Job Discussion Forums

[The Steakinator]

I'm in Guangzhou and am new to China.

My contract expires July 1, 2013. My residence permit (which I get tomorrow) is supposedly one year - then again, the FAO has a tendency to just throw out dates and numbers with little thought for accuracy. After I finish my contract, is it possible to stay in China the duration of my residence permit or do I need to leave within a certain period after my contract expires?

Thanks

[johntpartee]

As long as your RP is good, you're good. It sounds like they're letting you stay in China during the summer vacation in case they decide to renew your contract or to give you a chance to find another position after your current contract expires. This is a good thing, very considerate of the school. I've had resident permits that expired the same day as the contract, which meant lots of running around to get everything squared, i.e., get the new RP for the contract extension or getting the final paycheck and getting packed and getting out of China if need be.

[NoBillyNO]

[7969]

Your FAO might have said "one year" but most residence permits are usually just as long as the contract, and then some. Neither are really one year, but more like 10-11 months. I'd expect your residence permit to expire a couple of weeks after your contract, mid-July, but you'll find out for sure tomorrow once you actually get it.

[The Steakinator]

Of all the great things to happen, when I got there, I was informed that I didn't have any clean pages in my passport and, so, I had to come back (though I'm legal in the computer now) after getting additional pages so that I could have the stamp put in... There are three empty pages in the back of my passport, but, the official insisted, these were not good enough because they didn't say "visa" at the top, despite the fact that the original Z-visa is sandwiched between three pages that don't have the word "visa" at the top...

[johntpartee]

Technically, he was right. The Z visa on the other page was a mistake. Those pages are not supposed to be used for visas. You got away with it once, you were lucky.

[chinatimes]

I have had 2 contracts which ended well before my RP and I didn't have to leave. It might be a provincial thing, but I think Beijing and Shanghai would be the strictest areas in China.

[kungfuman]

You can stay till the visa expires. It is not tied to the date your school or contract ends, meaning often you have a period of time between contract ended and when you need to leave.

[NoBillyNO]

Some are only til the end of your contract.