Regulations on Examination and Approval of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China
24/8/2004 19:49
Upon the approval of the State Council, the Minister of Public Security
Zhou Yongkang and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Zhaoxing jointly endorsed
Decree No.74 and officially issued the Regulations on Examination and Approval
of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China for implementation on August
15.
Eligibility for permanent residence is granted by the government of a
country to aliens who meet certain requirements, and with this eligibility they
can reside in the country without limit to the period of stay. Aliens with
eligibility for permanent residence in a country are granted certificates of
identification, commonly known as "Green Cards". The Issuance of Regulations on
Examination and Approval of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China indicates the
official implementation of the "Green Card" system in China. This is a
significant move by the Chinese Government to adapt to economic globalization,
push forward reform and opening-up and the modernization of socialism still
further, and normalize the regulation of examination and approval of permanent
residence of aliens in China.
Regulations on Examination and Approval of
Permanent Residence of Aliens in China has altogether 29 articles, which include
explicit provisions on the prerequisites for aliens to apply for permanent
residence permits in China, required supporting documents, steps to be followed,
limits of authority, and cancellation of eligibility, etc.
According to
the prerequisites specified in the Regulations, eligibility for permanent
residence mainly applies to high-level foreign personnel who hold posts in
businesses which promote China's economic, scientific and technological
development or social progress, foreign citizens who make relatively large
direct investment in China, persons who have made outstanding contributions or
are of special importance to China, and people who come to China to be with
family, such as husband and wife, minors dependent on their parents, and senior
citizens dependent on their relatives.
To apply for permanent residence
in China, the applicant or the parents or guardian of unmarried children shall
submit an application to the public security organ of the People's Government at
the city level or the branch office or county office of the public security
bureau of a municipality directly under the central government, which is in
charge of the community of the applicant's major investment or long-term
residence, and at the same time, provide the specified application documents.
After the public security organ receives the application, it shall investigate
and verify the conditions of the applicant according to the specified
prerequisites, and submit the application to the Ministry of Public Security for
examination and approval. The public security organ shall decide whether to
approve or reject the application for permanent residence permit within 6 months
of receiving the application. Upon the approval of the Ministry of Public
Security, the applicant shall be granted an Alien Permanent Residence Permit by
the Ministry of Public Security. To applicants outside China, an Alien Permanent
Resident Status Confirmation Letter shall be issued by the Ministry of Public
Security, with which they may apply for D Visas from a Chinese embassy or
consulate abroad, and receive the Alien Permanent Residence Permits from the
public security organ which handles their applications within 30 days of
entering China.
According to relevant provisions, there is no limitation
on the period of stay of aliens with permanent resident status in China, and
they need not obtain visas and can enter and leave the country with their valid
passport and Alien Permanent Residence Permits. For aliens with Alien Permanent
Residence Permits of China, the Alien Permanent Residence Permit is their legal
identity document during their stay in China and can be used alone.
Alien Permanent Residence Permits are valid for five or ten years.
Certificates with five-year validity are granted to minors, while certificates
with ten-year validity are granted to adults. In case of expiration, loss,
damage or content change of the certificates, the holders may apply for
recertification. The public security organ may reissue certificates to them
after confirmation that they have not lost permanent resident status, without
going through the examination and approval procedures again.
In order to
safeguard national security and interests and maintain the solemnity and
authority of permanent resident status, the Regulations on Examination and
Approval of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China stipulates that aliens with
permanent resident status in China will be deprived of such status in any of the
following four circumstances: endangering national security and interests, being
sentenced to expulsion from China by the People's Court, those who have gained
the permanent resident status in China by fraud, and those whose periods of
residence in China do not reach the specified number of years. In any of the
above-mentioned circumstances, the Ministry of Public Security will confiscate
the Alien Permanent Residence Permit or declare it invalid.
According to
the provisions in the Regulations on Examination and Approval of Permanent
Residence of Aliens in China, the Chinese Government grants Alien Permanent
Residence Permits to aliens who meet certain requirements, which is in
conformity with the common international practice and the practical situation of
China. Through over 20 years of reform and opening-up, China has made
significant achievements in its socialist modernization, with great advancement
of productivity, prominent strengthening of the overall capacity of the country,
further improvement of its international standing, political stability, unity of
various nationalities, harmonious economic and social development, and the
people living and working in peace and contentment. Along with the further
development of economic globalization, the further deepening of China's reform
and opening-up and the establishment and improvement of its socialist
market-oriented economic system, China's demand for high-level foreign personnel
is becoming even urgent, and at the same time, some foreigners' desire for
permanent residence in China and more freedom in entering and leaving China is
strengthening. In order to adapt to this situation, attract more high-level
personnel and investors of foreign nationalities to China, and promote the
economic and social development and external communication and cooperation, the
Chinese Government has published a series of laws and regulations on aliens'
entry and exit, and long-term and permanent residence in China. According to
statistics, since the implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of
China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens adopted by the Standing
Committee of the People's Congress in November 1985 and the Enforcement
Regulations on Law of the People's Republic of China on Control of the Entry and
Exit of Aliens revised in July 1994, the Chinese government has approved
permanent residence for over 3,000 foreigners.
The Chinese laws have
provisions on permanent or long-term residence of aliens in China and the public
security organs also have some practice in examination and approval management.
However, generally speaking, examination and approval management in this aspect
is not normative and concrete enough at present. In recent years, the public
security organs in China have made a great deal of exploration into examination
and approval management of aliens' permanent residence in China pursuant to the
Law of the People's Republic of China on Control of the Entry and Exit of Aliens
and on the basis of generalizing experience and conducting earnest research and
studies, have accumulated much successful experience for the establishment of
China's "Green Card" system. The issuance and implementation of the Regulations
on Examination and Approval of Permanent Residence of Aliens in China will
promote the legislation, institutionalization and normalization of the
examination and approval management of China's "Green Card".
(china.org.cn)
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