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Posts: 32

General

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Q: Give a new employer my passport for Foreign Expert Certificate?

Hello.

This morning my new (maybe) employer contacted me and told me what was required for paperwork for the Foreign Expert Bureau. This is where it gets absolutely maddening.

First the guy wants my PASSPORT. Not a copy of my passport and current Residence Permit, but my passport. This makes no sense to me as it was never asked of me before in this phase of the process. 

I went back and forth with this guy all day today that if I mail him my passport, I have no passport. This is illegal actually. A foreigner must have their passport with them at all times. I even went and cited him the law on this online. 

The job I am leaving is not in the city that I live in. The new boss is in Hangzhou which is nearby. I am leaving this job for good on Tuesday the 7th. Tomorrow I need to get my medical exam (something else this guy didn’t tell me until now that my medical is out of date).

I tried to tell this guy the proper procedure. You enter my information online. After this is approved, the Foreign Expert Bureau gives the new employer the approval and then we go to the PSB to apply for my Residence Permit. I get a receipt which I use as my passport. Then the paperwork is submitted to the Foreign Expert Bureau for them to finish processing. Even if Foreign Experts turn me down in the end, the PSB has my passport and I may be able to apply for a thirty day stay visa to arrange my life and leave the country.

I have gone around and around and around with this guy on WeChat about my passport and it is illegal for me to be without the passport. He isn’t listening. I don’t think the Foreign Expert Bureau needs my actual passport, only a copy of my face page and the Residence Permit. 

Makes no sense and cannot get a straight answer on how long he will keep the passport. Seemingly he will keep it, mail it to me back and then somehow I have to return to Hangzhou to go to the PSB.

I don’t want to admit it, but wondering if this guy is scamming me, ignorant or if I am ignorant of the policies. But I know damn well I have to legally have my passport on my person or have a receipt from PSB.

My understanding again is that the school turns in the paperwork, it is initially approved) and copies of my passport and other documents sent to them.

If this goes bad, can I apply for a stay visa for thirty days to sort out my life to go back to America?

4 years 12 weeks ago in  Visa & Legalities - China

 
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Emperor

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Sorry man, but you have incorrect information. 
1. The FEB does need your passport for the issuance of your work permit card. It's dumb, but TIC. 
2. When does your Work Permit card expire?  Scan the QR code on it to find all of your pertinent work information.  *note* THIS PROCESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE STARTED 30 DAYS BEFORE YOUR WP IS SET TO EXPIRE.  
3. According to the Nanjing and Suzhou branches of SAFEA, 30 day stay permits are no longer an option. You can get a 10 day one, but only if you're leaving and not coming back, as per the new system. 
Good Luck. 

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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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It's written in your passport that ''it is prohibited to give passport to someone else". It's written in mine.

Something is shady at this. Might be some scam.

Did you ever meet the guy in person? 

If that would be me, I would stand my ground and refuse to hand of my passport ... !

Anyway, I had some bad experience in Hangzhou in 2010 with Helen Group. They changed their name most likely today ... but they promised Z and WP and I ended up working with F. I had to hand them my passport for F visa processing and then they just kept my book until I contacted my Embassy.

 

That 30-days RP extension at the end of the contract was mandatory and complimentary. You could use it either to process papers with the new employer, i.e. RP transfer or you can use it to slowly pack your things and prepare for the China exit.

 

You should dial SAFEA and ask them about RP extension. They will help you and coach your present employer on proper procedure.

You can also ask them about the other guy and passport demand. They'll clip his wings ..

Spiderboenz:

They did away with the 30 day thing when they implemented the new system.  It's now 10 days, and only if you are leaving the country. 

4 years 12 weeks ago
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icnif77:

Ohh ... I should stop pushing the old stuff.

So, now you have a choice: either no limit to change an employer or 10-days extension for exit prep.

OP is telling something about FEC. I am sure they changed that in 2017.

4 years 12 weeks ago
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PulSartre:

If the guy has never met the employer in person, you must be out of your mind to mail your passport. No way that a sane person do that. 

4 years 11 weeks ago
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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Who is SAFEA? I know it exists but I have never been able to call a SAFEA ever. I have called the Zhejiang Foreign Expert Bureau but never a "SAFEA".

icnif77:

'Foreign Expert Bureau' in English or SAFEA. It stands for 'State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs', I think.

That's an office which issues Working permits and FEC. I don't think, FEC even exists anymore. It was replaced in 2017 by something else, ABC Card, or similar name.

Enter 'SAFEA' in search above for addresses and contacts of provincial HQs of SAFEA all around China.

Find your province and dial them up. Don't send an email. You must dial them up where you will encounter English speaking Chinese agent. They will sort it out your problems in a heart-beat. Be polite and rather play stupid, i.e.'I don't know if this is right ...??" and so on.

I called them often (at almost every Public School I worked) in my 8-years in China and I was always satisfied with their response except at the last school in Bijie, Guizhou in 2017.

Good luck!

4 years 12 weeks ago
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Spiderboenz:

SAFEA doesn't really know much. I had some issues in the past with changing RPs between cities and was told conflicting information. 

4 years 12 weeks ago
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icnif77:

I ain't sure where did you contact them (SAFEA). I always dialled them from our link here (Provincial HQ) and as I said, I was always happy after explaining problem to them.

I called them mostly because of the Contract disrespect by the employer.

