China Forces Government Workers to Surrender Passports and Seek Multi-Level Approval for Personal Travel Abroad in Drastic New Policy Shift

Monday, August 4, 2025

In a far-reaching move that signals a new phase in China’s internal control policies, public employees across the country—including schoolteachers, nurses, state-owned enterprise workers, and even retirees—are now subject to strict restrictions on international travel. This nationwide clampdown, framed by authorities as a matter of national security, political discipline, and cost control, requires government workers to obtain multiple levels of approval before leaving the country, even for personal reasons like vacations or family visits. In many cities, state employees have been ordered to surrender their passports indefinitely, while others must undergo four layers of internal clearance to travel abroad. Business trips for research, academic exchanges, or overseas training have been widely banned, and individuals with foreign academic experience are now barred from applying for civil service roles in several provinces. Though the Chinese government insists the policies are necessary to protect against espionage, corruption, and ideological drift, the sweeping nature of the restrictions has triggered quiet unease among thousands of low-ranking employees with no access to state secrets or sensitive information—suggesting a broader campaign to enforce political loyalty across every level of China’s public workforce.

China Expands Travel Restrictions for Public Workers in Growing Security Clampdown

Tina Liu thought she was accepting a routine teaching job when she signed on to instruct literature at a public elementary school in southern China. Like many state-employed professionals, her contract outlined standard expectations—classroom conduct, performance standards, and absenteeism rules. But beneath the fine print, a new layer of control has begun to quietly reshape the lives of hundreds of thousands of government workers across China: restrictions on foreign travel.

Travel Approvals Now Mandatory for Personal Trips Abroad

Across the country, growing numbers of public employees—from teachers and nurses to local government contractors—are facing mounting hurdles when trying to travel internationally, even for personal reasons. In many provinces, government employees must now request official approval before taking any trip outside of China. Business-related international travel for purposes like conferences, academic exchange, or research has been outright banned in numerous cities.

The tightened controls are part of a broader effort by Chinese authorities to assert greater ideological discipline among the public sector workforce. Civil servants are increasingly being reminded that their loyalty to the state extends beyond their professional duties and into their personal lives.

Passport Surrenders Now Widespread

In a notable shift, some municipalities have begun requiring state employees to hand over their passports. Kindergarten teachers, hospital nurses, and even engineers at state-owned enterprises have been told to surrender travel documents indefinitely. In some areas, retired public workers must wait up to two years after leaving their jobs to reclaim their passports—delaying any hopes of post-retirement travel.

In a recent directive from a coastal city in Zhejiang Province, even full-time officials stationed in remote fishing villages were asked to relinquish their travel documents. Though many of these employees hold minor or local roles with no access to national secrets or government budgets, the policy changes have been sweeping and uniform.

Former Overseas Students Barred from Government Jobs

In parallel with the travel restrictions, a quiet yet significant policy change has excluded many who studied abroad from entering the public sector. In multiple provinces, applicants with foreign academic backgrounds are now disqualified from applying for civil service roles. While no national law has been officially announced, local agencies have cited security concerns and ideological alignment as justification.

According to several public workers familiar with these policies, authorities seem to fear that individuals with overseas experience may hold values or loyalties misaligned with the Chinese Communist Party’s current vision. The exclusion marks a dramatic reversal for a country that, just a decade ago, encouraged foreign study and overseas internships as paths to modernization.

Four Levels of Approval for a Trip

The new restrictions aren’t limited to prospective hires. Even long-serving employees are now finding their movements closely monitored. A nurse in Zhejiang Province described needing four layers of approval—including direct supervisors, department heads, and hospital administrators—just to travel abroad for personal reasons. Each layer requires formal written justification, and approval is never guaranteed.

In another case from Jiangxi Province, a local public health department asked employees to retroactively declare any foreign travel they’d taken since 2018. The implication was clear: even past personal travel might be reviewed for compliance with evolving internal policies.

Loyalty Measures Reach Beyond Travel

While the most visible changes involve passports and flight approvals, the deeper shift concerns ideological control. Local governments are increasingly instituting lifestyle regulations that blur the line between public duty and personal conduct. In some cities, civil servants are now barred from dining out in groups of more than three—a rule that follows recent crackdowns on excessive drinking at official gatherings.

These measures align with President Xi Jinping’s larger campaign to reinforce political discipline within all branches of government. First launched as an anti-corruption drive over a decade ago, the initiative has since grown into a broader effort to instill ideological conformity throughout the public sector.

Expanding Beyond Traditional Targets

Historically, foreign travel restrictions were reserved for high-ranking officials or those directly involved in state secrets. Since 2003, these employees have been required to report international travel in advance, with their names placed on border control lists to prevent unauthorized departures. But the reach of these policies has widened significantly in recent years.

The fact that such constraints now apply to lower-level staff—including schoolteachers, nurses, and minor village officials—signals a deeper concern within the leadership. It suggests a belief that any public employee, regardless of rank or function, could pose a potential risk—whether by leaking information, fleeing abroad, or simply adopting alternative political views.

National Security and Ideological Alignment Cited

Authorities continue to frame the restrictions as necessary to safeguard national security, reduce corruption risks, and limit public spending. But for many affected workers, the message is more personal: loyalty to the party must be visible, measurable, and complete.

China has imposed sweeping new travel restrictions on public employees, requiring passport surrender and multi-level approvals for overseas trips, citing national security, anti-corruption efforts, and ideological control. Even low-level workers with no access to sensitive data are now affected.

Whether through passport surrenders, job disqualifications, or surveillance of personal travel, China’s public workers are finding that their professional roles now come with stricter expectations than ever before. And for many, that means a future in which personal freedom—especially the freedom to travel—comes second to state priorities.