Are you legal? You might not be if you don't update your police registration form at the police station nearest you by November 30.

Most foreigners living in Shanghai have had to register at their local police station at least once to get that little pink slip of paper that is key to getting your residency, work permit and any good ol' visa that you can get your hands on. But what you may not know is that the police departments are no longer doling out the pink slips. As of Oct. 1 they updated to a computer system and the pink slips are now a simple print-out.

What does this mean for you?

As the Shanghai Daily recently reported, all expats living in Shanghai are required to drop by the station and get one of these updated documents--by November 30. Whether or not fines will be imposed on those who don't receive word of this new requirement hasn't been stated (Read: Bring cigarettes). Though in an online forum on ShanghaiExpat, people who've already gone to re-register are getting mixed responses from the police stations, some of which seem unaware of the new regulation and are sticking to the "update it when you change your visa / residence permit" line.

In the interest of saving a few more trees, let's just hope this new system means they'll actually be able to call up your file and update it quickly and efficiently without requiring you to resubmit absolutely everything every time you renew your visa. Too much to hope for?