As a commercial hub with a lot of foreign merchants, Yiwu is currently home to 15,000 foreign merchants all year round. Every year as many as 550,000 person-times of foreign merchants come to Yiwu for purchasing goods. According to the relevant staff of the Exit and Entry Branch of Yiwu Municipal Public Security Bureau, previously foreigners to stay and work in Yiwu need to apply for a work permit with Yiwu Municipal Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs and then return to their native country to apply for a work visa with the local embassy of China. Finally they have to apply for a residential permit with the Exit and Entry Administration of the Public Security Organ, which is usually valid for one or two years.
Photo: Zhejiang News
According to the new policy, foreigners employed by businesses and public institutions within the borders of China can now apply for a residential permit with the Exit and Entry Administration of Public Security Organ by showing their materials such as work permit if they have no time to travel back to their native country to apply for a work visa. Those foreigners who have proceeded with a residential permit for work of one year or longer with the Exit and Entry Administration of Public Security Organ for twice in succession, in the third application for a residential permit for work, they can apply for one with a period of validity of five years.
Since the new policy was unveiled, relevant departments of Yiwu have sorted out the foreigners that meet the requirements of application by visiting and surveying. Guided by the concept of “one visit at most to handle all issues”, they have broken the inter-department barriers innovatively by releasing a “One Window” service.
