New permanent residence application criteria introduced in Shanghai
Shanghai has updated some of its criteria for foreigners applying for permanent residency, which may significantly affect those planning to apply for permanent residency in Shanghai in the near future.To get more news about shanghai, you can visit citynewsservice.cn official website.
According to official information from the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau (Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau), from 1 May 2023, two important changes have been implemented for foreigners applying for permanent residence as labourers (a category of people who are eligible to apply for permanent residence in Shanghai):
It should be noted that the additional non-criminal record requirement also applies to most other categories of people who are eligible to apply for permanent residence in Shanghai.
Below we present these two significant changes and explain their impact on foreigners applying for permanent residence in Shanghai.
According to a recent announcement by the Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau, foreigners applying for permanent residency as employees must meet new requirements. They must have worked in Shanghai for the past four years, spent at least six months a year in mainland China, earned not less than six times the average annual salary of urban workers in the region in the previous year for four consecutive years, and paid an annual individual income tax (IIT) of not less than 20 per cent of their salary, in addition to other standard requirements such as good health, compliance with Chinese law and no criminal record.
As of 9 May 2023, the Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau has not yet provided detailed information on the salary and tax payment requirements for the new permanent residence application criteria. However, based on the average annual salary data published by the Shanghai Human Resources Bureau over the past four years, it is clear that the new salary criteria are significantly higher than the previous requirement of RMB 600,000 (approximately US$94,000) per year.
To qualify, foreigners who apply for permanent residency as workers after 1 May 2022 must have earned a certain minimum annual income in each of the previous four years, as shown in the table below. The sum of these annual incomes should be approximately 20 per cent higher than the previous salary criteria. In addition, applicants must pay an annual individual income tax (IIT) equal to at least 20 per cent of their annual salary base. This IIT requirement is also higher than the previous criteria of RMB 12,000.
In addition to the new salary and tax payment criteria, the Shanghai Exit-Entry Bureau has implemented another major update to the permanent residency application process.
From 1 May 2023, applicants will now be required to submit a non-criminal record in China as part of their application documents. This means that applicants will be required to submit the original and a photocopy of the Certificate of No Criminal Record in China, which should cover all passport numbers used by the applicant during their stay in China.
Previously, applicants were only required to provide a certificate of no criminal record from the country that issued their passport or the country where they actually lived.