Sunday, June 7, 2009

Can I live in China legally if I am self-employed

Can I live in China legally if I am self-employed?
I am going to be going to China next month and there is a strong possibility that I will be staying for at least a year. I don't want to have to worry about immigration, but to get a temporary residence card, all I keep seeing is that you must be employed by a Chinese company. I work for myself on the internet, so I don't have an employer. Is there any way for me to legally live in China without having a "real" job?
China - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
No. Next?
2 :
You can only get a residence permit through a company you are working for. That company most be approved my the government to give resident visas. So basically, no, not that I know of.
3 :
Find an employer who will undergo the process for you but not necessarily have to hire you. If you get married with a Chinese local and settle there in China. -you still have to go through the process to be able to live in China
4 :
NO. You cannot obtain a Chinese visa by merely claiming to work for yourself and not having a "real job". No country on Earth allows that. A legitimate self-employed business person must be duly registered and/or incorporated within China, have appropriate industry specific local licensing from the municipality in which the corportaion is located, have a tax payment account with the national tax collection agency, and meet a variety of other requirements. China is well aware that many foreign drifters and criminals attempt to enter their country. Stringent anti-drifter controls exist to identify and bar entry to foreign trouble makers.
5 :
In this case you can get a 6-month business visa with multiple entries and then extend it for another 6 months when that one expires. It will allow you to legally do all of the things you want to do. You won't be able to get a temporary residence card without either a student or work visa, but it's not that necessary. You can live and do business in China on a business visa and they are very easy to apply for. The only benefit to having a residence card is that you can leave the country and come back an unlimited amount of times, which if you really want to do that (say you live in Shenzhen and want to do business in Hong Kong) you can register to study Chinese part time at a local university. The school will give you a student visa with a residence permit.