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How to Apply for S Visa for My Family?

May 7, 2019

What’s S1 visa or S2 visa?

1. S1 visa

is issued to those who intend to go to China to visit the foreigners working or studying in China to whom they are spouses, parents, sons or daughters under the age of 18 or parents-in-law, or to those who intend to go to China for other private affairs. The intended duration of stay in China exceeds 180 days.

Holders of S1 Visa shall apply for foreigners’ residence permits from the exit/entry administrations of local public security organs within 30 days from the date of entry.

2. S2 visa

is issued to those who intend to visit their family members who are foreigners working or studying in China, or to those who intend to go to China for other private matters. The intended duration of stay in China is no more than 180 days. “Family members” refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandsons, granddaughters and parents-in-law. Visa applicant should be located in overseas but not in mainland China while the application is submitted.

Application Materials For S Visa

1. Passport

Original passport with at least one blank visa page and valid for at least 6 months.

2. Passport photocopy

One photocopy of data and photo pages of the passport.

3. Visa Application Form

One truthfully, correctly and completely filled Visa Application Form (Form V.2013).

Application form must be typed in black capital letters.

Hand-written application forms are not accepted.

4. Photo

One recently-taken, color, passport photo against a light background.

5. Supporting documents

1) Invitation letter

An invitation letter from the inviting individual (a foreigner who stays or resides in China for work or studies) which contains:

A. Information on the applicant (full name, gender, date of birth, etc.)

B. Information on the visit (purpose of visit, arrival and departure dates, place of intended residence, relations between the applicant and the inviting individual, financial source for expenditures, etc.)

C. Information on the inviting individual (name, contact telephone number, address, signature, etc.)

2) Passport and Residence Permit

One photocopy of passport and permanent residence permit of the Foreign inviter.

3) Proof of relationship

Original and photocopy of certificate of relationship between applicant and inviter, such as marriage certificate, birth certificate, or certificate of kinship issued by or legalized by government agencies.

6. Proof of legal status of non-American applicant

Non-American applicant should have legal status in the USA and a copy of status proof, such as certificate of residence, employment, student or other legal status in the USA should also be submitted.

7. Previous Chinese passport or Chinese visa

When applying for Chinese visa with a new passport, applicant who used to be of Chinese citizenship should submit the original and a copy of data page of the last Chinese passport, or a copy of previous Chinese visa on the previous foreign passport.

If the name on the current passport differs from that on the previous passport, an official document of name change should also be submitted.

s visa, S1 visa, S2 visa

Who Pays Attorney Fees–Updated News

May 4, 2019

In our previous blog: Attorney Fees-Who Is Supposed to Pay? we mentioned that it’s very important so specify in the contract that the losing party is going to pay for the attorney fee. But sometimes, the dispute just happen without any agreement.

Then what can we do? Maybe things are going to change in near future.

On July 18 of 2017, Qianhai Court (“the Court”) in Shenzhen made the first judgment implementing attorney fee shift system base the argument that what the Defendant have done before and after the action not only damage the Plaintiff’s legitimate rights and interests, but also lead to waste of judicial resources. The judge ordered the Defendant to pay to the Plaintiff 300,000 RMB attorney fee.

The case is a short-term financing dispute, where the Defendant failed to pay the 30 million RMB principal back to plaintiff. The Plaintiff then sued in Court in May 2016, requesting the Defendant to pay the principal, interest, penalty, and also bear the 300,000 RMB attorney fee which is going to be paid by the Plaintiff.

After the court hearing, the Court held that, according to related provisions on “damages” in the General Principles of Civil Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Plaintiff’s request of asking the Defendant to pay attorney fee due to his default is in line with the law. Further, the judge held:

1. There is justification for the Plaintiff to approach attorney for professional assistance.

The lawsuit involves how to decide the exact time for interest payment and the base for penalty calculation which all need professional knowledge. Besides, the Defendant raised a series of issues such as Plaintiff’s qualification as principal, etc, which makes it difficult for the Plaintiff, who in the absence of litigation skills, to handle such issues without any professional assistance.

2. Defendant’s acted dishonestly.

During the legal proceedings, the Defendant raised jurisdiction objection without sufficient reasons, and failed to follow the Court’s guidelines to submit evidence before the deadline, which affected the progress of the lawsuit, and resulted in the Plaintiff’s huge funds being occupied by the Defendant continuously. All these dishonest litigation act also lead to judicial resources to be wasted unnecessarily, thus, the Defendant should bear the Plaintiff—the non-fault party’s attorney fee.

