Work permit delays

[Wukong321]

Is anyone else experiencing delays getting their work permit approved? I am outside China, and I submitted my work permit application to my new employers (a University based in Guangdong) a couple of months ago, and they have now told me that it is now going to be another two months "before it is processed". 

 

Their emails are very short and lack detail and they won't make it clear whether the delay is with them or the bureau that needs to grant the permit. I am curious if anyone knows whether immigration authorities are not granting work permits at the moment, or dealing with a backlog that's causing delays? Last time I went to China they were really efficient and the permit came back quite quickly.

 

 

[Wukong321]

In case anyone was wondering, I managed to get a bit more info and it's actually the PU letter that is holding up the process.

[mungouk]

The PU Letter thing could just be an excuse for stringing you along...

 

I just checked, and when I got my most recent PU Letter (Sept 2020) it was issued a week after I got the letter "NOTIFICATION LETTER OF FOREIGNER’S WORK PERMIT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA".  (The letter that allows you to actually get your work permit card once you arrive in China and start work.)

 

Obviously this also was during lockdown, but I remember the PU letter being the last thing to arrive before I could apply for my Z-visa (in the UK). It wasn't the work permit approval I was waiting for.

 

According to my notes from the time, the work permit notification had to come through before my employer could request the PU Letter from the Zhejiang govt's "Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office" (浙江省人民政府外事侨务办公室). In total it took 2 months to get from the very beginning (applying for police check and notarising certificates etc) to receiving the PU Letter, and then another month before I could finally get an appointment at the visa application centre.

 

This was in Zhejiang province. Maybe Guangdong is having issues due to the large outbreak there, although this was some time ago now.