The New Chinese Green Card for Foreigner

The existing Chinese Green card will undergo a new evaluation and name starting July 2017. The Chinese Green card which is often known as one of the hardest Green Card to acquire was issued only 7000 times since its inception in 2004. Now in 2017 along with the new overhaul to the work visa, the Chinese government has issued a new process for the Green Card and renaming it to the Foreign Permanent Residence Identity Card.

One can obtain a Foreign Permanent Residence Identity Card through:

            –    Occupation (Senior posts in a company that promotes China economic, scientific, technological development or social progress).
            –    Investment (Having made large direct investments in China for over 3 years with good tax records)
            –    Contribution (Have made great and outstanding contribution of special importance to China
            –    Family (have come to China to be with your families, such as spouse, dependent minors or senior citizens)

Along with these requirements, the law also stipulates that one must reside every year in China for over 6 months continuously.

The changes that come in July 2017 along with the name change is that the new Permanent Residence Identity Card now will contain an embedded chip that will be readable by electronic card readers that hotels, railways, banks, hospitals and more use. This essentially makes the Permanent Residence Identity Card a suitable ID for all foreigners, as the Green Card before did not have this feature and was just a booklet, which was not acknowledged by most of the authorities as an ID, whereas this new one will be on par with the Chinese ID card and usable in all the same situations. No more carrying cumbersome passports or photocopies of passports (which is not accepted by many organizations).

Along with the card foreigner will have access to most of the similar rights that Chinese citizens enjoy such as receive social insurance, medical and pension. Furthermore one can sponsor a visa and thus hire a foreign housekeeper (maid) once the card has been attained, besides also allowing your spouse and dependents to receive the same card.

Last but not least, the application requirements been relaxed with not only senior positions being able to successfully apply but also foreigners who have worked in China for a continuous period, have a certain salary range and have a good tax record. The application time has been also cut down from 180 days for most applications to approximate 50-60 days.