3. The amount of attorney fee is reasonable.

Though the attorney fee has not been actually paid by the Defendant yet, but the amount of the fee does not exceed the reasonable scope stipulated by local authority, and the fee is indeed the Plaintiff’s loss caused by Defendant’s default, so Plaintiff’s request should be supported by the Court fully.

Actually, for a pretty long time, how to improve litigation efficiency and speed up litigation progress has always been bothering problems in China. Because of the low cost involved in litigation, there are all kinds of false litigations, malicious litigations, vexatious litigations which lead to huge waste of judicial resources and meanwhile, increased the non-fault party’s cost of litigation. However, the fault party don’t have to bear any consequence.

Probably we could ask the losing party to pay the attorney fees in near future in China

As early as in Sep of 2016, the Supreme Court of PRC gave out an opinion on “Optimizing judicial resources and improving judicial efficiency”. The opinion says: “ If any obvious misconduct, such as abusing the right of action and delaying to perform obligation of litigation, result in direct loss of the opposite party or any third party, the court may order the fault party to pay reasonable attorney fee paid by the non-fault party.” It seems that Qianhai Court has done a meaningful try. It helps to increase the cost of illegal act to a certain extent, as a result, helps to deter illegal acts in long run.

Attorney fees, litigation, malicious litigation

Attorney Fees-Who Is Supposed to Pay?

April 27, 2019

When clients finish their discussion with the lawyer about a lawsuit, sometimes they will ask: “By the way, the losing party will pay for the attorney fee, right?”

Usually, after a bit of silence，the lawyer would explain: “Well, the losing party will pay for the court fee, but usually the client has to pay the attorney’s fee themselves.”

Surprised? That’s the reality, it’s very common in China for the client to pay the attorney fee, even he wins the case.

However the good news is, in recent years, China is exploring the possibility of an attorney-fee shift system. Let’s see under what situations the losing party will pay the attorney fee:

1. Where there is specific regulations:

Creditor executes it’s right of rescission.

If the debtor gives up or (transfers without reasonable consideration) his interest to any third party, the creditor could file to claim what the debtor did is invalid and ask the debtor to pay the attorney fee;

IPR related cases.

Attorney fee could be compensated by the losing party based on necessity of the fee and the proportation of the compensation claimed by the plaintiff to compensation granted by the court.

Patent infringement case.

The compensation for infringement of patent rights shall include reasonable expenses paid by the right holder to stop the infringement.

Copyright infringement case.

The compensation for infringement of copyright shall include reasonable expenses paid by the right holder to stop the infringement. Related judicial interpretation further specified that, the so called reasonable expenses include investigation expenses…and attorney fee which is paid in line with related regulations.

Trademark infringement case.

The compensation for infringement of trademark shall include reasonable expenses paid by the right holder to stop the infringement. Related judicial interpretation further specified that, the so called reasonable expenses include investigation expenses…and attorney fee which is paid in line with related regulations.

2. Where there is regulations but not specific:

Only in limited situations the losing party will pay attorney fee in China

In some other situations, it’s up to the judge or arbitrator to decide how the losing party will bear the attorney fee，such as guarantee disputes, unfair competition disputes, personal injury cases, reputation infringement cases, traffic accident cases and arbitration cases.

3. Where there is specification in the contract

If there is a specification in the contract that the losing party will pay for the attorney fee, then the judge may rule in favor of the wining party. But, they will review it very strictly. So it’s better to do it carefully:

1. make sure to specify the losing party will “pay attorney fee” instead of “pay reasonable related expenses”；

2. Provide retaining agreement with the law firm and fapiao to prove this is an actual expense.

So, don’t forget to include such a clause in your contract!

Useful link:

The Supreme People’s Court of The People’s Republic of China

attorney fee, contract, IPR

Ten Points You Need to Know about China’s IPR System

April 22, 2019

China has developed a comparatively comprehensive IPR protection system since it opened up it’s door to the world. Though China learned a lot from other countries in the development of IPR system, it still has it’s own feature, which is worthwhile to know about:

Understand IPR system in China is very important to protect your IPR in China

1.Protection only cover registered IPR

If you have not officially registered your IPR yet, such as patents, trademarks in China, you cannot enforce them.

2. Protection only granted from the date of registration

Your IPR is unprotected during the period between filing and registration. You can only start enforcement procedures once formal registration has been finished.

3. IPR is territorial

This means that IPR registered in China is only protected in the territory of China and therefore is not protected out of China, and vice versa.

