How to Change Your China Employer AND Keep Your Work Permit

By Dan Harris

Got an email this morning from a loyal reader setting out the steps one must go through to switch China employers while hanging on to a China work permit (Z Visa). Here goes.

The most important factor in keeping your work permit is getting a letter of release from your current/old employer company. Technically, as long as the employee has not violated its contract, the employer company is required to provide this release letter. However, as you can imagine, people often have problems obtaining this letter when they don’t have a good relationship with the company they are leaving. I am not sure how it works, but it seems that there are ways that the company can strip you of your permit so you are left with 30 days to leave the country. Other sticky situations include companies that posses employee permits or even passports.

However, assuming there are no serious issues, the process seems relatively straightforward. I spoke with a few visa agents and they provided me with a list of documents that I needed to collect:

1. A release letter from your employer;
2. Transfer or cancel your employment permit;
3. Your original diploma which should show a Bachelor degree or above;
4. A simple CV, preferably in Chinese;
5. A letter from your any of ex-employers certifying that you have more than two years working experience;
6. Passport and four 2 inch white background photos;
7. Residence Registration;
8. The business license of your prospective (new) employer and two copies with chop;
9. Application forms needs to be chopped

What have you done to keep your China work permit/Z Visa?