Through learning Chinese and improving professional skills, many foreigners are upgrading their grade. Photo: IC



Tejeswara Rao Pedada from India is a type-B foreign worker in China, according to the new work permit system that was implemented nationwide in April.



"I am fine with the classification and life is good now, but I still want to upgrade my work visa level to an A someday," Pedada said. "The higher grade would make me feel that I am more needed and welcomed in China."



He said that in practical terms, being a type-A expat in China can give him more advantages, such as higher pay. In addition, he would be able to stay in China as long as he wants.



China has vowed to implement a new policy on work permits for foreigners, which simplifies the approval process to work in China to encourage more high-level talent to come to the country. The new policy has been implemented nationwide this April.



Under the new policy, foreign workers will be classified into categories A, B and C according to their salary in China, educational background, the time they have worked in China, Chinese language proficiency level, age and location (they will get higher points if they work in less-developed regions in China). If their points are higher than 85, they will be considered a type-A expat, 60 points for B and C for those below 60 points.



After the new policy was launched, many expats in China wondered and worried what grade would they get. And many type-B foreigners are striving to make their way to an A class.



Achieving an A



According to the policy, type-A foreigners will generally include scientists, Global 500 senior managers at global headquarters, personnel with globally recognized accomplishments and other high-performing talents. Type-B foreigners will generally include senior managers, technical personnel and personnel with special expertise. Type-C foreigners refers to expatriates who provide temporary, seasonal, non-technical or service jobs that do not require substantial expertise.



Being a software engineer in Sony Mobile International Inc, Pedada has already created a plan to possibly upgrade to an A.



"I am learning Chinese to increase my Chinese proficiency," Pedada said. "I am also planning to switch to better Global 500 companies to increase my pay scale."



According to the new policy, the Chinese language proficiency, the pay scale and a position in a Global 500 company are all key criterion to grade the foreign workers in China.



"I am trying now, and hopefully I can upgrade my work permit level in the future," Pedada said.



Lance Yang, a human resource staff from an English education company, said that after their English teachers were told that they have been graded as type-B expats, some teachers, especially those with a good educational background and work experience, expressed their desire to try to be a type-A talent someday.



"Some of them are learning Chinese and taking tests to get more points from the measurement area of language proficiency," Yang said. "Some of them are taking management programs organized by our company and trying to be in a management position someday to upgrade their expat level."



Although Pedada is not thrilled about being a type-B expat, he agrees with China's new classification system.



"I think all expats in China want to be an A; that would make me feel proud and needed in this country, but the fact is not all expats can be a type-A talent," Pedada said. "But I think this classification system will help China to differentiate highly-skilled, skilled and normal foreign workers. It's an inevitable process for every country around the world that is developing and attracting more foreign workers."



"In the future, China may only issue visas to highly-skilled people so the country can encourage local hire and improve the quality of foreign workers in China," he said.



It's an inevitable trend; it's up to the foreign workers to upgrade their skills to be more useful and valuable in China, according to Pedada.





The benefit of being a type-A foreigner attracts type-B foreigners to move up. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The allure of being an A expat



Being a type-A expat is not just about a sense of recognition and pride, it also comes with advantages.



Type-A expats are not subject to quota or age restrictions. Type-B expats are subject to age restrictions (the expatriate must not be over 60 years of age). Type-C expats are subject to strict quota restrictions.



That means if you are a type-A foreign worker, you do not need to worry about whether you can renew your work visa and whether you are too old to work in China.



David Robert, from the US, is now an English teacher in Changsha, Hunan Province.



Under the new system, English teachers like him are generally classified as type-B expats, who are subject to age limits.



"It may be my last year working as an English teacher in China," Robert said.



"I have 20 years of experience working as a systems engineer in telecommunication companies in the US and other countries, but I couldn't get such positions in China," Robert said. "Also, I have eight years of experience working as an English teacher in high schools and universities."



"I love this country, and I believe that I still have much to offer here," Robert said.



Robert said that if he cannot stay in China, he will apply as an experienced English teacher in Hong Kong and South Korea or be self-employed in Cebu, Philippines.



"If I was a type-A expat, I could still work in China," Robert said.



Less paperwork



Jasmine Wu, who works as a human resource staff in a multinational company that hires many foreign workers, said that almost all of her company's expat workers want to be type-A foreign workers.



"Many of our company's foreign workers talked with me about wanting to have a type-A work permit," Wu said. "They want the recognition of being a top-level talent that is needed and valued by the country."



As a human resource staff member who is responsible to help the company's foreign workers with the work visa application process, Wu said that she wants the foreign workers to be graded as type-A too, not only because her company wants high-level foreign talents' expertise, but because the application process for a work permit if he/she is an A is much faster.



"If they are type-A foreign workers, the application would be much more simplified," Wu said.



"There is a fast track set up for type-A foreign talent, and we can submit all of the documents online," Yu said.



"If they are type-B foreign workers, then after submitting all of the documents online, we also need to send the paper documents to the government bureau as well, which is very time-consuming."



According to a Xinhua News report in September, under the new system, type-A expats will be granted certain favorable treatment, such as the ability to apply to convert his/her current valid visa into a Z visa in China, fast-track visa review and simplified document requirements for work permit applications. For type-A expats, the application process for a work permit will only take five days, half of the time for type-B and type-C expats.



After the new policy rolled out in April, Wu's company only had one foreign staff member that used the new system to apply for a work permit.



"We applied for a type-A work permit, and we still haven't heard from the authority about whether she can get that yet," Wu said. "That would save us a lot of trouble."