4. Patents and trademarks can be extended internationally

China is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Madrid System administered by WIPO. It means that you could extent your patents and trademarks application at your local IP office to China instead of applying for them in China directly.

5. Registration

1) Invention patents, utility models and design patents are registered by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO).

2) Trademarks are registered by the China Trademark Office (CTMO).

3) Copyrights are registered by the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC)

6. Utility models

Utility models are widely used forms of patents in China and are granted faster and require no substantial examination.

7. Trademarks

1) Only trademarks which are made up of words, graphics, a combination of both or 3D marks are recognized in China, China does not recognize scent trademarks.

2）Although it is not required by Chinese laws，but if you want to sell products in China, it’s strongly recommended that register a Chinese trademark at the sametime.

3）Trade mark registration can take up to one and half years

4）China uses the International Classification of Goods and Services which is divided into 45 classes. Additionally, each of the 45 classes is divided into subclasses.

5）If you wish to register a trade mark in a number of different classes, a separate trade mark application for each class should be filed.

For more info about trademark registration in China, pls check: Two Ways of Trademark Registration in China, Trademark Registration in China – Procedure

8. Designs

1）Designs need to be registered as design patents to be protected

To qualify for protection, a design cannot be previously published and must be sufficiently distinguishable from other designs. Only after formal registration can you enforce your rights to a design.

2） Registered designs are protected for 10 years

A design patent gives you the exclusive right to use or allow others to use your design in China for 10 years.

9. Copyrights

Copyright is protected from the date of creation. Though registration of copyright is not required for claiming protection, but it will reduce the trouble in preparing evidence.

10.Customs registration

In order for customs to monitor your products, you must register your IPR with Chinese Customs. Registration lasts for 10 years or until the IPR expires.

Confidentiality Agreement or Non-competition Agreement?

April 15, 2019

A Confidentiality Agreement is an agreement signed by and between the employer and its employee, which requiring the employee to keep the employer’s trade secret/s, and its proprietary information.

A Confidentiality Agreement is a legal/contractural instrument commonly used by employers. Both Confidentiality Agreements and Non-Competition Agreements (NCAs) are used by employers to prevent employees from leaking its trade secrets, which, of course, could lead to a competitor getting an otherwise unavailable advantage over the employer.

However, many employers can’t tell the difference between a Confidentiality Agreement and an NCA, and the two are frequently confused, one with the other.

These are the primary differences between the two:

Provision about non-competition agreement in China labor law

1. Nature of the liability

The function of confidentiality is to establish a statutory obligation based on direct provisions of the law, or a collateral obligation of the labor contract. The impacted employee is obliged to maintain said confidentiality regardless of whether he/she and his/her employer have signed a confidentiality agreement or not.

However, the NCA is a contractual obligation based on the mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. No employee is required to abide by the obligation not to compete directly with the employer unless an NCA is in force.

2. Focus of the liability

Mainly speaking, a confidentiality obligation demands that the employee not divulge its employer’s trade secrets, meaning “not to disclose,” while an NCA requires that an employee not work with any company which directly competes with his previous employer; neither may said employee start a competitive business himself/herself,

3. Term of the liability

Generally speaking, the duration of the obligation of confidentiality is as long as the existence of the trade secrets. The duty of confidentiality exists not only during the period of the labor relationship, but also after the end of it, as long as the trade secret has not been publicly disclosed. Put another way, as long as the trade secret exists, the duty of confidentiality exists.

• However, the period for competition limitation is comparatively shorter—no more than two years, technically.

4. Liability for breaching agreement

• The employer shall not specify any penalty for breaching the confidentiality agreement. However, the employer may ask that the employee compensate for any actual losses he/she causes by breaching the Confidentiality Agreement. As such, it is very important for the employer to specify in the Confidentiality Agreement how its loss/es will be calculated in the event of any breaching.

However, an employer may specify liquidated damages in an NCA. If any employee breaches his/her NCA, the employer can directly require employee to pay the specified liquidated damages without the burden of having to prove how much damage the employee has caused.

5. Condition for observation of the agreement

The Purpose of confidentiality is to impose a statutory obligation for the employee. Performance of this obligation is not contingent on the condition that his employer pays any confidentiality fee. In other words, the employee should keep his employer’s business secrets without any premise or condition.

However, the employer is required to pay the employee a certain amount of remuneration while asking the employee to observe the NCA. Usually, the amount of the remuneration is 30% of the employee’s salary before the end of the labor contract or no less than the minimum local average salary.

