Residency and work visa in Yiwu

A residence permit in China starts with an official invitation letter issued through a registered Chinese company — yours. That letter is what allows you to apply for a Z visa at the Chinese embassy and enter the country legally as a worker.

Before the invitation letter can be issued you need four documents: a police clearance certificate, your education certificate scanned front and back together with a fully certified translation, an English CV, and a passport-style photograph on a plain white background. The education translation needs the same chain of certification as your passport: judiciary, ministry of foreign affairs, and the Chinese embassy stamp.

One thing to do before anything else: the certification chain in Iran — official translation, then judiciary certification, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Chinese embassy stamp — is needed twice. Once for your passport, for the company registration, and again for your education certificate, for the invitation letter. It is the same chain, weeks apart, and it is the slowest part of the whole project. Put both documents through it in the same trip, before you have even chosen an office. Clients who certify only the passport and discover the degree later lose a month for no reason at all.

We print and take those documents to a translation office here in Yiwu, which takes two to four days depending on how busy they are. The invitation letter forms are issued the following day, you sign and return them, we upload everything to the government system, and the invitation letter itself takes around ten working days.

After you arrive there are further steps. Anyone over eighteen has a health check at the Yiwu health centre and receives a health book, which costs 390 CNY. Immigration charges 400 CNY for a residence permit of under one year and 800 CNY for a full year — and in your first year Yiwu immigration issues two consecutive six-month permits rather than one annual one. Once you hold a work residence permit, insurance is compulsory at 1,740 CNY per month.

Family members do not need their own invitation letter. They apply for a family visa on the basis of yours, and after arrival we convert their visa into a residence permit. Our fee for that is 300 CNY per person — and separately, immigration's own fee is payable too: 400 CNY for a permit under one year, 800 CNY for a full year. Insurance is not compulsory for family members of any age, though they can buy private cover separately if they want it.

One age rule is worth knowing from the start: family residence covers children only until they turn 18. A child reaching 18 who wants to stay in China has to change their permit to a student or work residence. A spouse is not subject to this — age places no limit on them. If you have a child who reaches that age within a year or two, tell us at the start so it can be planned rather than discovered.

One situation worth knowing about before you need it: if you cancel your residence permit — closing the company, moving on, or simply not renewing — you do not have to leave the same day. The authorities issue a T visa giving you between ten days and one month to settle your affairs and leave China properly. We handle that application for 500 CNY per person. People who do not know this exists sometimes leave in a rush, or overstay by accident, which is a far more serious problem.