You don't need to explain why a work visa is essential for a foreigner in China, but you should know why you can not get it.
Do you have all the documents, or are you qualified to get a work visa?
For most foreign applicants, you must have a bachelor's degree, at least two years' work experience(and its certificate), a noncriminal record, and a health check(both must be valid within six months). Some details include that the job you will take should be relevant to what you did or have been doing for the past years, if not the duplicate job titles. The degree and criminal letter should be legalized first and then authenticated by the Chinese embassies in your home countries. However, some countries are only required to provide an apostille since China acceded to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents on 8 March 2023. Please check the Authentication (Apostilles) section on the Chinese embassy website to ensure your country is on the list.
There is no compromise about the documents. For example, your work experience certificate is about one year and 11 months(not two years enough), or your criminal record expires one day(six months plus one day only), none of such conditions would work unless you can prove you are the top talent China encourages to hire, such as you have a PhD degree from a top university, you hold an international certificate like ICPA from the American Association of Chartered Accountants. As we know, Chinese first-tier cities, like Beijing, have recently issued catalogs about such professional certificates. Getting a work visa is much easier for those holding these certificates.
Why can you still not get a work visa after you get all the required documents?
Only a Chinese company can get you a work visa, not any of your Chinese friends individually. A well-founded and managed Chinese company is the next important factor in your work visa. A newly established company, a green HR without experience in dealing with foreign affairs, or your company has a negative record from the government—any of such situations highly increase the risk of a work visa failure.
You should never expect to be 100% secure in getting a work visa, even if you are lucky to have a great company without any of the abovementioned issues.
What is the next surprise?
You may never consider that the cities where you work also decide whether you can get a work visa. It's not wise to guess that governments have different policies when determining a work visa since they all follow the same national rules and regulations. The unfortunate fact is that they are very different.
Some cities are not familiar or professional with the work visa processes. They either repeat what the book says or delay and refuse the process without an apparent reason. This puts you into a dilemma. Most big cities with many foreigners can manage work visa services well since they are experienced. So you'd better not be the first foreigner to work there, or it might cost you much more time and money.
Are you getting the visa after all the steps above go well? The answer is No.
Regarding a work visa, two government sectors are involved: Human Resources and Social Security(HRSC) and Immigration. The first sector checks all documents from you and your employer and gives the first approval. Immigration gives the second and final approval.
We have two situations about a work visa.
Firstly, a work visa means a Z visa. All foreigners with no visa to China will apply for a Z visa from the Chinese embassies using the Work Permit Notice Letter from HRSC, which the employer applies for their foreign employees within China. After entering China with a Z visa, the local immigration will issue and stamp a work residence permit on their passport page.
Secondly, a work visa means a(new) work residence permit. All foreigners already in China with non-work visas, such as T visas, F visas, M visas, etc., or a valid residence permit should get a work residence permit or transfer to a new company to continue their jobs.
For most cities in China, a foreigner cannot get a work visa or work residence permit when they are already in China with non-work visas. However, such a situation differs for big cities like Beijing. You can get a short-term work residence permit(1-3 months) without leaving China, then extend to a long-term work residence permit(9-11 months). The premise is that you already have all of the required documents.
As we understand, immigration gives a final check and decides to issue you a work residence permit. You are lucky when you get it. However, some applications are refused without any reason or hints. The applicants have no negative records, nor have they had any illegal behaviors. When you try to call immigration to figure out the reasons, their official answer is always, "We don't have any specific reasons to tell you." Please don't be depressed because immigration kindly explains this refusal only represents this application; you can try to apply again. We don't know what is next.
Lastly, as stated earlier, all top-talent foreigners, including but not limited to academicians from national academies, professors from top universities, senior managers from top 500 fortunes, and professionals with specific certificates, always have easier access to a work visa or talent visa(R).
Kind reminders:
There are no perfect examples for your circumstances, as every case differs.
Nothing can bring you more than tangible things: an honest company, a real job, a realistic curriculum vitae, and authenticated documents. Some failed applications are approved to be fake. This negative record will be with you once it occurs.
China Jobs Daily consultants are happy to hear your questions.