Though both are measures intended to protect employers from the loss of competitive advantage by virtue of their trade secrets not being made public, there are five differences between Confidentiality Agreement and a Competition Restriction Agreement.

Useful link:

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China

Confidentiality agreement, HR management, labor contract

Non-competition Agreement in China Labor Law

April 5, 2019

According to China labor law, a Non-Competition Agreement (NCA) refers to a mutual agreement between a company and its employee which specifies that the employee cannot compete with his previous employer after the dissolution or termination of the labor contract.

For example, an employee cannot work with a company which produces or sells similar products, engages in a business that is similar to his/her previous employer; an employee cannot run a business to produce or sell similar products or engage in a business similar to his/her previous employer within a certain period of time.

To whom does an NCA apply?

Although a confidentiality agreement may apply to all employees of a company( you may check our post: Confidentiality Agreement or Non-competition Agreement? for more information), an NCA is usually limited to higher-level employees, such as Senior Managers, senior technical personnel and other personnel who may also have confidentiality obligations to their employer. Generally speaking, senior managers refer to company Managers, Deputy Managers, heads of financial departments, the secretaries of the boards of directors of listed companies and other personnel stipulated in the company’s articles of association. In addition, for companies in the manufacturing and technology industries, a non-competition agreement also applies to all employees who have easy access to the company’s trade secrets, including senior research developers, technical personnel, skilled workers in key positions, etc. Also, other employees who may be aware of the company’s business secrets, such as marketing staff, accountants, secretaries, and so on, should also assume non-competition obligations.

Although a confidentiality agreement may apply to all employees of a company (you may check our post:

In short, an NCA applies to all staff who have access to a company’s key (proprietary) information and important trade secrets.

Term of NCAs

Generally speaking, the term of a non-competition agreement commences upon the dissolution or termination of the labor contract and shall not exceed two years. Even if the company illegally terminates the labor contract, or the employee is forced to terminate the labor contract, the NCA is still binding on the employee. Of course, the premise is that the company pays compensation to the employee as agreed.

Amount of compensation for complying with an NCA

There is no uniform provision about the amount of the compensation. However, according to relevant judicial interpretation, the amount for monthly compensation should be something equivalent to 30% of the employee’s average monthly salary for the past 12 months before dissolution or termination of the contract, or no less than the local minimum salary. However, if the company does not pay any compensation, the employee is entitled to rescind the NCA, as long as:

The company has failed to pay compensation, as agreed in the NCA, for three months, and;
The employee has notified the company of his/her intention of rescinding in writing.

What is the penalty for breach of an NCA?

In an NCA, the company may specify that the employee has to pay a penalty in the event he/she fails to perform the NCA duty/duties, as specified. There are no provisions regarding any specific standard for such penalty, but if the penalty is too much higher than the actual loss suffered by the company, the court probably will reduce the amount of penalty at their discretion.

Useful Link:

Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau

Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau

Guangzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau

Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau

China labor law, labor law contract, non-competition agreement

Things You Should Know about Offer Letter

April 1, 2019

Background information: A lawsuit caused by an offer letter

Our client was planning to expand it’s business after CNY. They interviewed and sent out offer letters to qualified applicants. In the offer letters, they specified all terms related to the positions, such as salary, probation, social security and on-board date. However, after CNY, they had to give up their expansion plan due to some unexpected circumstances and had to “revoke” the offer letters. They called me and asked, if they could.

Then, what does the law say about the offer letter?

There is no clear specification in labor law about the nature and validity of an offer letter. According to the Contract Law of PRC, an offer letter with specific terms is an “offer”, such an offer can only be revoked before the offeree confirms their acceptance. Otherwise, the offer letter is binding to both parties.

So, though the labor law doesn’t specify anything particular, the employer still has to be careful.

Quick Tips:

1. Do Not issue an offer letter until you have made the final decision.

Employers should issue an offer letter, only after they have decided to hire the employee, and remember that they can’t change the content of it unilaterally once it’s been sent out.

2. Leave yourself some wiggle room

Employers should specify situations under which they could choose not to hire the applicant; or specify a deadline for the applicant to confirm their acceptance. If the applicant can’t give their confirmation before the deadline, the employer could then cancel the offer.

3. Ask for a medical examination report before sending out the offer letter

Some employers’ recruitment process is like this: they send out an offer letter and ask the applicant to bring a medical examination report on the on-boarding day, among other papers, such as their graduation certificate. In our opinion, it’s better to ask applicants to send in their medical examination reports before issuing any offer letters. This way, the employer has a chance to make a final decision based on the result of the medical examination and avoid any labor dispute caused by claimed or suspected employment discrimination.

