Residence permit expires

[Anou]

I am in the process of switching employers.  My old employer already cancelled my work permit and my residence permit has been switched to the 30-day exit-only kind.  What happens if my residence permit expires before I can transfer over to a new job?  Is there any way to apply for an extension because I'm in the middle of the switching job process?

[Sinofaze]

Have you not already sign onto your next employer? The new employer should already by now take up the task of sorting you a new residence permit at the local PSB.

 

I had a similar experience, only the employer I was leaving from waited until I found a new employer before cancelling my residency permit. We were both very sure I was going to sign onto my current employer within a week.

[imron]

Did you get a letter from your previous employer saying you were no longer working for them?  If not, it will be difficult to get a new visa.

[Sinofaze]

What @imron is referring to is commonly known as a "Release Letter" and you are required by law to attain one to be able to find another job in China.

 

This is a letter that effectively confirms you have finished your contactual obligations- your contract.

[imron]

That's the word I was looking for.  I knew it started with R, and 'recommendation' and 'reference' both felt incorrect.

[Sinofaze]

You actually do need to also have a recommendation letter as well. This is actually an official form that acts as a 'reference letter' for your new employer. It will affect negotiations to a certain degree with your new employer if you have not been given one.

[Anou]

Yes I have both of those letters in possession.  I will need to hand them over to my new employer next Monday.  I'm just not sure how long the process for the Foreign Expert Certificate and residence permit will be, especially with the Chinese New Year holidays coming close.  I'm assuming the relevant authorities would be closed during the holidays.

[Sinofaze]

Okay. Well, it sounds like you're in the clear, if you've signed the contract.

 

In my experience, once you've handed over the letters, it's no longer your obligation. You shouldn't need to even repeat your medical test.

 

What will then happen is the FAO of your new employment will renew your Residency Permit under their name.

 

Pending on where you are located, that should only take no longer than a couple of weeks for the PSB to process. In theory, once the PSB has all the documents needed for your Residency application, you're can start working immediately.

 

You will have to hand over your passport to PSB as part of renewing your Residency application. But again, it should be returned to you after a couple of weeks.

 

EDIT: Just to add- I strongly advise you to scan those letters on a USB and store the digital copies onto a cloud (dropbox, onedrive, etc.), as you should be doing with your contract, passport, degree and other such document, just to be safe.

[Anou]

Thanks for the very helpful information. 

 

Is it correct to say that as long as we apply for the new residence permit prior to the last day of my current one, I wouldn't be "overstaying" even if PSB issues and returns it after the expiration day of the old one?

[Sinofaze]

I think you're overthinking this. Just hand in those letters within 30 days (or as quick as you can) and leave the rest to your new employer to sort out.

[Edenborg]

Just make sure not to be late, it can be a handful when they start questioning.

[catherineak]

Well,before we met the same situation with you ,my foreigner friend he quite his job in A company ,and then A company canceled his working permit instead given him a one month visa to stay in china,Then we helped him to get the one year china visa in china ,because he contact us for in advance one month when he quite his job in A company.

So you can do china visa as usual do ,such as a new working visa or a new business visa.

But remember that do not leave any bad china visa record.

[Sinofaze]

Is it possible to access your own visa record? If so, how?