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So I’m joining a young Chinese company and I would be their first foreigner. This means, if we want to do things officially (and we do), they will need an Alien Employment License.
Does anyone have any experience jumping through the hoops of this bureaucratic nightmare? I’m expecting the worst, but am hoping for the best.
I’ve been doing some research online, but there seem to be some differences from city to city and year to year.
In order for the company to apply for the Alien Employment License they will need: my diploma, work experience certificates and a non criminal record check. Some cities also require a resume, but I’ve been told Chengdu doesn’t (?). This could take anywhere from 5 to 15 days to complete.
Next, if the license gets granted, the company should request a Z-visa application form from the Foreign Economic and Trade commission in Chengdu (3 working days), and should send it to me together with an invitation letter.
At this point I should take all this stuff over the border, and apply for a 30d Z visa at the Chinese PSB in Hong Kong.
After I get a Z-visa, I should register at the local police station, get a health check done and apply for the work permit at the PSB.
Does this sound pretty accurate? Or am I missing something?
Hmm, it seems actually that upon entry of China with the Z-visa, the company should apply for the work permit at the Administrative Center for Employment of Foreigners (lol). And then I should take this work permit to the PSB and apply for a residence permit with a whole bunch of documents.
Oh man, I’m not looking forward to this.
That’s close.. one thing, in Chengdu you do also require your resume, a Chinese copy, and they wont let you have gaps in employment dates (so for example you can’t say “XXX to 10-10-2011” then “11-01-2011 to XXX”.. all the dates must be aligned so there’s no space, and to do this, you can bend some dates around to force them to be connected. It’s stupid, but it’s the rules.
I don’t know about some of the details you mentioned, namely around invitation letter – there are several requirements both from your company and the application you mentioned, and I can’t remember all the details, but the best thing to do is follow precisely what you’re being told you need, and never listen to those who say something like for this city you don’t need that, because chances are they’re wrong and you’ll get f’d..get everything listed everywhere as early as possible and carry it with you until the end of the process. 😀 Good luck.
That’s some good advice right there Rick, thanks. The resume thing alone probably already saves me a few days.
the best thing to do is follow precisely what you’re being told you need,
And this, of course.
For the “work experience certificate” it says it should be the “original document”. Does that mean it should meet some kind of requirement?
This is simply a piece of paper where your previous employer states that you worked for him from X to X and are capable of doing Y and Z, right? Does it suffice if it is hand-signed by the CEO?
Also the resume should be the “original document”… just print it out?
well, “original documents” typically mean something that has been originally signed or sealed. They probably just misused the wording. For resume or whatever, since it isn’t signed or sealed, just print it out of course..
If you have worked in China previously, your last employer will need to provide a paper that you mentioned – which shows employment dates, title, etc. It should be stamped by the company with their seal – signing doesn’t matter. However, if you have never been legally employed in China, I do not think you require this document…or as you mention, if you just get some paper and sign it (by CEO or yourself) that’d probably suffice, but typically the purpose of that document is to verify you didn’t leave a company without both sides terminating the employment legitimately (I think).
Update: I just paid some company 3000RMB to go through all the hassle for me. Just need to give them my non criminal record and my degree and hop the border and it should be fine. Let’s see how this works out.
One additional question, let’s say the company stops doing business, or I quit working there, or whatever. Will I then lose my visa?
If they can provide me with a 1 yr visa (work permit), does this also mean they can take it back if they want to? (hypothetically speaking)
If they can provide me with a 1 yr visa (work permit), does this also mean they can take it back if they want to? (hypothetically speaking)
Absolutely. They can cancel your work permit, and your visa will be cancelled – you’d have to switch to a new company, or change to a different visa type (like tourist visa). I don’t know how they inform you (the PSB) or what the process is in that regard, but I suppose in the strictest legal sense the company is obliged to cancel your work permit when you cease working for them.
In my experience though, companies wont do that unless you give them a reason to – and if they don’t actively cancel your work permit then regardless of whether you work for them or not, they are still legitimate documents and can be used/extended/etc freely until expiring.
I’m going througth the exact same process at the moment ^^ however my company is very helpfull and just ask me to send all the paper you mentionned.
Apparently the laws for immigration have been tightened a lot since 2013, I hope it will works for you ( and for me :p ) keep us updated.
Also, if you can convince them to – and succeed in – applying for an expert cert.. you can get a 2 year instead of 1 year visa, and I think it’s easier to manage once you get an expert cert.
Yes and that’s also much quicker /less hassle to proceed than the employment license.
However I have been denied when trying to apply for one through my Company, they said that now the expert foreign certificate is only targeting on Management position, such as Company manager, Department manager etc… and that my position was a technical one so it doesn’t apply.
On my side I think it could be related to my diploma not quite being a Bachelor despite having lots of work experience in my field and a company that wants me I’m still unsure if I can even get the employment license, wait and see :).
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