Getting the "Alien Employment Permit"

Getting to work in China is a multi-step experience - get the offer, get a medical checkup done, obtain a "Police Clearance Certificate" from the passport office, get an employment license + invitation letter from your prospective employer, get a Z visa from the Chinese consulate, arrive in China, obtain an employment permit and then obtain a residence permit.

I have, of course, gone through almost all these steps and today was the day I got my "Alien Employment Permit". The immigration consultant had applied for it last week and we went to collect it today. I took a taxi from the hotel to the "Suzhou Industrial Park - One Stop Service Center".

This was early in the morning, before the office actually opened; and I could see people arriving and forming queues. Initially I waited upstairs because the office address was mentioned as being on the 1st floor, but I went down again when I saw the consultant standing downstairs. There were a couple of "photography rooms" where you could get the correct-sized photos if you didn't have any. I stood in that line because there was only one of my passport-sized photos left. There were about 10 people in the queue before me and they were processed quickly as soon as the office opened. It was quite professionally done and there was even a coat available there that you could wear if you wanted the formal look.

Once the photos were done, I was asked to wait. I sat and played with my phone, and then was called inside the police area of the office. Remember, it is a "one stop service center" so there were representatives of various departments all in the same office. The police section seemed to be staffed entirely by women. I was handed over my employment permit and then I signed the application for the residence permit and another photo was taken. And that's it! We were done. Most of the time spent there was spent waiting.

I do wonder whether it would have been so straightforward if the immigration consultant hadn't been there. She did run around a lot and had everything in order. The residence permit is expected to arrive next week.

It is also a new experience for me to have to ask for help for almost everything due to not knowing how to read or speak the language. It's put me in an illiterate's shoes for the first time in my life and it's certainly not a good feeling.