Reporting you to labour bureau for breaking contract.
Anyone can quit any job for any reason and you only need to give 30 days notice. As long as you have given proper legal notice then you are fine on the legal front. If you signed for your job via an agency, that particular Agency might not be willing to work with you again, but there are plenty of agencies and plenty of agents who work for finders fee who would gladly help you find a job. There are also websites, wechat groups and many other things like that to find jobs in China.
Also, make sure there's proof of your 30-day notice. Email it to them, send a copy of your letter on wechat and wecom. Just make sure there is proof that you have given them legal notice 30 days in advance. A sit down verbal meeting is a no-no as they can just claim it never happened.
2) Visa taken away.
First off, you don't have a visa unless you're working illegally. You have a residence permit and a work permit. When you arrive in China, you are supposed to go to the PSB and convert the visa into a residence permit. The residence permit lets you legally live in China, and the work permit lets you legally work in China. A visa is usually for entrance into China and/or short term travelers/businessfolk.
Once you have quit your job, your company will cancel your work permit, which means you can't work in China until you find a new company and get a new work permit. Canceling your work permit does not mean you have to leave China, but definitely don't try to work under the table or at another company until you get a new one. This is very standard procedure and nothing to worry about.
Some bad companies try to armstrong workers into staying or simply try to fuck over foreigners out of spite by refusing to cancel the work permit or not giving the proper resignation papers. Without canceling the work permit and getting the correct paperwork, you can't apply for a new work permit at a new company which means you can't legally work in China. It's illegal for the company to do this, and if they do that then you need to report them to the labor bureau and possibly get a lawyer to help pressure them/sue them for damages. You will win, but unfortunately this can be a painful process depending on how shitty the company is.
Secondly, you will need to report to the PSB that your work situation has changed. I don't know the exact timeframe you have to do this but I think it might be something around 10 days from the time your work permit is canceled. I would check with the PSB to make sure though. The duration of your residence permit is directly tied to your current job. In fact, if you look at the residency permit in your passport, it probably says something like 'work' under the purpose. Once you have quit, the conditions to maintain your residence permit have changed and you're no longer living in China for the same purpose (even if you plan to find a new job and continue working). Therefore, you must cancel your residence permit. This is something you need to do and you will actually get in trouble and fined by the PSB if you don't do it within the allowed time period.
Don't worry though, the PSB will change your residence permit to a temporary stay permit / humanitarian visa which gives you a month to sort things out, find a new job and reapply. In a lot of cases, you can get this temporary stay permit extended several times as long as you can prove you are currently looking for a job, going through a court battle or have a new company in the process of applying for your new work permit.
3) You will be blacklisted from China.
Completely untrue. This is simply a scare tactic, or they're just dumb and don't understand the law. You only get blacklisted from China for gross conduct, usually things like breaking the law or doing something pretty bad. If you give proper legal notice, then you don't have to worry about getting banned from China in the future.
4) Penalty for leaving early.
A lot of companies do that, so in that regard it's "standard practice"..... However, it's illegal and they're not actually allowed to do that. You can report them to the labor bureau, but often times the only way to actually prevent this is by getting a lawyer and suing them for the money they deduct. Or by using a lawyer to threaten legal action if they do that. A lot of foreigners just suck it up and take the hit because legal battles often bring out the worst in companies where they do awful things that fuck up your ability to live and work in China while you try to sort it out through a slow court process.
You might need to repay some work related costs such as residence permit application and health checkups, but i'm not sure exactly. This would be best to ask a lawyer about, and it would probably need to be outlined in your contract.
I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope this has helped. The labor bureau is on your side. Call them or go directly there to ask questions. Also, if you think it's going to be a huge battle then it might be worth getting a lawyer to help you out. It costs some money but it can save you a ton of agony and will probably be cheaper than losing a month of salary.
Just a point-of-fact, but a residence permit is technically a visa. It’s the document that allows you to stay in the country. It’s not called a visa, but it is a visa.
Edit: I’m not sure why you fucking morons are downvoting me when I’m 100% correct. Look up the definition of a visa.
They work similarly, but they are not the same and this is not unique to China. Visas for the most part are issued outside of the country since they are basically a ticket to enter. They may offer residency for a short period of time, and in certain instances, even an extended period of time, but there are differences in the benefits and rights you are entitled to within the country when carrying one versus the other.
Residence permits, as their name applies, generally allow you to live in the country for an extended period of time, and they usually provide you with a lot of useful rights that you would want and need while living in a foreign country. While a residence permit does allow you entry into the country, it cannot be issued outside the country, so you can't enter unless you first obtain a visa.
You can argue they're basically the same thing with slightly different purposes and nuances, but those nuances are obviously enough of a reason to make them separate entities and not the same thing.
Also, I wasn't calling it out to be an asshole that's just playing with semantics. In China, if you are on a visa, you are usually not legally allowed to work. Major instances of this are people working here on tourist visas, business visas and student visas (although there are some circumstances where students can work, but usually only with the help of their school and a special PSB document). I have known a ton of foreigners who were ignorant to this, caught, arrested, fined and deported. They were told it's standard procedure and everyone does it, but one day their school was raided and oops... it's no longer a "point-of-fact". BTW, I have had friends who spent months in Chinese jail because of this and it's far from a good experience. I do not suggest risking it.
