Must Know: Special Visa Requirements for Special Occupations
There are many special occupations in China, such as actors, models, yoga instructors, basketball coaches, chefs and doctors. What do foreigners and companies need to pay attention to when applying for work visa for these jobs?
These occupations have special requirements not only on the applicants, but also on the employing companies. In this issue, the AnyHelper team has compiled a list of notes for applying for work visas for several common jobs. If you find the article helpful, please share it with your friends or companies!
*The following information is for reference only and is based on our experience in previous cases.
1 Model and Actor
When applying for work visas for actors and models, companies only need to provide a cooperation agreement between the Chinese and foreign parties, a project contract or a statement of invitation from the company, and if necessary, a business license and a fire safety certificate for the performance venue;
When applying for work visa for these positions, proof of applicant’s education, work experience, non-criminal record, etc. are not necessary, but documents proving relevant technical (professional) qualifications (e.g. modeling card, etc.) are required.
2 Sports Coach
The coach here mainly refer to the teaching staff in the field of sports, including basketball coaches, soccer coaches, yoga coaches, fitness coaches, etc., which are employed by the company on a long-term basis.
For companies:
If a company wants to hire a sports coach, it does not need to have additional qualifications in addition to the business license, but the scope in business license needs to include instruction and other related areas, for example: gyms need to include operation of sports facilities in their scope.
For applicants:
If the target group of foreign coaches is adults, they only need to have a bachelor’s degree or above and two years of relevant work experience, and there is no mandatory requirement on relevant coaching qualification; however, if the target group is children, according to our experience, sometimes coaching qualification in relevant fields is required.
3 Doctor
When a hospital or medical institution employs a foreign physician, it is required to provide a medical institution occupational license approved by the Health and Wellness Commission.
Requirements for applicants:
If the applicant is involved in medical treatment, he/she will need to provide a short-term permit approved by the National Health Council for foreign physicians to practice medicine;
4 Teacher
Teachers here include teachers who teach languages and non-languages, and the application conditions are also different for foreigners who teach different disciplines. Non-language teachers include math teachers, science teachers, etc.
Requirements for the company:
1. Private schools that are not private enterprises must provide a “private non-enterprise” certificate and a “school license” within the validity period.
2. Operational training institutions need to meet two conditions to hire foreign teachers:
First, the subjects foreign teachers teach must correspond to the business scope on the business license; Second, the “special account for school miscellaneous” must be provided.
Requirements for applicants:
Situation 1: If you are a language teacher, you should, in principle, be teaching in your native language from your home country and have a bachelor’s degree or above with at least 2 years of experience in language education. The work experience requirement may be waived for those who have obtained a bachelor’s degree or above in education, language or teacher training, or who have obtained a teaching certificate in their home country or an international language teaching certificate that meets the requirements.
Situation 2: If you teach math or science rather than language, usually you would only need to provide a bachelor’s degree and at least 2 years of teaching experience in a related subject, but not a teaching certificate;
5 Chef
Requirements for the company:
If a restaurant wants to hire a foreign chef, it needs to provide a restaurant qualification and a food business license at the stage of account opening in the Bureau of Foreign Affairs;
Requirements for individuals:
Foreign chefs are required to have a bachelor’s degree or above and 2 years of relevant work experience, although chef’s certification is not required.
