New China Unified Work Permit System Effective Now

China’s new unified work permit system is effective from today, March 27^th 2017, and requires all employers wishing to sponsor the work permits of foreign nationals to register via a new online application system as soon as possible. The implementation date of the new work permit system has been brought forward from the original date of April 1^st 2017, following a trial in nine provinces.

Key Features of the New Unified Work Permit System:

The new unified work permit integrates the Labour Bureau’s existing employment permit and the Foreign Expert Bureau’s Foreign Expert Certificate into a single unified permit.

Foreign nationals are divided into one of three groups to indicate whether they are high-end, professional, temporary or seasonal personnel in the service or non-technical sectors.

To determine the group (A, B or C) each applicant is awarded, scores are attributed to a range of criteria such as salary, educational background, Chinese language proficiency, work experience and so on; scores over 85 will be categorised in group A, scores over 60 in group B, and scores below 60 in group C.

During the trial period, long processing times were reported due to the new procedures, document requirements and steps involved, so any employer applying for a permit under the new system is advised to be mindful of the longer timescales. For further information and advice, get in touch via the Contact Us section.