I got an offer from an American company in Shanghai last time i toured there. Now I am in the states and ready to leave for the new post. After I read a few great info. here, I start to get a little bit confused. My HR director told me to get a L visa first and they will help me to get the working permit and everything else in Shanghai once I arrive. But a few comments here suggested that I might need to go to HK to get a working visa and re-enter the mainland. Am I missing something here?

Also, she said the process of getting visa will take up to 1 month, but she wants me to start one week after my arrival. How does that work?

My wife is a Chinese citizen. Can I apply for a permanent residential status once I arrive in China? So that the status does not require me to do all the visa stuff even I do not have a job.

My last question is, upon the end of my contract (2 yrs), do I have to leave China immediately or there are other ways for me to stay in China? What about under other cicumstances, for example, termination, quitting, etc.?

Really appreciate all your help.

THanks a lot

The American company in Shanghai should first obtain the "Employment License for Alien" from the Labor bureau for you. It's a green piece of paper that is often laminated. To obtain this, they would need a clean photocopy of your passport and 2 - 3 passport photos. They will also need to issue letter(s) stating your qualification and why you're it for the job (to show to Chinese government why local Chinese cannot do the job).

Once they have the License, they should FedEx it to you ASAP. Use this License to apply for Z (employment) visa with the Chinese consulate. If you enter China with anything but the Z visa, you may have to step out (to Hong Kong or back to USA) again in one month to re-apply for Z visa. My colleague and I did just that. We had to go back to the States before L visa expires to apply for Z via.

Don't know about other parts. Good luck....

Thanks. Then I am really confused, why are they asking me to get a L visa first rather than have me to apply for Z visa directly here in the states. Any ideas?

I offer you 2 possibilites:

1. Your HR doesn't know what they're doing. They think you can get in with L visa and then change to Z visa locally.

2. My HR didn't know what they were doing, thinking that I had to leave the country to re-apply for Z visa (in Chinese consulate on foreign soil).

You should check with your HR to see if they have prior experience in hiring US citizens and getting them over to China. If you listen to them and end up still having to go back to the US or elsewhere to apply for Z visa, they should fully assume your expenses (aifraire, lodging, meal, etc.).

fptwb - I obtained the L visa when I came here to live/work. I think it was for a 60 day or 90 day entry (the 30 day visa may not be enough time). Upon arrival, I registered with the local police (not necessary if you are staying in a hotel). At that point, the company for whom I work began the process of obtaining the Z visa. As PKMAN said, they had to get the "Employment License for Alien". I did go to HK to the Chinese consulate to apply for the Z visa (along with the license and some other paperwork that the office had prepared for me). I was given a temporary Z visa for use to re-enter China. My passport was then taken to an office in Shanghai where a one-year, multi entry Z visa was issued.

Somewhere in there, application for a residency permit was required (can't recall when that was done) and in the end, I wound up with two little books (like a passport), one granting permission to live and the other granting permission to work. I still have the laminated A4-sized document that PKMAN mentions.

Each year, these books and my passport are submitted to some office in Shanghai (after I renew my contract with my company) and a week later my passport (and the little books) are returned with a new Z visa (no need to exit China to obtain).

I didn't mind going to HK to get the visa . . . gave me an opportunity to do some shopping and catch up with old friends. It only takes one day to get the visa (express). PKMAN is also correct in saying that if you are required to exit China to obtain the Z visa, your company should pay for all expenses.

I am not sure if it is technically the correct way to complete the process but I didn't have any difficulties.

Thanks PKMAN and Magnolia

I don't mind going to HK either, considering I have never been there. I just felt its pretty odd, considering 90% of the firm's employees are non Chinese. I can only hope there might be a special policy for this particular industry, and none of its employees have to get a working visa outside of mainland. Anyway, I asked the HR today, and hopefully I will get a good answer for this.

My process was identical to Magnolia's - came on a 30 day L, renewed it once when I failed my medical (my company did this for me)...eventually got all of the various papers/booklets and transferred to the Z-visa...no major hassles once you pass the medical and get all of the papers together...I never had to leave for HK or elsewhere for that matter...

Some people do post stories about having to leave China and I'm honestly not sure why people get different hassles...no idea...after being here a while you can understand that it likely happens though for no apparent reason...

Interesting...

I just want to thank all of you once again. No matter whats gonna happen during the process, I know at least I got friends on this site to help me out. Its my first experience working oversea, and I am very much looking forward to it.

You should be able to get your Z visa before you come. All major comapnies can get you a good work visa before you arrive. Don't get an L visa. In the worst case scenario, get an F visa which is good for one year, but you need to renew it every 3 months by going to the Shanghai visa center giving them an invitation that they look at for about 0.3 seconds. F visas are given out like candy in many countries. But I see no reason why your company is even screwing with you like this. You shouldn't have to even think about this. They should get you the Z visa no problem. The only thing you need to do is take some stupid medical exam so the clean pure Chinese don't contract any deadly foregin virus.

We arrived with an L visa and the company HR had us a Z visa in 2 weeks with no trips to HK. They handled it all. We had to show once for a face check. Everything your HR director said is exactly the way it happned for us without a hitch. I know of several other people who handled it this way without incident.

from alof of the input I have received through the site, you can get a Z visa from the Chinese consulate in your country.. but is really more time consuming and they make amuch bigger deal out of it. I get the feeling they ( the consulate visa staff) would actually prefer you to get a tourist visa and unload the Z visa work to the Shanghai office. If you decide to do it, You will have to get some official docs ( probably notarized) from your hiring company anyway for the consulate to process the visa if you do it. The visa office in Shanghai processes this stuff a lot more often and just makes it a paperwork shuffle between the visa office the company HR. No reason to get involved in that if you don't to.

One the permenant residence.. its a moving target. Chances are there are some hoops you can jump through for that, but the value is questionable. Permanent residency and Working Visa are actually handled separately by different agencies and even if you get permanent residence, you may need to still go through the hopps to get a Z visa every year.

Sometimes, if you quit or are terminated, the company can have your Z visa canceled. then it is up to you to go to HK and get a tourist visa or get another job where they will give you a Z visa.

The HR has reassured me that they will take care of everything in Shanghai. There is no need to go to another country or region. Anyway, all your helps are greatly appreciated.

And thanks Michael for the PR question, I guess once I am a PR, at least I can stay in the country without applying visa, right?

Not the way I understand it. Permenant residency and Working Visa are two separate issues by two seperate agencies and the last time I heard of some one investigating that, they had to still deal with the visa issue as a foreigner.