Insights
China entry and global residency, explained without the guesswork
Each guide answers one decision, states the rule that governs it, and links to the official source. Written for employers, foreign professionals, investors, and families relocating across jurisdictions.
China Work Visa and Work Permit
Z visa, work permit classes, timelines, transfers, and rejection risk.
Explore the cluster →China Permanent Residence and the Five-Star Card
Five-Star Card eligibility, routes, applications, and renewals.
Explore the cluster →Setting Up and Running a Foreign-Invested Company in China
WFOE setup, structure choice, capital, banking, and compliance.
Publishing soonChina Business Visas and Short-Term Entry
M/F visas, visa-free travel, PU letters, and 90-day work rules.
Publishing soonGlobal Residency and Citizenship Planning
Golden visas, digital nomad routes, talent schemes, and CBI.
Publishing soonAll guides
China Five-Star Card: 2026 Eligibility Guide
China's Five-Star Card is not a points-based immigration program with one score. It is a set of statutory routes, each with its own age, residence, income, or investment test. Most applicants who fail do not fail the headline test; they fail a detail underneath it, such as a break in residence, an employer that does not qualify, or a tax record that does not match the salary claimed. This guide maps each route to the evidence that decides it.
How to Apply for China's Green Card: Documents, Filing and Timeline
The six-month decision period starts when the application is accepted, not when you decide to apply. Between those two moments sit the health certificate, the police clearance certificate, the authentication of foreign documents, the translation, the appointment, and the counter check. Most of the elapsed time in a China green card application is spent before the clock starts.
China Permanent Residence Routes: Employment, Investment, Family and Talent
The question is rarely whether you want China permanent residence. It is which route your facts can actually support. Two applicants with the same job and the same salary can end up on different routes because one has a clean four-year tax record and the other has a qualifying senior title. This guide compares the routes on the tests that decide them, not on the marketing summary.
China Permanent Residence for Spouses of Chinese Citizens
The spouse route looks simple on paper: five years of marriage, five years in China, nine months a year. In practice it is decided by the exit-entry record. A couple can be married for eight years and still fail the residence test because one year included a four-month stay abroad. This guide separates the marriage test from the residence test and shows how to prove both.
China Work Visa for Teachers: Requirements and Rejection Risks
Teaching is a major category of foreign employment in China, and its work-permit files are often refused for document mismatches rather than for a lack of teaching ability. The usual fault line runs between the job description, the degree, the teaching certificate, and the employer's registration — four documents that must tell the same story.
China Work Permit Classes A, B and C Explained
China does not have one work permit. It has three classes, and the class determines the documents, the processing speed, the permitted duration, and whether the applicant can work past 60. Class is not a prestige label; it is the legal route the file travels through, and choosing the wrong one is a common reason for refusal.
China Work Permit Denied: Causes and What to Do Next
A refusal is rarely a verdict on the candidate. It is usually one document that does not match the rule the file was filed under. The first step is to identify which stage refused the file, because a work-permit refusal and a Z visa refusal have different remedies and different clocks.
Changing Employers in China Without Leaving the Country
A job change in China is not a transfer of an existing permit. The old permit is canceled, a new one is issued to the new employer, and the residence permit follows. Done in the right order, most professionals can change jobs without leaving China. Done in the wrong order, the gap becomes illegal employment.
China Work Visa for New Graduates: Can You Qualify Without Experience?
The standard China work permit asks for a bachelor's degree plus two years of experience. A new graduate has the degree but not the years. There are three lawful ways around that gap in 2026: the C-class graduate quota, a local master's or doctoral waiver, or a B-class points assessment. Each has a different eligibility test and a different risk of running out of quota.
China Work Visa Requirements: The 2026 Document Checklist
Most China work-visa delays are not caused by the embassy. They start earlier, in the employer's work-permit notification, where one unauthenticated degree or an expired police certificate can reset the clock by a month. This checklist separates the three filing stages so you can see what is needed, who provides it, and how long each document stays valid.
How Long Does a China Work Visa Take? The 2026 Timeline
Plan for two to four months from first document to residence permit. The filing itself is not the long part; authentication, appointment availability, and one missing certificate are. This is the timeline employers and candidates should put in the offer letter, with the statutory limits and the realistic buffers separated.
What the Five-Star Card Lets You Do — and What It Doesn't
Most descriptions of the Five-Star Card list benefits without the boundaries. That produces two opposite mistakes: holders assume they have become Chinese citizens, or they assume the card is just a prettier residence permit. It is neither. It is indefinite residence with work rights and a broad identity function, and it stops well short of nationality.
Renewing or Replacing a China Permanent Resident ID Card
A Five-Star Card expires; the permanent residence status behind it does not, unless it is cancelled. That distinction solves most of the anxiety around renewal. The card is a document with a validity period. Replacing it is an administrative step, not a new application, provided the holder has not lost the underlying status.
Five-Star Card vs Work-Type Residence Permit: Which Do You Need?
A work-type residence permit and a Five-Star Card can look similar in daily life: both are cards, both carry an ID number, and both can be shown at a bank or a hotel. They are not the same status. One is a time-limited permission tied to a purpose, often an employer. The other is indefinite residence with work rights built in. Choosing between them is mostly a question of timing, mobility, and how much renewal risk you want to carry.
Z Visa vs Work Permit: What Each China Document Actually Authorizes
A Z visa is an entry visa. A work permit is an authorization to work. A work-type residence permit is the status that lets you stay. Confusing the three is the most expensive mistake in China employment compliance, because the window between them is where illegal work begins.
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