4. Remember: an offer letter is not a labor contract

An offer letter only indicates intention of the employer to hire the applicant, but it’s not an official contract. Employers should sign a labor contract with the employee within one month of the on-board date and, specify that:

1) the labor contract will supersede any mutual agreements between both parties or;

2) in the event of any inconsistency between the labor contract and offer letter, the terms of the labor contract shall prevail.

Anything else?

Labor law, lebor dispute, medical examination, offer, offer letter

Chinese Green Card, Are You Qualified?

March 18, 2019

It is said that Chinese green card is extremely difficult to be granted. Let’s see if you have a chance to get it.

How to get a China green card

1. Category of applicants

(1) Have made direct investment in China with stable operation and a good tax paying record for three successive years;

(2) Have been holding the post of deputy general manager, deputy factory director or above or of associate professor, associate research fellow and other associate senior titles of professional post or above or enjoying an equal treatment, for at least four successive years, with a minimum period of residence in China for three cumulative years within four years and with a good tax paying record;

(3) Have made a great and outstanding contribution to and being specially needed by China; (you may visit our post to know more：What’s the Points-based System?)

(4) Being the spouse of a Chinese citizen or of a foreigner with permanent residence status in China, in a marriage relationship for at least five years, with at least five successive years of residence in China and at least nine months of residence in China each year, and having stable source of subsistence and a dwelling place;

(5) Being an unmarried person under 18 years old turning to his parent; or

(6) Being a person who is or above 60 years old, who has no direct relative abroad and is to turn to any directive relative in China, and has stayed in China for at least five successive years with at least nine- month residence in China each year, and has stable source of subsistence and a dwelling place.

2. Documents required

To apply for the green card, the following documents are required to be submitted together with the application:

(1) Copy of his/her valid passport;

(2) Health certificate;

(3) Certificate of no criminal record in the country concerned;

(4) Four recent full-face color photos; and

(5) Other materials (elaborated as below).

3. Family reunion green card

Generally speaking, there are three kinds of family reunion green cards, that is spouse, minor children and dependent. Except for the above mentioned documents listed in #2, applicant should provide the following documents:

1) Spouse

His/her Chinese spouse’s registered permanent residence certificate or foreign spouse’s Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card;
Marriage certificate;
Evidence of stable income and housing.

2) Minor children

His/her Chinese parent’s registered permanent residence certificate or foreign parent’s Foreigner’s Permanent Resident Card;
Birth certificate or parentage certificate.

3) Dependent

The Chinese citizen’s registered permanent residence certificate or the Foreigner’s Permanent Residence Card to whom he/she is to turn;
Certificate of kindred;
Certificate certifying that he/she has no direct relative abroad;
Evidence of stable income and housing for he/she or the person to whom he/she is to turn.

4. Cancellation of green card

However, the government may cancel the green card if the holder has stayed in China without approval for a period less than three cumulative months a year or less than a cumulative year in five years, or has threatened the national security and interests of China, or has been expelled from China by the people’s court, etc.

5. Application for Couples Reunion

Since most of our readers are intended to apply for their green cards under this “Couples Reunion” category, we are going to mainly discuss here how to prepare the documents as required and other issues people feel concerned about:

1) Preparation of application

I. Spouse’s identity

ID card and Household Register (户口簿, hukou bu) in local city for spouse with Chinese nationality, or valid passport and Permanent Resident ID Card for spouse with foreign nationality. Marriage status in the spouse’s Household Register should note married or indicate the same English name as the applicant’s valid passport.

II. Marriage certificate

If this certificate was issued abroad, a verification from the Embassy/Consulate General of China will be needed, which has a validity of up to 6 months.

III. Evidence of stable income and housing

Evidence of stable income, under most situations, such evidence can be applicants’ or their spouse’s Certification of Deposit in domestic banks of certain amount of RMB (The freezing period must be more than 6 months after the application date), and this should be verified by a notary office. If the deposit is under the name of applicant’s spouse, the declaration that the spouse is willing to guarantee security should be notarized and submitted as well.

As to how much money need to be deposited, it varies from city to city. For example, in Qun Ming of Yunnan Province, it’s explained that the evidence of stable income refers to disposable property as the applicant’s living security, the amount of which is equivalent to more than 10 years of deposit, based on the local monthly minimum living security, or any certificate of stable monthly income source no less than the local monthly minimum living security for up to five years starting from the acceptance of the application. But no specific amount is specified.

