ext: Residency [if you intend to stay longer than 90 days]
Before you enter China obviously check your visa and make sure it is in date.
Step 1. Once you’ve been in country before or at the 30th day REGISTER with the local police station where you are residing. This is a must if you intend to lengthen your stay.
Step 2. If you have married [see various threads on this procedure] or have secured employment the next step is to head to ‘Entry-Exit Inspection And Quarantine Bureau’ to get your full medical. You will have your urine, blood examined thoroughly, chest x-ray, ultra sound on the abdomen, eye test, BP, and pulse measured, a ECG, and a full work up is done on you. All for the cost of 480 rmb and that may vary from location to location. They are looking for STD’s and any transmutably disease, if you have anything wrong with you other than this suggest you bring something from your physician [but officially translated here] stating what is the situation.
Step 3. If you are staying at your wife’s address you will need some sort of licence that states: she either owns the property or she is renting it. The police will need to see this to rubberstamp any permit to reside.
Step 4. You will need 2 or 3 passport photos.
Step 5. You must photocopy all original documents [I did mine twice suggest the same]. The list of documents are: your passport, the page with your visa and entry stamps, your wife’s ID, the house licence, the health certificate, your marriage licence, the original police 30 day registration document [very important]. Now Chinese documents of official nature are in little red books just like the marriage licence you receive once you are wed. Your passport will be returned to you in about one week.
The procedure described is for the one-year residency. I think it’s slightly less complicated for the 6 months. Oh and you are granted leave to stay from your time of entry into China! Work visa is a completely different kettle of fish and let your employer do that, but you will need the health document regardless. And you are not allowed to work on a residency permit.
For my 'Z' visa and 'foreign expert blue book' I let the school do the paper work, but it took a trip to HK and expressing the visa cost UK citizens HK$660 and took one day. You arrive at the visa centre in the morning and go back the next day at the same time. US citizens were being charged around HK$1400 - I guess that is the favouritism showed to Brits.
