How to Get a Work Permit in China as a Foreigner?

Chi­na is one of the most attrac­tive des­ti­na­tions for for­eign­ers who want to work, live and explore a dif­fer­ent cul­ture. How­ev­er, work­ing in Chi­na legal­ly requires obtain­ing a work per­mit and a res­i­dence per­mit, which can be a com­plex and time-con­sum­ing process. In this arti­cle, we will explain the steps and require­ments for get­ting a work per­mit in Chi­na as a for­eign­er, as well as some tips and resources to help you along the way.

What is a work permit in China?

A work per­mit in Chi­na is a legal doc­u­ment that allows for­eign­ers to work in Chi­na for a spec­i­fied peri­od of time. It is also known as the For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit (FWP) or the Z visa. The work per­mit is issued by the State Admin­is­tra­tion of For­eign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) or the Min­istry of Human Resources and Social Secu­ri­ty (MOHRSS), depend­ing on the type and cat­e­go­ry of the for­eign worker.

There are three types of work per­mits in Chi­na: A, B and C. Type A is for high-end tal­ents, such as sci­en­tists, senior man­agers, pro­fes­sors and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als who meet cer­tain cri­te­ria. Type B is for pro­fes­sion­al tal­ents, such as teach­ers, engi­neers, accoun­tants and oth­er skilled work­ers who have rel­e­vant qual­i­fi­ca­tions and expe­ri­ence. Type C is for tem­po­rary or sea­son­al work­ers, such as interns, vol­un­teers, cul­tur­al exchange par­tic­i­pants and oth­er non-pro­fes­sion­al work­ers who have lim­it­ed work­ing hours and duration.

The type of work per­mit deter­mines the appli­ca­tion process, the required doc­u­ments, the valid­i­ty peri­od and the ben­e­fits of the for­eign work­er. For exam­ple, type A work­ers can apply for a work per­mit online with­out sub­mit­ting any phys­i­cal doc­u­ments, while type B and C work­ers need to sub­mit their orig­i­nal doc­u­ments to the local labor bureau. Type A work­ers can also enjoy pref­er­en­tial poli­cies such as fast-track visa ser­vice, mul­ti­ple-entry visa, longer res­i­dence per­mit and sim­pli­fied renew­al process.

What are the requirements for getting a work permit in China?

The require­ments for get­ting a work per­mit in Chi­na vary depend­ing on the type and cat­e­go­ry of the for­eign work­er. How­ev­er, there are some gen­er­al require­ments that apply to all for­eign­ers who want to work in Chi­na. These include:

• Hav­ing a valid pass­port with at least six months of valid­i­ty and two blank pages.
• Hav­ing a con­firmed employ­ment con­tract or invi­ta­tion let­ter from a Chi­nese employ­er who is autho­rized to hire foreigners.
• Hav­ing a bach­e­lor’s degree or high­er (or equiv­a­lent pro­fes­sion­al qual­i­fi­ca­tions) and at least two years of rel­e­vant work expe­ri­ence (except for some spe­cial occu­pa­tions such as lan­guage teachers).
• Hav­ing no crim­i­nal record or infec­tious diseases.
• Meet­ing the age lim­it of 18 to 60 years old (or 18 to 65 years old for type A workers).
• Meet­ing the spe­cif­ic require­ments for type A, B or C work­ers accord­ing to the For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit Clas­si­fi­ca­tion Cri­te­ria, such as cred­it score, salary lev­el, tal­ent pro­gram mem­ber­ship, etc.

In addi­tion to these gen­er­al require­ments, for­eign­ers also need to pre­pare and sub­mit var­i­ous doc­u­ments to apply for a work per­mit in Chi­na. The doc­u­ments may dif­fer depend­ing on the type and cat­e­go­ry of the for­eign work­er, but they usu­al­ly include:

• The For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit Appli­ca­tion Form, which can be filled out online or down­loaded from the offi­cial website.
• A pass­port-sized pho­to with white background.
• A copy of the pass­port infor­ma­tion page.
• A copy of the employ­ment con­tract or invi­ta­tion let­ter from the Chi­nese employer.
• A copy of the high­est aca­d­e­m­ic degree cer­tifi­cate or pro­fes­sion­al qual­i­fi­ca­tion cer­tifi­cate (which must be nota­rized and authen­ti­cat­ed by the Chi­nese embassy or con­sulate in the home country).
• A copy of the work expe­ri­ence cer­tifi­cate or ref­er­ence let­ter from pre­vi­ous employ­ers (which must be nota­rized and authen­ti­cat­ed by the Chi­nese embassy or con­sulate in the home country).
• A copy of the health cer­tifi­cate issued by a des­ig­nat­ed med­ical insti­tu­tion in Chi­na or abroad.
• A copy of the no crim­i­nal record cer­tifi­cate issued by the com­pe­tent author­i­ty in the home coun­try (which must be nota­rized and authen­ti­cat­ed by the Chi­nese embassy or con­sulate in the home country).
• Oth­er doc­u­ments that may be required by the local labor bureau, such as resume, pass­port pho­tos, bank state­ments, tax records, etc.

