Is it convenient for foreigners to live in China?

That must be very inconvenient. It is inconvenient to open an account in a bank without an ID card. And not every bank's online banking supports passport login. Foreigners can't experience the convenience of mobile payment. If there is no mainland bank card, WeChat Alipay does not necessarily support binding foreign cards. Many small merchants' POS machines do not necessarily have VISA MasterCard channels, or there are no POS machines at all.

Enter a country

Identity and entry and exit are the biggest problems. If you have a foreign passport, except for the three countries (Singapore, Japan, Brunei) that are unilaterally exempt from visas and a few countries that are exempt from visas, you need to apply for a Chinese visa because of urgent domestic affairs.

Although the materials are relatively simple, it will take at least three or four days to get your passport, so you can't travel at any time. Some big cities have 144-hour visa-free transit, but they must have air tickets to the third place or come to China from the third place. If the third country is outside the trip, it will be very troublesome and waste money.

If a citizen of a western country wants to enter China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), there are only the following ways.

Apply for a Chinese visa

144h joint flight is exempt from visa, but flights involving Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea need to be used.

Apply for a port visa (visa on arrival)

First, it is time-consuming; second, it is convenient for business people but not suitable for direct travel between the two places; third, it is necessary to provide invitations or guarantees or emergencies, which many ports cannot do, and the scope of application is too small. For example, if there is no landing visa in Pudong, either show your visa or show your qualified passport+re-examination ticket. If you want to "live" in China, you can only get a visa.

Purposeful residence (work, school)

One of the advantages of China nationality is the permanent residency in the 9.6 million square kilometers of land you are familiar with, which foreign passports cannot provide. Of course, foreign passports are not allowed to live in China for a long time. They must apply for visas for various purposes of residence and change their residence permits after entering the country.

If you want to go to school or work, you must attach the name of the school or employer (X 1/Z), but it is not so smooth to find a job as a foreigner. First of all, civil servants and state-owned enterprises are basically closed to foreigners. Many private enterprises don't need foreigners to work, so they don't have a perfect employment system for foreigners and don't want to provide work visas.

Sometimes many international students in China also need to work in China, but some companies will directly state that they do not provide work visas, and only foreign students in China can apply. The employment direction of foreigners in China is relatively limited, generally confined to foreign companies, large private enterprises or universities.

Free residence

If you don't want to stay in China, there are two ways:

Visiting relatives, the longest stay is 5 years.

Tourist visa, maximum 10 years, each stay 180 days.

But these visas can't work and employers can't hire them. If you have enough money or a stable independent income (such as renting a house and staying in a hotel), it is ok, but if you need a serious job, it is still very troublesome.

If you want to live permanently in China, work is not restricted, and you want to immigrate at any time, either you have a China passport and a foreign green card without immigration supervision (Irish Stamp4, etc.). ) or foreign passport+foreigner's permanent residence identity card. It is not easy to obtain a foreigner's permanent residence identity card, but if you can apply, even if you lose your China citizenship, you are still a resident of China.

Foreigners are restricted to stay in foreign-related hotels, and the cheapest level is probably a foreign-funded sub-brand (a sub-brand of Hilton /IHG/SPG/ Accor) or a local foreign-related hotel (such as Nanjing Jinling Hotel). Domestic hotel chains are affordable everywhere, and there are basically no opportunities for foreigners. If you stay in a house instead of a hotel every time you enter the country, you need to register with the local police station within 24 hours.