China Work Permit and Z Visa: Who Does What, and When

The work-authorisation process usually begins with an employer's filing before travel. A State Council guide for business expatriates says foreigners working in China should obtain a work permit. It describes applying for a Z visa with a Notification Letter for Foreigner's Work Permit; for work lasting more than 90 days, a work-type residence permit follows after entry. Beijing's Class B example explicitly has the employer apply for the notification letter. The applicant handles the visa application and participates in post-entry permit steps with the employer and local authorities.

Neither document replaces the other. Holding a Z visa is not the same as holding a completed work authorisation, and the sources in this article describe the notification letter, the visa and the residence permit as separate steps in one chain.

The 90-day line decides how much of the chain you walk

The State Council guide splits the route by duration, and that split is the most useful thing to settle with your employer early:

• Work described as no more than 90 days: the guide describes a Z visa obtained using the Notification Letter for Foreigner's Work Permit, with the work performed within the visa period. On this route the guide does not describe a work-type residence permit.
• Work described as more than 90 days: the guide describes a Z visa obtained with the notification letter, followed by a work-type residence permit after entry. It says the work must be within the validity of the work permit.

So the duration of the assignment affects whether a work-type residence permit is part of the route. It does not remove other arrival duties, such as accommodation registration. For the longer route, the State Council guide ties work to the work permit's validity, while the residence permit governs the authorized stay. Keep both dates in view.

That guide is a national-level summary. It does not tell you which category you fall into, and this article cannot make that determination for an individual case.

What the employer's side actually involves

The clearest concrete example in the evidence pack is Beijing's page on the Notification Letter of Foreigner's Work Permit for professional talents outside China. For the category it covers — described there as a Beijing Class B non-credit category — the employer applies for the notification letter before the applicant enters China. That ordering matters: if your employer treats the notification letter as something to arrange after you land, the sequence is wrong for that category.

The same page lists category-specific materials, including evidence of experience, a degree, no-criminal-record evidence, a health report or commitment, and an employment contract or certificate. Read that list as what it is: one Beijing category's requirements, published by one municipal government. The page itself frames these as category-specific, and they should not be treated as a universal national checklist. A different city, or a different category within Beijing, can ask for a different set.

Practical suggestion, not a rule: ask your employer which authority and which category their filing uses, and ask for the material list attached to that specific filing rather than a generic one passed around by email.

What you handle yourself

Your steps begin where the notification letter ends. Beijing's notice on changes to the social security card states that the notification letter can support a Z-visa application — the practical meaning is that the letter is the document that anchors your visa filing — and it describes applying for a residence permit at the local public-security exit-entry office, where work-permit information is verified.

Two limits on that source are worth carrying with you. It is dated 2024-12-20, and it is a Beijing publication that cites the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security for the card changes. The verification of work-permit information at the residence-permit stage is consistent with the State Council's longer-stay route, but the card integration described there is a local administrative arrangement, not a statement about every province.

After entry, for longer stays

For the more-than-90-days route, arrange the work-type residence permit after entry and verify the post-entry work-permit procedure with the employer's local authority. The State Council guide ties work to the work permit's validity; do not treat the residence permit alone as proof of work authorisation. Beijing's notice adds an administrative layer: electronic social-security-card integration of work-permit information after entry. How the local authority implements that integration should be confirmed where you will work.

The variables that change your answer

• Location. Beijing's notification-letter process and its social-security-card integration are local administrative examples. Do not assume another province runs the same sequence, uses the same category names, or asks for the same materials.
• Category. The Beijing page is explicitly for one Class B non-credit category. Other categories are handled on their own terms.
• Duration. The 90-day distinction described by the State Council changes whether the work-type residence-permit step is described for the route.
• What the sources don't cover. The evidence pack does not state processing times, fees, quotas, salary thresholds, or how any individual applicant's qualifications are assessed. It also excludes visa-free entry: the 2025 guide's visa-free section is dated and is not used here.

If your situation turns on any of these, the competent authorities to ask are the authority that issues the notification letter for your employer's specific filing — named on the relevant local government page for that category — and the local public-security exit-entry office that handles the residence permit, as described in Beijing's notice.

Sources and verification

• State Council of China — Guide to Working and Living in China as Business Expatriates, 2025: work permit requirement; the Z-visa-plus-notification-letter route for work of no more than 90 days; the Z visa, post-entry work-type residence permit and permit-validity route for work of more than 90 days. Visa-free section excluded as dated.
• Beijing Municipal Government — Notification Letter of Foreigner's Work Permit for professional talents outside China: employer applies before entry for the specified Beijing Class B non-credit category; category-specific material list. Verified 2026-09-28.
• Beijing Municipal Government — Important Update: Changes to Your Social Security Card, citing the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (2024-12-20): notification letter supports a Z-visa application; residence permit at the local public-security exit-entry office; verification and electronic social-security-card integration of work-permit information after entry.

Procedures, category definitions and local administrative arrangements change. Re-check the issuing authority's current page before you rely on any step described here.