However, we can check other cities for reference. For most cities, such as Guangzhou, Beijing (both are the first-tier cities of China) or some remote city in the Northwest of China, for example Xi’an, 100,000RMB will be good. However, the deposit needs to be no less than 200,000RMB in Shanghai.

On the other hand, the pension of the applicant or the applicant’s spouse can be treated as “stable income” in Shanghai. If the pension is received from abroad, verification by the Embassy/Consulate General of China is required. If such proof is owned by the applicant’s spouse, the declaration that the spouse is willing to guarantee security should be notarized and submitted. The proof and the notarization should both be issued within 6 months before the application date.

IV. Evidence of stable housing

Talking about stable housing, some of our clients feel frustrated. Some of them claimed that they never have a plan to buy any real estate. Some of them regret that they haven’t bought a house before the two decades of real estate boom in China. But don’t worry, stable housing doesn’t mean you have to own the house yourself, no matter where you are. Those who are renting a house should submit the rental contract with more than one year’s renting period from the application date with notarization by a notary office.

If the house is owned by the applicant and spouse, the house property certificate should be submitted. In some cities such as Beijing even the house property certificate needs to be notarized. But there are no such requirements in Guangzhou or Shanghai. So, it’s highly recommended to consult with local authorities for updated information before you proceed with the preparation of all documents.

V. Health certificate

The Health certificate should be issued by a domestic entry-exit inspection and quarantine agency (or by foreign medical institutions verified by the Embassy /Consulate General of China). The health certificate should be issued within the validity of the last 6 months.

VI. Certificate of no criminal record

A Criminal Record/ Background check which shows no criminal history of any kind must be verified by the Embassy/Consulate General of China. The name on the record must match that on the valid passport. In case the applicant has changed names, the former names should be noted in the record. In case the applicant has lived in a country/region outside the passport-issuing country more than/for two years consecutively after he/she is 18 years old, a criminal record from that country/region is also needed.

2) What’s the consequence of a divorce?

Despite the above mentioned provisions regarding “cancellation of Green card”, the current 《Measures for the Administration of Examination and Approval of Foreigners’ Permanent Residence in China》and the 《Regulations on Foreigners’ Permanent Residence in the People’s Republic of China 》(draft for comments) failed to mention what will happen if the green card holder based on a couple’s reunion get divorced later on. Though it should be more humanitarian to allow the green card holders to maintain their “permanent residence identity” even after their divorce, considering that the green card holder has settled here and built their life and career here. However, since all green cards for people older than 18 years old have ten-years terms and have to be renewed before the expire date, many green card applicants have such a worry: what if the local authority refuses to renew their green card if it’s found that they got divorced with their Chinese spouse?

It seems that divorcing is not one of the reasons to cancel the green card, but no explicit provisions says that once applicants obtain their green cards based upon marriage with Chinese citizens, their green card will be renewed even after couples get divorced. We expect an explanation to be given by the competent authority in the near future.

Kind reminder:

(1) The application needs to be submitted to local entry and exit administration with Public Security Bureau (PSB), where the prereview will be undertaken. However, the final decision will be made by the Ministry of Public Security of the PRC and it usually will take 6 months.

(2) The applicant can assign lawyer or other institution to help to prepare the application, but the applicant should visit the local authority in person for interview. An application form will be filled by the applicant under the instruction of the interviewer.

(3) In case the applicant has changed nationality, certificate of naturalization is required. In case the applicant was once of Chinese nationality, the former mainland Chinese citizen shall also provide their previous private passport and overseas permanent resident certificate (Chinese nationals who join another nationality when holding an official/service passport must renounce Chinese nationality first), former Taiwanese shall also provide a residence deregistration certificate; former Hong Kong/Macau people shall also provide an ID cancellation certificate. If necessary, certifications issued abroad must be verified by the Embassy/Consulate General of China.

(4) In case the applicant has changed their name, relevant certifications and 2 copies of these are required. Certifications issued in a foreign country should be verified by the Embassy/Consulate General of China.

(5) The Criminal Record/Background check, Marriage certificate, Birth certificate, relationship certificate, adoption paper, name changing proof or other relevant documents issued by overseas authorities must either be verified by the Embassy/Consulate General of China, or be certified by his/her country’s Embassy/Consulate General in China (personal statement is not acceptable).

(6) All the above-mentioned certification or verification documents should both be issued within 6 months before the application date.

China green card, Chinese spouse, marriage