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[Kabbalistic]

One prospective employer of mine told me that they could extend my residence permit by a month or two. I am pretty aware of the fact that I'm being told a lie( I'm being scr**d) .
Is it really possible for them to convert my current residence permit to a tourist visa with/without me having to do a Hong-Kong run? The fact that they told me I won't have to leave China is making me scratch my head till it bleeds. Are they talking about applying for an exit visa (which is a 0 entry tourist visa)?
With the recent crackdown and things being not so hunky-dory for us I feel entirely indisposed to this proposition.

Sorry if this question has been asked before.

[adamsmith]

It is easy to change a resident permit over to a tourist visa (L) - usually they will give you a 30 day zero entry tourist visa so you do not have to go to Hong Kong.
But be aware - that if you are getting a new residence permit later you will be required to go through all the hassle of getting a new Z visa which means leaving the country.

If you are planning on staying with the same school for the following semester, then they can simpley get your current residence permit and Fec extended to the end of the new contract.

If you are planning on going to a new school then you should get them to change your residence permit over to them before it expires, this will save a lot of the later hassles if your plan is to remain in China.

cheers.

[teacheraus]

Changing from one school to another they can transfer the residency permit from one to the other... If they will both cooperate and give each other the necessary paperwork... release letters and so on.  They definitely can do it. Before you assume that the prospective employer is trying to screw you over... I would confirm what they are talking about... If they are talking about transferring the RP to them that is possible (as long as you have the right paperwork) ... and that does free you from needing to leave the country. It is easier to do if you are in the same city... but it is definitely possible to do it between provinces.. It just usually means a trip for a few days to the new province to arrange for things like the medical etc.... A few of my friends are making moves to different provinces for next semester and all of them have their new RPs already in place in their new provinces before they have gone back to the US for the summer vacation.  I did the transfer between two unis in the same city last summer with no problems either.  It is possible.

[Kabbalistic]

"If you are planning on going to a new school then you should get them to change your residence permit over to them before it expires, this will save a lot of the later hassles if your plan is to remain in China."
Thanks, adamsmith!
I think you hit the nail on the head there! I'm gonna talk to them right away!

teacheraus!
I have the necessary paperwork(release letter,etc.) which I've sent to them already however they told me that the usual process for residence permit extension takes two months! Is that true? About transferring the residence permit- can they do it in 10-15 days?

[Stil]

If your permits expire while your papers are being processed, you are still good. Your new school needs to get them in just before they run out. They will have a receipt. Get the receipt (or a copy at least) to prove your status. Of course this means you will not have your passport and so can't leave the country.

[Raoul F. Duke]

In many places it is possible to get a "Temporary Residence Permit" issued by your friendly local police. They don't exactly advertise this, and it's entirely dependent on the police...it's definitely not something you can always count on getting.

[old34]

In many places it is possible to get a "Temporary Residence Permit" issued by your friendly local police. They don't exactly advertise this, and it's entirely dependent on the police...it's definitely not something you can always count on getting.

That was in the old days. I'm not sure they do that anymore. I haven't seen one of those in 5 years. They now give shortened RPs in the passport. For example, last January I signed a 6 month contract. In the distant past, I did this and got one of those Temporary Residence Permits. (A green piece of folded paper). This time they gave me a full blown Residence Permit in the passport.

Some advice: Anticipating a problem like the one the OP is having now, I didn't want to get stuck in a hole with no RP through the summer which would have meant leaving and coming in on a new visa. I asked the school to date the contract for 8 months ('til the end of August) but no pay for two months. The PSB just looks at the dates on the contract and uses the contract end date as the expiry date on the RP. It worked. I'm finished now but my RP doesn't expire 'til August 31. My new school is processing the paperwork for the new job now. They're in the process of getting the FEC now, before the FAO goes on vacation. Hopefully that will go through in the next couple of days. We'll wait until August, a couple of weeks before the current RP expires to go to the PSB and get the new RP. That way I can keep my passport and RP through the summer.

Keep this in mind in the future.

[Raoul F. Duke]

I'm not sure they do that anymore. I haven't seen one of those in 5 years. They now give shortened RPs in the passport.

