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Q: Business Visa ---> Work Permit
I got an offer to work in china from a famous company.But they are asking me to come to china on a Business Visa for 20 days and then in china they will help me in filing the work permit.Is this a "OK" way?
Is getting work permit easy there??
For the work Visa should I have to come back to my country or It can be done there in china itself?
12 years 1 day ago in Visa & Legalities - China
A business visa does not allows you to "work" in China, that is illegal. The only way to get a work permit, a residence permit and a Foreign Expert Certificate is thru a work ("Z") type visa.
Changing from a business visa (F) to a work visa (Z) could be done in China by your company thru a visa agency depending on location, if your company is licensed to hire foreigners, and the "guangxi" they may have with the local PSB.
To me, I do not see the reasoning to ask you to come with a business visa, when with the same effort you can get a work visa and avoid problems. Something smells fishy maybe.
Changing from an F visa to a Z visa is extremely difficult to process now in China. Generally now this type of visa should be processed in the applicants home country. While it may not be impossible, I know for a fact most agencies cannot do this.
I work for a visa agency in Guangzhou and I'm kept up to date with all the latest regulations.
I suggest while you are now in your home country you request your employer to send you the documentation required to apply for a working permit. You will be legally allowed to work and the Z visa is easily renewed.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
As an HR , i share you some info, in China, by legal way , you should get " Z' visa at your home country then enter china to apply working visa. But sometimes your company probably need your start work very soon , so they would like you to get "F" visa(cause it's quick) come to China asap, after you enter China, they start apply all documents then send you to HK to apply" Z" visa, then apply working visa when you back mainland. I don't see you will get trouble , at least in Shanghai .
Any further questions ask me at : eileenchen_3@hotmail.com.
One of the problems you will find in China is that people sometimes really do not use the proper name for many things. Maybe it has something to do with translation, or who knows what. But I see in many instances persons relating a story and using the wrong names in it. Like someone that just received a visa extension of 30 days to stay in China claiming he just renewed his visa.
So, for you to understand fully that YOU CAN NOT GET A WORK PERMIT with an "F" business visa, I will try to explain once more what a WORK VISA ("Z") involves.
In general, and by Chinese Law, visas are granted only at Chinese Embassies abroad, since by definition, a "visa" is a permit to "enter" the country for a stated purpose. And depending on how the official at the Embassy in Hong Kong feels that day when you show up, he may issue you a visa, or tell you to return to your home country to get one.
And do not fall for the myth that a business visa is easier or faster to get than a work visa, once the application form and required documentation are given to the Embassy, at the most in 5 working days you will have your visa. So, why pay for the wrong one, and then spend more money leaving China a few weeks after to get the right one?.
What many do not know is that once you enter China with a work visa, you still can not legally begin to work here. There are a few things that must be done first. And they may not be listed in the proper order.
Once you arrive in China, and stop living at an approved hotel and move into a rented apartment, within 24 hours of doing so, you must go to the local Police Station nearest where you live and apply for a document called "Registration Form of Temporary Residence for Visitors". This is free of charge, but if you show up at PSB without it, they will tell you to go and get it first, and may fine you if they feel like doing it.
Within 30 days of arriving to China, and before you start to work, you must go to the local PSB office in the city where you will work, and do the following there or at the place they will indicate to you.
1.- If your Foreign Expert Certificate is not completed yet, finish the process and get it.
2.- Get a Health Certificate from the indicated Hospital or Government Institution.
3.- Get a Work Permit at the place indicated by PSB.
4.- Get a Residence Permit at PSB.
And once you get all of the above done, you can legally start to work in China.
