Since the borders were reopened to foreigners with ordinary visas (including travel) on 8 January, applications from overseas have increased dramatically. This has resulted in the relevant authorities scrutinizing the rules for permits and the corresponding visas to make sure all foreigners applications follow the legal requirements. Shanghai and the other tier one cities are now being very strict in their interpretation of those rules. Currently, non-native English speakers are not permitted to be English teachers. Applications for non-natives by…

Foreigners from many industries have been enquiring about entering China. As far as Shanghai is concerned the rules are quite simple. Any foreigner needs to have a residence permit (visa) in their passport. These are marked with one of three reasons for residence: work, student or family/spouse. It is possible to enter China without one of these, if a Z visa has been issued by a company intending to employ the foreigner. This means all documents must have already been…

One of the most common questions we are asked is "how much is an apartment in SH?". This is like asking, how long is a piece of string. The price is going to vary depending on the location, surrounding amenities, size of the apartment, number of rooms, shared space, etc. Furthermore, if an apartment is sourced from an English language website, the rental is likely to be significantly higher than a Chinese language one, as those sites are geared towards…

Whilst there is a form of release from lockdown in Shanghai now, everyone still has to test and show the results to update their health QR codes every 3 days. Without the correct QR code, entry into public transport, malls and the small shops that are open is forbidden. Many places are still closed and intercity travel requires at least seven days quarantine. Further to this, schools are still closed and likely to be so until at least August. In…

Since the end of March, Shanghai has been in lockdown with no current end date. Deadlines have come and gone and yet residential, business, office and government compounds all remain closed as the zero tolerance policy towards COVID continues. Transport hubs are operating on a minimal schedule with no international airport arrivals, which means anyone wanting to enter China cannot come directly into SH. Further to this, the general policy, regardless of the situation in SH, has been for any…

Since 12 March all education establishments in Shanghai have been ordered to close by the Education Bureau. Primary schools and above are organising online classes, but for kindergartens this is not compulsory. This is a result of mass testing taking place throughout the city and lockdowns being enforced in residential, retail and office compounds. Two years ago, schools were closed for at least four months, so we hope this situation is resolved more quickly this time. Any official updates will…

Whilst some of the Western world seems to be heading towards a policy of living with COVID and its variants, China is still operating a zero tolerance policy with immediate clampdowns of sealed off areas, quarantine, mask wearing and travel code passes. This coupled with continuing border restrictions means that entry for foreigners is still extremely limited. For many countries, the rule of thumb is foreigners are not permitted into China unless they have a valid and current working visa,…

Whilst the borders are still generally closed for foreigners wishing to come into China, the Pfizer vaccine has been added to the list as acceptable to gain entry. However, only holders of current residential visas will be accepted after vaccination. Working visas may not be applied for foreigners if they are not already within mainland China. Shanghai has maintained this rule for a while, but other cities are now also enforcing this. Teachers who were either caught outside China when…