Job Discussion Forums

[Sinobear]

For those in GZ, read here: http://www.gz.gov.cn/vfs/subsite/JGIN7QPB-AZE4-2MTO-EA6G-R281E8V2SFJH/content/content.jsp?contentId=491758&catId=5832 para. 6

[Zero]

General Franco: You are absolutely incorrect. China does indeed have a "green card." Just google "China green card" and you will see information about it, the different routes to getting it, the requirements and so forth. It is a permanent residency system not unlike the U.S. has. But it is very, very hard to get. The few that are issued are generally for high-rollers only. English teachers are very, very unlikely to get the green card. I won't say they "never" get it because, who knows, maybe some do. In theory, one way to get it is by being married to a Chinese person for five years. In practice, it's not quite that simple. My impression is that the one-year contracts issued to most English teachers are a barrier, since the government wants to see "permanent" employment.

Gene: Let me just illustrate my point with my own case. My (Chinese) wife and I got married. We applied for her to come to the U.S. It took kind of a long time, and the paperwork was kind of a pain. But in the end, she's here. When she landed in the U.S., she was a permanent resident. (There are a few subtle variations to this type of immigration, and in some cases the spouse does have a "waiting period" before getting work permission and the green card -- perhaps a few months of waiting.) She can now stay here indefinitely, even if we divorce. She can work at any job that likes her qualifications and sees fit to hire her. She pays into our social security system and will have social security benefits and Medicare upon retirement. If she loses her job, she can collect unemployment benefits. If she gets disabled and can't work, she can collect disability benefits. She and I can bear and raise children here without fear that someday some quirk of life or immigration policy is going to separate our family. And she is not even a citizen here! (Though she could easily become a citizen, if she chooses.)

Now, if she and I decided to move to China, look at my situation. The one and only "perk" that being married to her gives me in China is the ability to get a one-year, renewable L visa. That is technically called a "visiting relatives" visa. It would not allow me to work. If I'm not mistaken, it does not even allow me to legally get a driver's license. You brought up the term "waiting period," but that phrase in no way applies here. There is nothing to wait for, because the L visa does not lead to anything. There is no further "process." Year after year, I could renew my "visiting relatives" visa and keep "visiting" my wife indefinitely, I guess. Unless some immigration clerk decided not to renew it one year because he ate some bad pork the night before or whatever.

My other, more likely option, since I am not independently wealthy, would be to get a job and a Z-visa. I could, indeed, do that. So could you. So could my cousin Larry. It's fine that China offers Z-visas, but they're certainly not doing it as a favor to married Chinese/foreign couples. My wife and I could settle down in China and bear offspring based on the expectation that I would continue to stay employed and get a new Z-visa every year. But what happens if the job market for foreigners dries up? What happens if I get hit by a truck and become disabled and no longer able to work? What happens if China institutes new requirements saying that foreign English teachers must have some sort of qualification that I do not possess? I could be sent packing -- and therefore be separated from my wife and offspring -- at any time, and basically at a moment's notice.

China offers absolutely no permanency for the foreign spouse of a citizen. Western countries do. In order to be roughly equivalent to that of western countries in this regard, China would need to liberalize its "green card" policy, both in principle and, especially, in practice.

[gene]

[Zero]

I'm not here to debate immigration policy, but I will post a link to an article that I think describes the problem in China very elegantly:

http://www.echinacities.com/main/ExpatCorner/ExpatsCorner.aspx?n=2888

[General Franco]

[Zero]

I was using green card as a colloquial term for permanent residence. The U.S. also does not have a "green card" in the sense of a card-shaped object that is green in color. But green card is a commonly accepted synonym for permanent residence. It is commonly used in China's English-language media to describe China's permanent residence system.