Disclaimer: this is an edited article taken from Kudosbay酷豆湾

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This article focuses on the different possible scenarios a foreign employee may face when trying to change a job in China and what to do if such a situation is to occur:

1.  The Work permit is cancelled but residence permit is not

This is usually the most common scenario (at least in Shanghai). The employee when deciding to change employer requests a release letter and a work permit cancellation letter from the current employer and submits those documents to the new employer. You will then have 10 days (from the issue date of the release letter) to apply for a new work permit and then the residence permit immediately following.

If you are past the ten days, then technically this is not allowed. For example, if someone quit their job on April 1, 2018, and received the release letter and the work permit cancellation receipt. They are no longer working and are living on a valid residence permit in China. The residence permit expires on June 1, 2018, and they found a job on May 1, 2018.

They may be considered an overstay situation as they did not transfer to the new company within the ten days deadline and they were staying on a residence permit that is supposed to be tied with a certain company.

Note: With regards to the new foreign work permit card, we have heard that it took longer than 15 days for some of the people and with that in the process of cancellation you couldn’t apply within 10 days from the last working day in previous company, we have heard of many cases that it was accepted (with resident permit still valid).

In practice, oftentimes, the new employer can still process the new work permit in this situation. In some cities, it is accepted that even if you missed the 10 days’ deadline and couldn’t start application, but your resident permit is still valid. With such applications, SAFEA may require additional documentation such as PCC (Police Clearance Certificate)/NCR (No Criminal Record) 

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which either can be obtained from a Consulate of your country in China or back home. A new medical check or further documents could be required as well 

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If the applicant’s work permit and residence permit are still processing and the ten days are up, then they can request a humanitarian visa for up to thirty days to complete the process, but they will have to continue the application from their home country or a third country where they hold the residence permit.

3.   Change of jobs title to a different (higher or lower) position

If you are changing job title from say a teacher to a Business Development Manager, then SAFEA would request that you show at least 2 years of experience in that role in your past work experience otherwise the candidate would be deemed as unqualified and hence the work permit request would be denied. This means if your job title changes, you will have to show at least two years of experience in that field.

4.  Change of city/province

This is very city-specific, so we would suggest that you consult with the local SAFEA. For example, in the case of transfer to Shanghai from another city in China, as long as the residence permit is still valid and only the work permit has been cancelled (see example case above) then you can have it changed within China. Other cities may require going back to home country and get a new Z-visa then convert it to local residence permit within 30 days of entering China. In some cities even if the transfer can be done in China, it requires more documents than a renewal (PCC/NCR generally).

5. Issues with the employer (e.g. unwilling to provide release letter or cancel work permit, etc)

This is very common especially in the education sector where the school, out of spite, will refuse to issue a release letter or cancel the work permit.

In this case, you either:

   – Have to work out via an intermediate to help resolve the situation (say help the school find a replacement in exchange of getting the papers) so that you can do the change of jobs in China without having to leave.

   –   If the school stands by its position then the only way that was reported working was to leave China, go back home country to apply for a new passport then work with the new employer to get new a work visa. The key point is that a new passport number is issued. With this said, going forward this may not be a solution in the future.

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