varies per station/city)
• A photocopy of your passport
• A photocopy of your visa
• Your rental lease of the apartment
• A photocopy of your landlord's ID
 
Not all police station will require all of the items above, but its better to bring them all rather than be sorry.
 
Other things:
The above is not a standardized application process. Some cities allow even online registration, whereas others allow a 3rd party to register on your behalf, if you are staying in your own home you will have to bring the deed. If you get hospitalized  and your staying in a hospital long term, the hospital may require you to register by giving you a hospital residence registration slip!
 
What if you do not register within 24 hours?
There is no general answer to this question. The two most influencing factors will be on how long after those 24 hours you go register and on the mood of the police officer doing your registration. Sometimes if it is just a few hours or even days they might just let it slip, but people have been fined, detained for a short while and some even have been asked to sign a paper saying that they will not be late again.
 
There has been various reports of how much a foreigner was charged for being late for this registration, however the charge is generally between 100-2000 RMB. If it is over 2000 RMB and it is not at the local police station you may want to dial 110, to ensure your not being scammed. Officers paying you a house-call generally come around 18:00-21:00 and will show you their ID and ask you to show them your temporary registration form. If you do not have one they may just warn you and ask you to go to police station first thing in the morning, where they may fine you. They may also fine you on the spot, especially if you are a repeat offender, then you may want to make sure that your not being scammed before paying and you should keep the receipt.
 
Regarding risk
We recommend everyone to register at all places as it is better to be safe than sorry, especially regarding anything that has to do with your visa, as police registration is a prerequisite to for your visa renewal and extension. Anywhere where registration is not possible must be done at your own risk or you can ask specialized consultants regarding your specific problem.
 
 
Useful Chinese keywords:
护照 - HuZhao - Passport
照片 - ZhaoPian - Photograph
复印件 - FuYinJIan - Photocopy
警察局/公安局 - JingChaJu JingChaJu - Police Station/PSB Public Security Bureau
境外人员临时住宿登记表 - JingWaiRenYuanLinShiZhuSheDengJiBiao - Temporary Accommodation Registration Form
迟到 - ChiDao - Late
内宾 - NeiBing - Only for locals, no foreigners
罚款 - FaKuan - Fine