4 years 12 weeks ago
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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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Sorry man, but you have incorrect information. 
1. The FEB does need your passport for the issuance of your work permit card. It's dumb, but TIC. 
2. When does your Work Permit card expire?  Scan the QR code on it to find all of your pertinent work information.  *note* THIS PROCESS IS SUPPOSED TO BE STARTED 30 DAYS BEFORE YOUR WP IS SET TO EXPIRE.  
3. According to the Nanjing and Suzhou branches of SAFEA, 30 day stay permits are no longer an option. You can get a 10 day one, but only if you're leaving and not coming back, as per the new system. 
Good Luck. 

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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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The Foreign Expert Bureau did not need my passport six months ago. Why now?

I should be in their system since this is basically a renewal instead of a new card.

 

How long does the FEB keep the passport? I don't live in the city where the office is, I live about a hundred kilometers away. I would basically be homeless (because I cannot get a hotel) nor can I travel home.

 

 

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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Emperor

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haha,,,  welcome to Chiner Tongue :p

 

Chaos rules the day! Basically don't know up from down; left from right,,, and the fun thing about it is they don't really Give a Fk either....

 

77 said it right,,, they reach for the wallet in the Left pocket with the Right hand....

 

PulSartre:

Deinitely right so, diver. It is obnoxiously intended to make you feel the diference between being elsewhere and being in China. Here is a nice definition to the adjective I have used: 

adjective. highly objectionable or offensive; odious: obnoxious behavior. annoying or objectionable due to being a showoff or attracting undue attention to oneself: an obnoxious little brat. Archaic. exposed or liable to harm, evil, or anything objectionable

4 years 11 weeks ago
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icnif77:

" ... 77 said it right,,, they reach for the wallet in the Left pocket with the Right hand...." 

 

 

"... with the R hand ... around the arse ..." just to avoid the misconceptions about the right directions ... matter. 

 

I studied these proper moves and directions for a long time, mind you.

 

4 years 10 weeks ago
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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Minor Official

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There does seem to be a lot of confusion in all of this and unfortunately you seem to be the one suffering.

As you are probably aware, the rules are applied differently in different provinces but largely follow the same pattern. I personally deal with these matters so I can explain what happened the last time I had to deal with this from a HR perspective.

Firstly, cancelling an exisiting work permit. The rules state an employer should not cancel a work permit card more than 30 days prior to the employee leaving the company. If we did and it was actioned (the official term is 'written off') and continued to employ the person and received a visit from the PSB, we would be in a lot of trouble. This is what causes the start of all this trouble really. It should be allowed to be 60 days as the timeframe for both employers and employees is very tight to do everything within a month, but it is what it is.

Secondly, for us to receive and process a new employee who has or has had a previous work permit card and is therefore in the system, firstly requires us to obtain the notice of work permit cancellation from the previous employer. Once we have that, we can then apply to take over the work permit card under our employer account, this is all done online.

We do also need a current physical exam certificate (issued within the last 180 days in China). This has to be submitted with the relevant documents needed.

Thirdly, once we receive approval, we then have to go to the local Foreign Experts Bureau (different localities in China have slightly different names but it is the same thing) to apply for their approval. For the first time, when I last did this in June last year, they asked for the physical passport (not a copy). Given that the new employee was in Wuhan and we are in Xi'an, he and we were in the same situation as you. He was also displeased at the prospect of having to mail his passport to us for this process so to appease him we paid for him to travel to us to complete this process. I understand this may not be practical or available in your case but it might be just better to jump on a train and present yourself in person.

They then finish off the application give us some more paperwork and we return to another office to collect the new physical work permit card.

The last step is to apply for the resident permit. By this time he had actually moved here so we had to take all the required paperwork and him to the PSB where they retained his passport and it was completed about ten days later. We literally did this the day before his existing resident permit was due to expire, however we were told as long as we have been issued the new work permit card and had the receipts from the Foreign Experts Bureau the PSB would not regard it as an overstay.

It seems that while you think you have been given the runaround, you probably have not been. It is a case of time and the different parts of the jigsaw not coming together as they should. I suggest you approach this with the offer to present yourself in person with your passport. I can only assume it is the third point in the process where you are at now. They do not keep the passport, just simply look at it, so you would get it back as soon as they have done that. It should only be kept at the last point, that is the issue of the new resident permit.

I hope it all works out for you.

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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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They do need it. Just use a reliable company to mail it, such as SF.

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4 years 12 weeks ago
 
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Governor

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No way that you mail your passport to someone you have never met. 

biggj123:

Its pretty common to do that in certain situations. Like mail it to an visa agent or something like that. I've done this in Canada since the Embassy is too far from my house for me to travel and do it myself.

4 years 10 weeks ago
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4 years 11 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1153

Shifu

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Never give up your passport 

icnif77:

The up-voters here must adore  bat soup ... 

 

Are they from Wahun? The up-ers?

4 years 4 weeks ago
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4 years 10 weeks ago
 
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Minor Official

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Visit pesonally. They require original passport to look at it. 

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4 years 4 weeks ago
 
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It's me the original poster.

 

Everything turned out OK. The Foreign Expert Bureau pissed around with my passport, then approved my application (which I had a concern about), then the guy mailed me my passport back. Go to the PSB, got my temporary paper since I still had to wait for the Foreign Expert Bureau......and then my employer wanted my paper. This pissed me off but I returned back to my city and mailed it. This was about two weeks before the plague hit.

 

Got my passport back about two weeks ago, at least I didnt have to pay the 400 RMB. Because of the plague I am here but unemployed so every RMB counts. It has always annoyed me with previous employers to have to pay to get my visa and then have to wait on them to get my money back.

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4 years 3 weeks ago
 
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Answer of the DayMORE >>
A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change from student to labourer visa is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77