Shenzhen will raise the thresholds for hukou (household registration) transfers for those originally from another city, according to the draft of a regulation released by the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission on Wednesday for the purpose of seeking public suggestions.

The draft stipulated three categories that people not from Shenzhen must fit into in order to receive a hukou with the city, namely approval-based hukou transfers, policy-based hukou transfers and point-based hukou transfers.

For the approval-based hukou transfers, the applicants should at least have received a bachelor’s degree from a full-time university program, received medium-level professional titles with full-time professional education, or should be certified technicians. Those that fail to meet the above-mentioned criteria can be introduced by human resource and social security authorities through point-based hukou transfers, under the special quota program.

Based on the policy-based hukou transfers, the dependants are required to have been married to the applicants for five years, instead of the previous requirement of only two years, and the applicants must have already obtained Shenzhen hukou for at least five years. Applying high-end talents, professionals with senior professional and technician titles, or master’s or above degree holders, are exempt from these requirements.

For point-based hukou transfers, the applicants can get a Shenzhen hukou from police when their investment and tax payments reach certain amounts.

For those who accumulate points through employment and social security payment, the applicants need to have lived and worked in Shenzhen for 10 years, instead of the previous five years, while also having no criminal records.

For the elderly who would like to move to Shenzhen as dependents on their children, the children are required to have obtained Shenzhen hukou for at least 15 years, instead of previously stipulated eight years, and to have paid social security contributions for at least 15 years.

The draft regulation cancels requirements for conformity with the family planning policy but requires noncriminal records. Yet, if the applicants are found to have provided falsified documents or to have hidden the truth, the applicants will be disqualified from applying for the next five years and those who have obtained hukou will have the hukou canceled.

The public can send their suggestions in by mail to C3103, Civic Center, Fuzhong No. 3 Road, Futian District, or emailing the commission at shc@fgw.sz.gov.cn by June 3.