Applying for the 'green card'

Since my arrival in China back in 2015, I have always had a contract for work, and with this is the annual process of applying for the work permit. This entails an online application, and a medical, followed by an in person visit to immigration with all the documents and medical report. All the costs are covered by the school, so its basically a day out at their expense!

I was made redundant in June this year, and along with being back in the UK for an extended holiday, and closing loose ends on property, I am now back in China, but on a spouse visa, no work except a number of private students, which falls within a grey area of being on the right side of what can and can't be done!

Although I have decided to go hybrid in my digital lifestyle in China, I have a part time job lined up which will give me more than enough time to continue to develop the plan. A work permit can be applied for, which is great, but a green card releases the full potential of nomad lifestyle in China. Some key points for the application is that I am married to a Chinese citizen, I am an owner of a property and I have 8 years of work history and paying my taxes! The cost for the application is 2000 RMB (£224) plus the need to put a large amount of money (200,000 rmb, £22,500) into a bond for 6 months. This may sound a lot, but it is not at risk and is only really needed at the point of the application to show! Having sold a house and claimed a pension it was not a problem for me, and the benefits of a successful application really do open the country up for me to really get my plan up and running. The process can take up to 6 months for a decision, but immigration where I live now, say we should have done it before now as I/we fit the application form!

I don't know how this process works for those in other countries who are married to locals? Maybe easy, maybe difficult? For me the thought of being treated almost like a local would be awesome, it doesn't give me dual nationality, that is impossible for the Uk and China, but it saves the hassle of having to do yearly checks, always presenting my passport and visas, for a 10 year period anyway!

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