Farm guesthouses on Chongming Island are drawing increasingly more overseas tourists, but since they’re not registered as hotels, theoretically the staff there had to register such visitors with the police in person.

Now, eight such farms have been given the green light to register overseas guests online just like registered hotels, Chongming District police said on Tuesday.

One of the farms benefiting from the exit-entry policy is Xiangduo Happy Farm in Miao Town, which was established by a businessman from Taiwan.

The farm told Shanghai Daily that they have been able to register overseas guests onlinesince October, and it saves them the trouble of making trips to the police station.

The farm said it has over 100 guests from outside the Chinese mainland every year.

“We have no intention to get registered as a hotel, and the number of our guest rooms can’t meet the requirement,” staff there said. “We’re satisfied that the government is supportive of this type of business.”

Previously, the farm was already able to register local tourists online.

Chongming police said that of the 11 guesthouses that applied for the new service, eight have been given the go-ahead by Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau after their basic infrastructure met the requirements and their reception desk staff passed the test of using the online registration system.

Shen Xiaoling, a police officer in Chongming District who trained the farm's reception staff, said they needed to learn to read overseas passports, and after training, police stayed in contact with staff from all eight farms through WeChat to help them more accurately register the required information.