Visa workshop attracts expat crowd

Expats attend a visa workshop at the office of Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats on Wednesday. Chen Jianwei

A seminar on work visa applications for expats at Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats (MSCE) attracted more than 50 expats, most of whom live in the neighborhood, Wednesday.

During the two-hour seminar, Tian Huawei, deputy chief of Exit-Entry Management Section of Nanshan Public Security Bureau, delivered professional and easy-to-understand explications of China’s laws and regulations that concern expats.

Tian also answered the expatriates’ questions regarding the qualifications of high-level talents and employment requirements for expatriates. Tian also illustrated several illegal situations that often occur among expats to help them avoid doing or being deceived into doing illegal things.

Betty Zhang, CEO of the Valueplus Consulting Ltd. and with more than 10 years of human resources experience at Fortune 500 companies, was invited to be the speaker and work visa consultant. Zhang summarized the new policies on expat work visas in Guangdong and the country.

“Foreigners with two consecutive work visas in Guangdong Province can apply for a longer work visa,” Zhang said. She also reminded expats not to work illegally.

“The seminar is very informative and explains immigration and working regulations for expats clearly in an easy-to-understand way,” Oliver Hamblen, an attendee from the United Kingdom, said in an interview. Hamblen also said he would like to work as a volunteer in his spare time to serve the foreign community.

The work visa seminar is one activity in the Legal Sessions series aiming to popularize policies related to expatriates working in China and thus maintain their legal rights. The Legal Sessions, which are organized regularly, are one of the five main activity series to be developed by the MSCE in 2019. The other series include Topic Focusing, Language Exchange, Amazing Culture and City Sightseeing.

Shekou is one of the neighborhoods with the largest foreign population in Shenzhen. More than 9,000 expatriates are registered in Shekou. They come from 95 countries including Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada, France and Australia. Some work as pilots, company executives, teachers at international schools and chefs.