So the form has changed. It's still a short-term police-issued RP, innit?

[old34]

I'm not sure they do that anymore. I haven't seen one of those in 5 years. They now give shortened RPs in the passport.

So the form has changed. It's still a short-term police-issued RP, innit?

No I meant the date is shortened to match the contract; it's still the same full-blown RP that looks like a visa and is pasted in your passport. Multi-entry too. Originally, these were only for one year contracts with the slip of paper temporary ones for shorter term contracts. Now they (seem to) use them for all. One of the benefits is they are scannable at airports, borders, etc.

[Raoul F. Duke]

Ah. What I was referring to wasn't necessarily tied to a contract, it was just a short-term lease on life arbitrarily issued (or not...USUALLY not) by the local police.

Negotiating contract dates to match your plans- not just your teaching commitments- is a mark of a true China Warrior. Kudos to you for that.

[Kabbalistic]

About renewing/applying for a residence permit, I was scouting and found this info from somewhere however it might be outdated- This is for Shanghai. Is this relevant today?

Documents You Will Need:

Completed Foreigner Visa and Residence Permit Application Form (obtainable at the Exit-Entry Bureau itself), with passport photo
Original Registration Form of Temporary Residence from your district’s police station ()
Copies of your current employer’s valid Business License (?), Organization Code Certificate (?), and Certificate of Approval (?) for foreign-invested enterprises
Application letter from current company (?), with company stamp
Your newly collected Alien Employment Permit (typically valid for one year), and the Employment Registration Form (1 copy will be returned to you when you collect your Alien Employment Permit if you applied for a new one. If not, ignore this.)
Your passport
Not really a document, but you’d need some money to have your passport couriered to you. Typically 25RMB.

Application Procedure:

Head to the Exit-Entry Bureau at ?1500? (1500 Minsheng Road, Pudong New District), from 9:00-17:00 Monday-Saturday, walkable distance from the Shanghai Science & Technology Station (Metro Line 2) with your application material. The foreigners’ application is on the 3rd floor.
After getting a queue number, proceed to fill out the Foreigner Visa and Residence Permit Application Form while waiting
If you plan on having your passport couriered to you with the residence permit, purchase an envelope from the counter behind the form-filling counters. This envelope has a courier form where you fill out your address.
When it’s your turn, hand over your application documents and the envelope. You’ll be given a white slip with the date that your passport will be ready, either for you to collect from the Bureau or delivered to your address. It typically takes 5 working days. The amount you have to pay upon collection will also be stated on the white slip. For residence permits of less than a year, it’s 400RMB. Your residence permit validity will be exactly the same as the validity of your Alien Employment Permit.
On the date of collection, if you’re collecting your passport at the Exit-Entry Bureau itself, be sure to bring the white slip and pay at the payment counter on the 1st floor (turn right after entering the main door). If you arranged for the courier to deliver it to your doorstep, be sure to have your cash ready.

[old34]

That process describes an application for Residence Permit on an Alien Employment Permit. That's a different animal from(to) a Residence Permit application on a Foreign Expert Certificate (FEC).

If you want to teach in a public school, you need to go the FEC route. The AEP is for non-teaching jobs like working in IT, for companies (both local and foreign-invested), hotels, etc. Some language training centers may go the AEP route and hire you as a "consultant" because they are not authorized to sponsor FECs. That's where some of the busts occur during crackdowns.

[Kabbalistic]

Oh!So, I got that wrong!

Thanks, old34! By the way, is it true that after the recent crackdown they are sending everyone home to get their new permits as far as Shanghai is concerned?

[Raoul F. Duke]

Some language training centers may go the AEP route and hire you as a "consultant" because they are not authorized to sponsor FECs. That's where some of the busts occur during crackdowns.

I personally was a victim of this and got caught up in one of those busts. I had no idea that my Work Permit wasn't right, or that any of that was happening. This shit really does happen, and can happen to YOU!

[old34]

It's a legit avenue in the right circumstances, with the right employer and if done correctly. But the government draws rthe line, when they do decide to draw the line, at using an AEP to hire a "consultant" who's actually just teaching training center classes. And BTW, there ARE some training centers that ARE authorized to apply for FECs for their teachers as teachers.