Job Discussion Forums

laineylam · Joined: 11 May 2010 Posts: 7

Hi,
I made a last minute decision to stay teaching at school next year.
They've managed to extend my Foreign Expert Certificate, but can't renew my residency permit before I fly out of the country.
So can I extend my residency permit at a visa service centre or embassy?

As rules for a Z visa say, permit for FEC and invitation letter.
But I have the actual FEC and the invitation letter is done by the people who do the permit for the FEC.

Cheers for any info.

randyj · Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2011 6:51 am Post subject:

Recently I returned from a month in my native land, but I had a similar dilemma before leaving. My RP was set to expire July 10, but I planned to leave China June 20. I was grateful to my school for being able to rush through the RP processing for next year in only one day. Without it, I fear I would have been thoroughly screwed.

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

AFAIK the residency permit must be applied for locally--- in China.

It might be worthwhile to spend the extra money to have your flight out of China delayed until you get the residency permit issue resolved. Otherwise, you'll have to go through the application process all over again in order to get the Z visa which will entitle you to enter China, establish employment, then apply for the residency permit when you arrive.

Talk to your FAO and explain it to him/her.

Are you saying that you have your ORIGINAL letter of invitation or a new one? If you have your original, why wasn't it submitted to your local embassy when you got your Z-visa?

If your school had the time to get you a NEW letter of invitation, it had the time to get your RP renewed. The L of I is issued by the province. The RP is issued by your local PSB.

Something doesn't make sense here.

askiptochina · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 488 Location: Beijing

laineylam · Joined: 11 May 2010 Posts: 7

Thanks for the info.
So here's what happened.
Once I said I would stay on.
They pushed through my FEC in three days compared to five.
Then I went to get my residence permit, in Chengdu.
Usually it takes five working days, you can bung 'em a bit (I don't know if its actually offical or not, since when I called they didn't mention this) and it can be processed in three working days, I needed mine in two and a half and they agreed.

To apply for a z-visa would require cancelling the FEC and instead getting a work permit to obtain and FEC and invitation letter, the lazy woman at the school said this would be too much hassle (read she can't be bothered to do her job, sorry we butted heads a bit today trying to get this sorted).