All the doc­u­ments must be in Chi­nese or trans­lat­ed into Chi­nese by a qual­i­fied trans­la­tion agency. The orig­i­nal doc­u­ments must be pre­sent­ed for ver­i­fi­ca­tion when sub­mit­ting the application.

What are the steps for getting a work permit in China?

The steps for get­ting a work per­mit in Chi­na can be sum­ma­rized as follows:

1. The Chi­nese employ­er applies for a Noti­fi­ca­tion Let­ter for For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit from the local labor bureau by pro­vid­ing the required doc­u­ments of the for­eign work­er. This usu­al­ly takes about 3–4 weeks.
2. The for­eign work­er applies for a Z visa from the Chi­nese embassy or con­sulate in their home coun­try by pro­vid­ing the Noti­fi­ca­tion Let­ter and oth­er required doc­u­ments. This usu­al­ly takes about 1–2 weeks.
3. The for­eign work­er enters Chi­na with the Z visa and under­takes a med­ical exam­i­na­tion at a des­ig­nat­ed hos­pi­tal with­in 30 days of arrival. This usu­al­ly takes about 1–2 days.
4. The for­eign work­er reg­is­ters their res­i­dence at the local police sta­tion with­in 24 hours of arrival and obtains a tem­po­rary res­i­dence per­mit. This usu­al­ly takes about 1 day.
5. The for­eign work­er applies for a For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit from the local labor bureau by pro­vid­ing the orig­i­nal doc­u­ments and the med­ical exam­i­na­tion report. This usu­al­ly takes about 5–10 work­ing days.
6. The for­eign work­er applies for a Res­i­dence Per­mit for Work from the local exit-entry admin­is­tra­tion bureau by pro­vid­ing the For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit and oth­er required doc­u­ments. This usu­al­ly takes about 15 work­ing days.

The whole process may take about 2–3 months from start to fin­ish, depend­ing on the type and cat­e­go­ry of the for­eign work­er, the effi­cien­cy of the Chi­nese employ­er and the local author­i­ties, and oth­er fac­tors. There­fore, it is advis­able to start prepar­ing and apply­ing for a work per­mit in Chi­na as ear­ly as possible.

What are some tips and resources for getting a work permit in China?

Get­ting a work per­mit in Chi­na can be chal­leng­ing and con­fus­ing, espe­cial­ly for for­eign­ers who are not famil­iar with the Chi­nese lan­guage, cul­ture and reg­u­la­tions. Here are some tips and resources that may help you with your work per­mit application:

• Choose a reli­able and rep­utable Chi­nese employ­er who can assist you with your work per­mit appli­ca­tion and pro­vide you with accu­rate and time­ly infor­ma­tion. You can check the Employ­er List on the offi­cial web­site to see if your employ­er is autho­rized to hire foreigners.
• Con­sult with your local Chi­nese embassy or con­sulate before apply­ing for a Z visa to con­firm the required doc­u­ments, fees and pro­cess­ing time. You can also check their offi­cial web­sites for more information.
• Use the offi­cial web­site of the Ser­vice Sys­tem for For­eign­ers Work­ing in Chi­na, which pro­vides online ser­vices such as appli­ca­tion form fill­ing, doc­u­ment upload­ing, sta­tus check­ing, appoint­ment book­ing, etc. You can also find use­ful infor­ma­tion such as clas­si­fi­ca­tion cri­te­ria, pol­i­cy updates, FAQs, etc. on this website.
• Con­tact the local labor bureau and exit-entry admin­is­tra­tion bureau where you intend to work to inquire about their spe­cif­ic require­ments, pro­ce­dures and con­tact details. You can find their Con­tact Infor­ma­tion on the offi­cial website.
• Pre­pare and sub­mit your doc­u­ments as ear­ly as pos­si­ble to avoid delays or rejec­tions due to incom­plete or incor­rect infor­ma­tion. Make sure to keep copies of all your doc­u­ments for future reference.
• Fol­low the rules and reg­u­la­tions of work­ing in Chi­na, such as pay­ing tax­es, social insur­ance, renew­ing your work per­mit and res­i­dence per­mit, report­ing any changes of your per­son­al or employ­ment infor­ma­tion, etc. You can find more infor­ma­tion on the Chi­nese Gov­ern­ment Web­site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some com­mon ques­tions and answers relat­ed to get­ting a work per­mit in Chi­na as a foreigner:

Sources:

1. State Admin­is­tra­tion of For­eign Experts Affairs | For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit Clas­si­fi­ca­tion Criteria
2. Ser­vice Sys­tem for For­eign­ers Work­ing in Chi­na | Home
3. Chi­nese Gov­ern­ment Web­site | Home
4. Hori­zons | Chi­na Work Visa & Work Per­mit [Chi­na Z Visa – Procedure]
5. Chi­nese Gov­ern­ment Web­site | Flow­chart for For­eign­er’s Work Per­mit Appli­ca­tion (For for­eign­ers with 90 work­ing days in Chi­na and above)
6. Bei­jing Gov­ern­ment Web­site | Work Per­mit for foreigners