As I mentioned in the first post of the blog, obtaining a work permit is the fundamental and necessary procedure for an expat to work in China legally. However, it is more commonly seen that some expats work in China without a work permit or are rejected from getting a work permit.
The answer to the first scenario is easy. I would never recommend working without a work permit – some get away with it, I know, but it is a violation of law, period. As China is getting its immigration system more streamlined with more serious enforcement, it can be very dangerous for foreign nationals to risk their future career potential in China by not obtaining legal documents properly. It can cause serious consequences for a foreign national to be caught working without a work permit: deportation, legal penalties, and negative immigration records that can impact any future visa applications and legal employment in China.
I do feel more regret about the second scenario, where expats were not able to obtain work permits when proper guidance is in their absence. Sometimes this is due to a lack of awareness by expats or their employers, or it is because the expats fail to identify the appropriate approach to navigate the Chinese immigration system without professional advice on individual cases.
In many scenarios, the expats understand little about the regulations and policies, but rely solely on their employers to figure things out. This can be very risky for expat individuals because they themselves have to suffer from the consequences of any missteps. Therefore, the goal of this blog is to let everyone know that there is a playbook on Chinese immigration system and it is important to do everything in the right way. To start with, let’s figure out the basic terms and rules in this system.
Getting a work permit in China means obtaining a package of permits.
Let’s start by understanding the process of a foreign national coming to work in China and the buzzwords you may hear very often in the work permit application process.
- the work permit notice
- Z visa
- work permit
- residence permit
To better understand these terms, I’ll use a case example to illustrate the work permit procedure:
John is from Turkey, and he is hired by a multinational machinery manufacturing company to work in China. John will have to go through the following steps before legally working in China:
- Apply for a “Work Permit Notice” – This is a sheet of paper confirming John’s qualification. Usually the employer needs to handle this.
- Apply for a Z visa at the Chinese embassy or consulate in Turkey – this can ensure John’s arrival in China from Turkey
- Apply for a “Work Permit”. This is a palm-size green-colored book that John can keep in the drawer.
- Apply for a “Residence Permit”, usually the permit is valid for 2-5 years, depending on work permit type. This will be attached to John’s passport, and will be the de facto “visa” that John will use to enter and exit China border without restrictions as long as it is not expired. This is the final and ultimate step.
As you may tell from the above, getting a work permit in China includes a series of steps, especially when expats need to come from outside China (it is another procedure when expats are already in China). Since each step is a prerequisite of the next one, it is instrumental that thoughtful timing is made ahead of time to avoid document delay, which may unintentionally lead to getting the payroll started later than expected, or disrupting the process of getting onboard.
