Spring marks the beginning of a new working year in China, a busy season in the employment market, especially for people who might have new career ambitions. For people who work in China and intend to change jobs sometime soon, transferring their work permit is an important and technical process that needs to be carefully taken care of in order to avoid confusion and delays. The entire process takes about 4 to 6 weeks, however, in some cases it might take up to 1 to 3 months, and applying for the kind of temporary visa that the person should hold during the visa transfer process has become an extremely technical procedure, this is why we strongly recommend consulting an experienced agent in order to assist you along the way.

Here are some advice and tips for those who are in between jobs:

1. Documents list you need to prepare when you change to a new job:

1) Your accurate and updated resume

2) Work reference letter (From any of your former employers, original)

3) Original diploma with legalized copy

   (You can be exempted from turning in this document if you start the new work permit application ontime)

4) Non-criminal record report with legalized copy

     (You can be exempted from turning in this document if you start the new work permit application ontime)

 5) Medical Report 

     (You can be exempted from turning in this document if you start the new work permit application ontime)

 6) A release letter from your last employer

     (Please see the template via VisaOfChina official WeChat: Info -> Samples)

 7) The work permit cancellation letter of the last work permit

 8) Other documents easy to prepare such as passport, photos, etc.

2. Steps

1) Apply new Work Permit Card (2-4 weeks)

2) Apply new Working Visa (7 to 15 working days, 7 working days in Shanghai and Shenzhen, 12 working days in Beijing, and in other cities it might take up to 12 to 15 working days) 

3. Release Letter and previous work permit Cancellation Letter

Getting a Release Letter from your employer when you leave your current job is helpful when applying for a new visa.

Getting the Cancellation Letter of the last work permit is the 1st step of the whole process, as you cannot start the new work permit application without it. Your last employer needs to apply for this letter at the labor bureau and it takes between 1 and 2 weeks to process.

 (Please see samples of the above mentioned two letters on VisaOfChina official WeChat: Info -->Samples)

4. Work Permit System Account

Please confirm with your new employer whether they have registered on the Foreigner Work Permit System (http://fwp.safea.gov.cn), if not, this is a must step.

To open an account on the System, your employer must register online and verify the documents on the Labor Bureau counter, this process takes 2 to 5 working days (it might take up to 1 to 2 weeks in other cities)

* For Shenzhen and Guangzhou registering in both the Labor Bureau and the Immigration Bureau is mandatory.

5. Work Experience and Position Title

You cannot change the name of the position you hold unless you provide a work reference letter that stipulates more than 2 years work experience in that specific position, for instance, if you were working as a Marketing Manager and you want to change to a position as a designer, you need to provide proof claiming that you have worked as a designer for at least two years. 

Since 2018, the Job Changing application has become a very technical procedure, there's a lot of detailed steps and specific requirements of each of the documents that need to be presented, it is an extremely time-consuming task, especially if you are not familiar with the protocols. Consulting a professional agent to walk you through each step is highly recommended, in some cases even necessary.

VisaOfChina's Notes:

During the process of job changing application, the Immigration Bureau in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen will accept your current visa, whatever the type, when you apply for a new working visa. However, othercities will only accept a resident permit, this means that if you work in other cities and you wish to change jobs, do not cancel your current work visa,otherwise you will have to start the application process from scratch as a new application instead of a transfer application.

The Shanghai and Beijing Labor Bureaus will acceptyour current residence permit regardless of its expiration date, however, the Labor Bureau in other cities might cancel your application if your current residence permit is set to expire within the processing time of your new application, and you will need to begin the application process from scratch, which will require you to hand in both original and legalized copies of anon-criminal record and diplomas.

You may interested in the below topics:

When to start to renew your work permit?  What need to prepare?

How Tax Record affect your visa application

How to apply 2/3/4/5 years work visa

What is the difference of Z Visa and Work Visa?

How to apply China permanent residence

Edit by Bill Lucas from VisaOfChina

Proofread by Laura Garcia from WAYWARD Translations

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