What visa for the period between two work permits?

[gougou]

I'm currently working on a work permit. Now I'm planning to quit that job, go back home for a month or so and then start a new job (which I have already).

If I'm not mistaken, the work permit expires the day that I leave my job, correct?

What would be my options to bridge the time in between the two jobs then (assuming that I won't be spending the entire stretch in Germany). Would switching to an F-Visa be an option? Or would that make it impossible to switch to a work permit in Beijing once the new job starts, or have any other side effects?

Anybody dealt with this before? What's the best way to go about this?

[roddy]

How much longer is your residence permit valid for? If you still have time on that, and you have a reasonably good relationship with your current employer (ie, they're not going to phone up the PSB and announce that they wish to cancel your residence permit) I would just stay with that.

Otherwise I'd guess it's a matter of obtaining a letter of release from your employer and fronting up to the PSB to see what you get. I'd assume in the circumstances they'd give you a tourist visa.

[gougou]

I'm fairly confident that my company does not even know that they can cancel residence permits.

How about the tourist visa? I seem to remember that it's impossible to convert to a Z-visa from that without leaving the country?

[ABCinChina]

It is my understanding that you can stay for as long as your work permit allows. When I signed a 3-year contract, someone told me that some foreigners sign up for the job just to get the work permit. Then after they quit, they in essence get a super long visa.

[roddy]

In that case I'd stay on your existing residence permit, get a letter of release from existing employer, all the necessary documents (whatever they are) from the new employer and go into the PSB to attempt to extend / transfer the residence permit. But the last time I did anything similar was many years ago.

Might be worth doing this before your trip home, so if you hit problems you can head back home and get a new Z visa there. You'd need your new employer to be happy to go through all the formalities a month before you actually start work though.

When I signed a 3-year contract, someone told me that some foreigners sign up for the job just to get the work permit. Then after they quit, they in essence get a super long visa.

It might work out like that, but if the employer contacts the PSB to say you aren't working there any more, and the PSB then chases up your local police station to check up on you, you could have issues.

[gougou]

To make matters more interesting, my passport will spontaneously expire in May (obviously, that comes as a surprise and is not something I could have known earlier).

I guess I will go to Germany then, get a new passport and apply for a Z-visa there, and enter on new passport/visa. Does this work, or is there anything I'm missing?

[roddy]

Yeah, they really should put expiry dates on those things . . .

Your new plan sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I'd get a letter of release from your company just in case you need it, but I don't think you will.

[gougou]

Good, I'll try that. If you don't hear from me within three months, you'll know that the plan was completely unreasonable.

[imron]

Why not apply for a new passport while you're in China?

[gerri]

Not really anything to do with the question, but if I may ask... what country are you from? I'm just wondering, because my passport does give a date of issue and a date of expiry

[greenleaf1348]

pretty sure Roddy was sarcastic.

All passports have an expiry date.

[gougou]

Why not apply for a new passport while you're in China?

They say it takes 4-6 weeks. I'm hoping to be in Germany by that time already. If it weren't for the trip home, that would be an option of course (which one could have made use of earlier, of course - if the expiry date wasn't written in top secret code)