The work permit: Z visa, permit and residence permit

The chain, end to end

1. 1

   The work permit notification

   The first document is obtained by the EMPLOYER in China while you are still abroad. They submit your papers — degree, police certificate, proof of experience, medical records — and receive the notification letter.

   Your degree and the police certificate usually need legalisation in the country that issued them. This is the longest step: allow weeks, not days.

2. 2

   The Z visa at the consulate

   With the notification you apply for a category Z work visa at a Chinese consulate in your own country. It is an entry visa — you cannot live and work on it for long, its validity is short.

3. 3

   The work permit after arrival

   After you land the notification is exchanged for the work permit itself — a card with your name, your employer and an expiry date. This is done within a set period after entry.

4. 4

   The residence permit

   The last step: the Z visa is replaced by a residence permit at the exit-entry authority. It is that permit which gives you the right to be in the country and on which you enter and leave from then on.

   This step also has a deadline after entry, and it is short. Missing it is a breach of your residence conditions.

Changing employer

You cannot simply move to another company — the permit has to be reissued. The usual order is: the old employer cancels their permit, the new one obtains theirs, and the residence permit is then changed too.

Between the cancellation and the new permit there is a gap, and it has to be planned in advance with both companies. You cannot remain in the country without valid status.

Moving city or province adds steps: some procedures are done locally and the requirements differ.

Renewal and resignation

The permit and the residence permit are renewed in advance, before they expire. Leaving it to the last day is risky: filing takes time, and you may neither work nor stay in the country on an expired document.

On resignation the employer must cancel the permit. The residence permit then loses its basis, and you have a limited time to find a new employer, change status or leave.

Do not assume “there is still time”. The window is short and it runs from the cancellation, not from your last working day.

What to keep to hand

Copies of everything: the work permit, the residence permit, the employment contract, the address registration. They are asked for at the bank, when renting and at any official counter.

Address registration is renewed every time you move and every time you re-enter the country. It is the thing most often forgotten and the thing most often asked for.

Scans stored on your phone, not only in the cloud — the cloud may not open.