Shanghai makes residency easier for foreign expats

China continues to make immigration measures more talent friendly. The country continues its course in attracting highly skilled foreign professionals into Shanghai by halving its application time-frame from 7 working to only 3 working days and to remove in formalities in person by applying the application online. The initiative in Shanghai, is the first and the only one in the country at this point. 

When an organization places a highly skilled foreign professional into China, this move often is of a limited duration typically called an ‘assignment’. A permanent residency permit (Chinese Green Card) allows the foreigner to stay in China without having to renew their visa every year and also give the same rights as Chinese citizens in areas such as investment, buying housing and education. The applications for these green cards has been rising over the last few years. According to the Ministry of Public Security, in 2016 alone 1,576 foreigners became permanent residents in China, up 163 percent year-on-year. High-end professionals seen as “key leaders” in Shanghai, now have a much easier path to remain in Shanghai and help it in its quest to become a “global technological innovation hub by 2030. Many of these leaders are employed by high-tech and new tech companies. 

This move could help companies to transition employees off of long-term assignment packages and look at more “localized” arrangements.