A new work permit application system of foreigners started to be implemented national wide in China as of 1 April 2017 after it has been tested in ten different locations since last October (“New Application System”). This brings substantial changes to the statutory requirements and application procedures of obtaining work permits for foreigners. The major changes are described below:
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A unified Foreigner’s Work Permit Card is applicable to all foreigners working in China |
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In the past, a foreigner working in China as an employee obtained a Work Permit of Foreigner issued by the competent Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, while a foreigner coming to China as an expert such as a professor teaching in Chinese universities obtained a Foreign Expert Certificate issued by the competent Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau. Under the New Application System, no matter whether a foreigner comes to China as an employee or an expert, as long as he/she stays in China for the purpose of work for more than 90 days, he/she should obtain a Foreigner’s Work Permit Card (“Work Permit”), which is uniformly issued by the competent Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau. The Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau is an authority under the lead of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security at the state level and the Human Resources and Social Security Bureaus at the provincial level. The Foreign Experts Affairs Bureau already set up a uniform on-line service system for foreigners working in China at http://fwp.safea.gov.cn/. All companies must submit applications on this website for obtaining the Work Permit for the foreigners working for them. |
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Statutory requirements on foreigners under different classifications for obtaining Work Permit are no longer same |
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In the past, the statutory requirements on all foreigners’ obtaining work permits were basically the same. Under the New Application System, the statutory requirements are unified national wide, but differ subject to different types of foreigners. Foreigners are clarified into categories A, B or C depending on their education background, professional areas, personal achievements, working experience, salary level as well as the needs of the Chinese labor market. |
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Application procedures are simplified |
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Under the New Application System, when applying for a working visa at the Chinese consulate or embassy, the applicant no longer needs to submit an invitation letter issued by an authorized Chinese authority or enterprise. Further, all application documents will be submitted on-line for pre-examination and the hard copies will be submitted on site later. The entire application procedure is outlined as follows: |
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For the foreigners under Category A, the step of submitting paper copies of the application documents for the issuance of the Notification of Foreigner’s Work Permission can be waived. Such paper documents can be submitted later together with the documents for obtaining the Work Permit. |
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Application documents become more complicated |
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In the past, the PRC authorities were not very strict with the education or professional qualification certificates of the applicants as well as their certificates of no criminal record. Usually copies of the documents were sufficient. In many locations, a certificate of no criminal record was not even required. Under the New Application System, the education or professional qualification certificates of the applicants, if they are issued abroad, should be certified by the embassy or consulate of the foreign country in China, the Chinese embassy or consulate in the foreign country or a Chinese qualified certification institute. Further, the applicant should provide a certificate of no criminal record issued by the police station, security department or court at his/her place of residence within the last six months. If this document is issued abroad, it shall also be certified by the embassy or consulate of the country in China or the Chinese embassy or consulate in the country. As a preferential policy, for the foreigners under Category A, they do not need to provide a certificate of no criminal record if they sign a warranty letter. Under some special circumstances, the work experience statement and the education or professional qualification certificate can also be exempted if the foreigner issues a warranty. |
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Conclusion According to the Chinese government, existing Work Permit of Foreigner and Foreign Expert Certificate will be still valid until expiration. Starting from 1 October 2017, foreigners holding old permits can voluntarily change them to the new ones. However, foreigners applying for a work permit for the first time or renewing the work permit now should follow the new regulations. Due to the changes of the policies, some foreigners who could obtain a permit in the past may not be able to obtain a permit under the New Application System any more. Some foreigners may also need to spend more time for preparing for the certification of documents. Based on the above, companies may wish to review whether the foreigners who are going to be hired or assigned to work in China or the existing foreign employees meet the above mentioned requirements to make sure that their work permits can be obtained or renewed according to the new policies. If not, the companies may wish to make proper adjustment or preparation according to the new requirements to avoid the situation that any foreigner fails to obtain or renew his or her work permit as expected.