Good luck with your work visa application.
Do you have all the documents, or are you qualified to get a work visa?
For most foreign applicants, you must have a bachelor's degree, at least two years' work experience(and its certificate), a noncriminal record, and a health check(both must be valid within six months). Some details include that the job you will take should be relevant to what you did or have been doing for the past years, if not the duplicate job titles. The degree and criminal letter should be legalized first and then authenticated by the Chinese embassies in your home countries. However, some countries are only required to provide an apostille since China acceded to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents on 8 March 2023. Please check the Authentication (Apostilles) section on the Chinese embassy website to ensure your country is on the list.
There is no compromise about the documents. For example, your work experience certificate is about one year and 11 months(not two years enough), or your criminal record expires one day(six months plus one day only), none of such conditions would work unless you can prove you are the top talent China encourages to hire, such as you have a PhD degree from a top university, you hold an international certificate like ICPA from the American Association of Chartered Accountants. As we know, Chinese first-tier cities, like Beijing, have recently issued catalogs about such professional certificates. Getting a work visa is much easier for those holding these certificates.
Why can you still not get a work visa after you get all the required documents?
Only a Chinese company can get you a work visa, not any of your Chinese friends individually. A well-founded and managed Chinese company is the next important factor in your work visa. A newly established company, a green HR without experience in dealing with foreign affairs, or your company has a negative record from the government—any of such situations highly increase the risk of a work visa failure.
You should never expect to be 100% secure in getting a work visa, even if you are lucky to have a great company without any of the abovementioned issues.
What is the next surprise?
You may never consider that the cities where you work also decide whether you can get a work visa. It's not wise to guess that governments have different policies when determining a work visa since they all follow the same national rules and regulations. The unfortunate fact is that they are very different.
Some cities are not familiar or professional with the work visa processes. They either repeat what the book says or delay and refuse the process without an apparent reason. This puts you into a dilemma. Most big cities with many foreigners can manage work visa services well since they are experienced. So you'd better not be the first foreigner to work there, or it might cost you much more time and money.
Are you getting the visa after all the steps above go well? The answer is No.
Regarding a work visa, two government sectors are involved: Human Resources and Social Security(HRSC) and Immigration. The first sector checks all documents from you and your employer and gives the first approval. Immigration gives the second and final approval.
We have two situations about a work visa.
Firstly, a work visa means a Z visa. All foreigners with no visa to China will apply for a Z visa from the Chinese embassies using the Work Permit Notice Letter from HRSC, which the employer applies for their foreign employees within China. After entering China with a Z visa, the local immigration will issue and stamp a work residence permit on their passport page.
Secondly, a work visa means a(new) work residence permit. All foreigners already in China with non-work visas, such as T visas, F visas, M visas, etc., or a valid residence permit should get a work residence permit or transfer to a new company to continue their jobs.
For most cities in China, a foreigner cannot get a work visa or work residence permit when they are already in China with non-work visas. However, such a situation differs for big cities like Beijing. You can get a short-term work residence permit(1-3 months) without leaving China, then extend to a long-term work residence permit(9-11 months). The premise is that you already have all of the required documents.
As we understand, immigration gives a final check and decides to issue you a work residence permit. You are lucky when you get it. However, some applications are refused without any reason or hints. The applicants have no negative records, nor have they had any illegal behaviors. When you try to call immigration to figure out the reasons, their official answer is always, "We don't have any specific reasons to tell you." Please don't be depressed because immigration kindly explains this refusal only represents this application; you can try to apply again. We don't know what is next.
Lastly, as stated earlier, all top-talent foreigners, including but not limited to academicians from national academies, professors from top universities, senior managers from top 500 fortunes, and professionals with specific certificates, always have easier access to a work visa or talent visa(R).
Kind reminders:
There are no perfect examples for your circumstances, as every case differs.
Nothing can bring you more than tangible things: an honest company, a real job, a realistic curriculum vitae, and authenticated documents. Some failed applications are approved to be fake. This negative record will be with you once it occurs.
China Jobs Daily consultants are happy to hear your questions.
Good luck with your work visa application.
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