Residence permit early renewal?

[Rupedaddy]

Hey, all. I've looked the forums over trying to find an answer to this.

I live in Dunhuang, Gansu. I have a residence permit in my passport and a separate "Alien Employment Permit" booklet. The permit expires on January 23, 2010. The booklet expires on March 23, 2010. I am wondering if I can renew these now (it's October). The local PSB tells us we have to renew 30 days prior to the expiration date for the permit. The booklet I'm still trying to find out.

So, my question: could I renew the permit now and simply move the dates up? That would be ideal. Also, if anyone has info on the alien employment booklets, any info would be much appreciated.

Rupe

[magores]

30 days is the rule. You may find some way around it, but 30 days is what they always tell me.

[Rupedaddy]

Thanks. That clears up that confusion. We'll talk to some other people and see if we can change the dates. I'll post when we find that out.

[liuzhou]

I'm not sure why you have the Alien Employment Permit. This is issued to the employer and it is they who need to renew it. It is their permission to employ you. It is not normally given to the employee.

However, if you have to renew the residence permit by yourself, you will need to show it. Doesn't your employer handle residence permit renewals? I've never done mine myself in 13 years. I've never even been to the particular office which handles it.

But I do know that you can't renew your residence permit so much in advance.

[gougou]

I'm not sure why you have the Alien Employment Permit. This is issued to the employer and it is they who need to renew it.

Despite never having had to renew my residence permit myself, I have been given the Alien Employment Permit at both of the companies I worked for (or could it be another booklet I perceive as such?).

[roddy]

外国人就业证？ Never had one, but it's an alternative to the Foreign Expert Certificate and I would have expected it to 'belong' to the employee.

[Rupedaddy]

Hey, all. Thanks so much for the chatter and thoughts.

A little more info on my situation; my employer, like myself, is American. We have a cafe here, in Dunhuang and are trying to renew early to fit our scheduling to return home together. Both of our families. We'll be coming back in Spring, next year. If what you guys are saying is true, then, our situation is really weird. Both my friend and I, and our wives all four of us have Alien Residence Permit booklets. We all have the passport permits, also.

Okay, so, my employer went to the PSB with a local friend of ours. After a couple of hours of haggling and proving them very wrong on a few points, they have agreed to give us our permits early. One point of interest was that they were telling him that we can't leave and come back on the permit. That was wrong and he proved it to them by showing them that his wife had traveled to the Phillippines and back on her permit. No problem. After that and a few other errors, they finally agreed to do it.

The thing about living in Dunhuang is, it's very tourist-oriented. We are the first (to our knowledge) foreigners to actually live here long term. So, it's understandable that they don't know what to do with us. We've had this problem since we got here. It's been a long fight. So, it's getting them to think out of the box. That's the thing.

Well, thanks. I'll keep this updated in the next few weeks to let you know how it turns out. Looks like a sure thing right now, but, who knows? Thanks, again!

[Rupedaddy]

Sorry, a little clearer. the current permit is going to be cancelled and we'll basically start over. We have the paperwork for this, so, it *should* be no problem.