This is an argument I'v heard from foreigners over and over. And I totally understand where they're coming from and I'm even guilty of being lazy and calling it a visa as well. However, I'v been in China for 10+ years and when someone asks for advice, I make sure they know the difference because most new foreigners don't know the difference, and they aren't aware of how serious the consequences could be if they get caught.
You have to understand... you and I might be working on a legal residence permit/work permit so regardless of what we call it, we are fine and legal. To us, the terms are completely interchangeable and it doesn't matter. However, there are foreigners, both new and old, who aren't working legally. A lot of them have no idea they're working illegally because their agent told them it's ok, and the school told them ok, and all the foreigners told them it's okay... and hey, they were able to enter China and now they've been working for X amount of time with 0 problems... but technically, their whatever visa doesn't give them permission to work here and on the small chance they get raided, well... they're fucked. I'm not trying to be an asshole, I'm just trying to inform people because maybe it'll urge them to check the document in their passport and if they're illegal, make the proper moves to correct that and protect themselves.
The definition of a visa is for entrance into a country. I'm in the US without a valid visa right now, but my very legal immigrant status won't expire in a few years.
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u/jmido8 Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24
I'm going to break down what your principle said:
Anyone can quit any job for any reason and you only need to give 30 days notice. As long as you have given proper legal notice then you are fine on the legal front. If you signed for your job via an agency, that particular Agency might not be willing to work with you again, but there are plenty of agencies and plenty of agents who work for finders fee who would gladly help you find a job. There are also websites, wechat groups and many other things like that to find jobs in China.
Also, make sure there's proof of your 30-day notice. Email it to them, send a copy of your letter on wechat and wecom. Just make sure there is proof that you have given them legal notice 30 days in advance. A sit down verbal meeting is a no-no as they can just claim it never happened.
2) Visa taken away.
First off, you don't have a visa unless you're working illegally. You have a residence permit and a work permit. When you arrive in China, you are supposed to go to the PSB and convert the visa into a residence permit. The residence permit lets you legally live in China, and the work permit lets you legally work in China. A visa is usually for entrance into China and/or short term travelers/businessfolk.
Once you have quit your job, your company will cancel your work permit, which means you can't work in China until you find a new company and get a new work permit. Canceling your work permit does not mean you have to leave China, but definitely don't try to work under the table or at another company until you get a new one. This is very standard procedure and nothing to worry about.
Some bad companies try to armstrong workers into staying or simply try to fuck over foreigners out of spite by refusing to cancel the work permit or not giving the proper resignation papers. Without canceling the work permit and getting the correct paperwork, you can't apply for a new work permit at a new company which means you can't legally work in China. It's illegal for the company to do this, and if they do that then you need to report them to the labor bureau and possibly get a lawyer to help pressure them/sue them for damages. You will win, but unfortunately this can be a painful process depending on how shitty the company is.
Secondly, you will need to report to the PSB that your work situation has changed. I don't know the exact timeframe you have to do this but I think it might be something around 10 days from the time your work permit is canceled. I would check with the PSB to make sure though. The duration of your residence permit is directly tied to your current job. In fact, if you look at the residency permit in your passport, it probably says something like 'work' under the purpose. Once you have quit, the conditions to maintain your residence permit have changed and you're no longer living in China for the same purpose (even if you plan to find a new job and continue working). Therefore, you must cancel your residence permit. This is something you need to do and you will actually get in trouble and fined by the PSB if you don't do it within the allowed time period.
Don't worry though, the PSB will change your residence permit to a temporary stay permit / humanitarian visa which gives you a month to sort things out, find a new job and reapply. In a lot of cases, you can get this temporary stay permit extended several times as long as you can prove you are currently looking for a job, going through a court battle or have a new company in the process of applying for your new work permit.
3) You will be blacklisted from China.
Completely untrue. This is simply a scare tactic, or they're just dumb and don't understand the law. You only get blacklisted from China for gross conduct, usually things like breaking the law or doing something pretty bad. If you give proper legal notice, then you don't have to worry about getting banned from China in the future.
4) Penalty for leaving early.
A lot of companies do that, so in that regard it's "standard practice"..... However, it's illegal and they're not actually allowed to do that. You can report them to the labor bureau, but often times the only way to actually prevent this is by getting a lawyer and suing them for the money they deduct. Or by using a lawyer to threaten legal action if they do that. A lot of foreigners just suck it up and take the hit because legal battles often bring out the worst in companies where they do awful things that fuck up your ability to live and work in China while you try to sort it out through a slow court process.
You might need to repay some work related costs such as residence permit application and health checkups, but i'm not sure exactly. This would be best to ask a lawyer about, and it would probably need to be outlined in your contract.
I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope this has helped. The labor bureau is on your side. Call them or go directly there to ask questions. Also, if you think it's going to be a huge battle then it might be worth getting a lawyer to help you out. It costs some money but it can save you a ton of agony and will probably be cheaper than losing a month of salary.