Beijing to launch new work permit management system

IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? The Beijing Labor Bureau is planning to launch a new Foreign Employment Management System soon.

What does the change mean? In preparing for the new system, the bureau will attempt to take inventory of expired or unused work permits that have not been deregistered.

• Implementation time frame:  The new system is expected to launch sometime between November and early 2016.
• Visas/permits affected: Work permit deregistration.
• Who is affected: Employers and foreign nationals whose work permits have expired or are no longer in use.
• Business impact: The scope of the efforts to account for expired or unused work permits is not clear yet; however, it is possible that employers who do not properly deregister their old work permits may be negatively impacted, such as by being prevented from moving forward with new work permit applications.
• Next steps: Clients should contact their BAL team for advice on individual cases. BAL will continue to report on the upcoming system as information becomes available.

BAL Analysis: Beijing employers should anticipate that they may be required to deregister expired work permits that have not already been deregistered and, depending on the scope of the Labor Bureau’s program, they may also be required to deregister valid work permits for employment that has been terminated. Employers are encouraged to work with their BAL team to identify work permits that must be deregistered.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in China. For additional information, please contact china@bal.com.

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