Green cards still a dream for some
Print Edition
AFTER working in China for 15 years, Briton Nigel Jones, 51, is hoping to become a permanent Chinese resident.
The director of an international program at a preschool in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Jones married a Chinese woman eight years ago and the couple have two sons.
“I want to be able to settle down, without having to worry about renewing my visa every year,” Jones said.
He is one of 98 foreign spouses in WeChat group “Chengdu Dads.” Many other members are in a similar situation, so a recent announcement about a more open permanent resident application process would have brought them some cheer.
The new procedure promises better services, including more flexible criteria, a simplified application process and a shorter approval time.
It sounds encouraging but “it is also important to see how they carry it out,” Jones said. He applied for permanent residence in 2012 but is still waiting.
“Every time I asked about it, they say there is no problem, but after three years, they told me there was a record on my files which has delayed my application,” Jones said.
Chinese green cards are notoriously difficult to obtain and only around 5,000 have been issued since 2004, when the policy was introduced. Currently, around 600,000 foreigners live in China.
Without a green card, foreigners have difficulty buying real estate, getting credit cards and buying financial products.
“Without a permanent resident permit we are always treated as laowai,” said Michael Dann, using a term used to describe foreigners. The Australian has been working in Hefei in east China’s Anhui Province for the past 11 years. He has a cafe in the city and said the biggest problem for him is the annual US$50,000 limit on sending money overseas. The lack of specified guidelines for foreigners to apply for visas and certificates in China adds to the inconvenience.
Another Chengdu dad, New Zealander Trevor Manetoa, said that his family’s financial security needs a more open residency policy. “I don’t want a long distance relationship with my family and I wouldn’t be able to support them without being here in China,” he said.
According to the bureau of foreign experts’ affairs in east China’s Anhui, only around 100 foreigners in the province have obtained green cards.
Professor Cho Sung-hye, from South Korea, has been working at Hefei University in the capital for almost 20 years. Having made contributions to local education and employment and communications between the Chinese and South Korean governments, Cho is one of the lucky ones.
Meng Ping, manager of the Golden Apple kindergarten in Chengdu, hopes the threshold for permanent residency can be lowered even further.
Her kindergarten employs 51 foreign teachers, but due to visa restrictions only a few of them stay long-term. “Besides universities and national core industries, fundamental education also needs foreign talent, and hopefully one day they will be able to stay in China without having to worry about too many things,” she said.
For Nigel Jones, no green card means no clear future. For now, his dream of a stable home and family life remains a dream.
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