Work permits but no job for foreigners staying illegally

Some Chinese companies have been issuing work permits to foreigners illegally to help them get working visas so they can stay in the country longer, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

A Briton who has lived in China for 20 years and runs a company in Beijing said some foreigners made every effort to “play tricks with China” by getting work visas so they can stay longer.

Jiang Senghai (his Chinese name) said people had offered to pay him if he told officials they were his employees.

“They don’t really want to work for my company. What they want is to stay in China longer. It is illegal,” he said.

According to exit-entry rules, foreigners can only stay in China for 60 days on a tourist visa and up to a year on a business visa. But they can stay for three years with a work visa.

Jiang refuses the foreigners’ requests but there were some companies that are willing to take their money and are cooperating with travel agencies in what has become a profitable business, Xinhua found.

One agency, which Xinhua did not identify, promises to help foreign tourists obtain business visas. A business card and a completed application form is all the agency needs. It charges 1,800 yuan (US$296.46) for the service.

Another agency, also not identified, charges 10,000 yuan for a work visa.

“We know companies which are especially set up to issue work documents for expats,” an agency worker told Xinhua.

If violations are exposed, expats working illegally in China will be deported and fined up to 10,000 yuan. Their “employers” will be fined up to 50,000 yuan.

Last week, an expat who knocked down a woman when riding an unlicensed motorcycle on December 2 was found to have been working illegally in Beijing.

He had been a chef in a Western restaurant in Beijing for four months, but his work and residence permits were obtained from another employer, police said.

Police said last Wednesday he was to be deported after serving five days’ detention.

His father, also working illegally, is to be deported after serving 14 days’ detention.