Guide to Apply for Short-term Foreigner’s Work Permit in Guangzhou

Foreigners planning to work for a short-term (90 days or less) in Guangzhou shall apply for Foreigner's Work Permit (90 days or less). High-end foreign experts shall apply for Invitation Letter for Foreign Experts. The procedures are as follow:

I. Applicable Scope

(I) Foreigners in China for short-term work refers to those who, for the following reasons, stay within Chinese borders for no more than 90 days:

1. To complete technical and scientific research, management, advisory jobs, etc. with their partner within China;

2. To conduct training at sports institutions within Chinese borders (including coaches and athletes);

3. Photographing (including advertisements, documentaries);

4. Modeling (including car models, print ads);

 (II) The following circumstances shall not be deemed as short-term job tasks:

1. To provide maintenance, installation, testing, dismantling, advisory and training services upon purchasing equipment.

2. To provide advisory services, supervise or conduct inspections on contract granted projects within Chinese borders;

3. To be assigned to complete short-term tasks in branches, subsidiaries, and representative offices within Chinese borders;

4. To participate in sports events (including athletes, coaches, team doctors, assistants, and other related personnel. However, according to the international sports organizations, cases in which a person enters the Chinese borders with registration card approved by the competent departments of China are excluded);

5. Volunteers who receive no payment for their work or are paid by foreign organizations;

II. Procedures (entirely completed online)

1. Online application. The employer shall submit the application to the Service System for Foreigners Working in China (select Applying for FWP (90 days or less) or Apply for Invitation Letter for Foreign Experts on the left list of the home page).

2. Online pre-screen and acceptance. The accepting agency shall pre-screen and accept the application of the employer and inform the employer of the result online within 5 working days from the day after the date of submission.

3. Review. The deciding agency shall review the application materials and make a decision within 5 working days from the date of acceptance. There is no need to submit materials in paper form for verification.

4. Decision. For an approved application, an administrative permission shall be granted. For those applying for FWP Notice, the Notice shall be automatically generated in the System and exchanged to foreign affairs departments (Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in foreign countries) via the System. The employer may print the Notice from the System and send it to the applicant. For those applying for Invitation Letter for Foreign Experts, the Letter shall be ready for collection with the accepting agency upon the approval, signature, and seal of the deciding agency.

Notice: With the printout of Notice and other required documents, the applicants may apply for Z or F visa from Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in foreign countries.

III. Required documents