Shanghai One Year Residence Permit Guide

Getting anything official done in China could be viewed as insane by western standards. Yet I am used to it, and don’t think twice about it anymore. You just have to go and do things, step by step.

I expect to have to run from one place to another to get this or that inspection, or this and that stamp, or… well, whatever, right?

If you need a Residence Permit for Shanghai

Well, for anyone who is in Shanghai and wants to get a residence permit for one year, this guide is for you. Although it requires that you are either working for a registered company in Shanghai, or have some friends that are and are willing to help you make a contract with their company that for all intents and purposes (to immigration, that is) is real.

If you need a business visa and live in Guangzhou or Shenzhen

If, by any chance, you live in Shenzhen or Guangzhou (or anywhere where it is an easy monthly trip to Hong Kong - because you will have to leave mainland China every thirty days), you can get a six month business visa by following the process described at this guide for getting a visa in Hong Kong.

The easiest path is often the most dangerous

There are easier ways to get long term visas for Shanghai, in the form of small companies that make you pay up for such a visa and probably put in paperwork showing that you work for them or some such nonsense. Either that or they have good enough connections that the visas go through without a question. Or they are scams trying to take your money and your passport. Beware. Nothing is as it seems in China. I have a person helping me through the process described below, so I want to stay away from the shadier operators in Shanghai.

Steps to complete before applying for residence permit

Also, there are steps within steps. This process has three separate processes hidden inside of it you have to do before completing this process. Welcome to China. They are, in order of completion:

Obtaining a certificate of check in - obtained from the hotel you are staying at or police sub-station you are staying at
Completing the health examination for foreigners
Obtaining a work permit

Guide for a One Year Residence Permit in Shanghai

You have to submit the following items to immigration, located at 浦东新区民生路1500号(1500 Minsheng Road, Pudong New District), from 9:00-17:00 M-S:

Completed Foreigner Visa and Residence Permit Application Form, along with one recent 2-inch photograph (half-length, full-faced, and bareheaded)
The original certificate of check-in in Shanghai (战住证) - obtained from the hotel or police substation (派出所) where you are living
A valid passport and China visa (How would you get into China without one?)
The original version of your Health Certificate from your health examination, issued by the Shanghai health quarantine department
The official letter of application from your employer (申请公函) (whether real or not so real as mentioned earlier)
Enterprise Approval Certificate, Duplicate of Business License or the Representative Agency Registration Certificate and the organization code (企业批准证书, 营业执照副本或代表机构登记书, 组织机构代码证的原件及复印件) - These have to be real, obviously, whether they are from your employer or that of a friend.
For people in most positions, one should submit the originals of the Employment Credential and the Employment Registration Form (就业证及就业登记表原件). Some special positions (performers, oil drilling operations, vice presidents and presidents) require additional paperwork.

This is all you need to do to get a one year residence permit in Shanghai.

<sarcasm>Simple, right?</sarcasm> That’s a general overview of getting a one year residence permit in Shanghai.