Before you start

A Shanghai employer willing to sponsor the work permit — there is no self-sponsored route other than the new K visa
Degree certificate and criminal record certificate, notarised then apostilled (China joined the Hague Apostille Convention in November 2023, which replaced consular legalisation for member states)
A passport with adequate remaining validity and blank pages
A Shanghai address you can evidence with a lease, needed for both the police registration and the residence permit

Step-by-step

1
Employer applies for the Notification Letter online
The employer files through the national Service System for Foreigners Working in China, which scores you against the A/B/C points table. Category A is high-end talent, B is the ordinary professional tier, C is quota-controlled. Which tier you land in changes permit length, renewal ease and how much scrutiny each step attracts.
Via employerWho: Your employer2–6 weeks
2
Convert the Notification Letter into a Z visa abroad
Apply at a Chinese embassy, consulate or visa application service centre in your country of residence. You cannot do this inside China, and you cannot convert a tourist L visa into work status once you are here.
In personWho: You1–3 weeks
3
Register with your neighbourhood police station within 24 hours of arriving at your flat
Take your passport, visa, lease and — usually — your landlord to the local pàichūsuǒ. Hotels file this automatically; private landlords do not. You come away with a temporary residence registration slip that every later step asks for. This deadline is in the Exit and Entry Administration Law, not in a guideline.
In personWho: YouWithin 24 hours of moving in
4
Collect the physical work permit card
After entry the employer completes the work permit application and you are issued the card. In most cities this is expected within roughly fifteen days of entry. You are not lawfully working until it exists.
Via employerWho: Your employerWithin ~15 days of entry
5
Apply for the foreigner's residence permit within 30 days of entry
At the Shanghai Exit–Entry Administration, with passport, work permit, police registration slip, medical certificate, photographs and employer letters. Fees run roughly RMB 400 for under a year, RMB 800 for one to three years, RMB 1,000 for three to five. Processing is around fifteen working days once accepted.
In personWho: YouWithin 30 days of entry
6
Ask whether you also qualify for Shanghai's Overseas Talent Residence Permit
Administered separately by the Shanghai Talent Work Bureau under rules effective 1 July 2025 and running to 30 June 2030. Open to degree-holders legally employed or running a business in Shanghai, with validity from one to five years and up to ten in some cases, and an approval window the city has cut to five working days.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport with Z visa
Notification Letter and then the Foreigner's Work Permit card
Notarised and apostilled degree certificate and criminal record certificate
Medical examination certificate from a designated facility
Lease and landlord's property ownership certificate
Temporary residence registration slip from the police station

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 24-hour police registration is the single most commonly missed obligation in China, and it bites later, not now.

Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law requires anyone staying outside a hotel to register with the local public security organ within 24 hours. Hotels do it invisibly, so people who move straight into a flat never encounter the rule. Nothing happens immediately — the consequence surfaces when you apply for or renew a residence permit and are asked for a registration slip you do not have, or when a landlord change means you should have re-registered and did not. The fine is up to RMB 2,000; the delay is the real cost.

Source: Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 39

The A/B/C tier is decided before you arrive and it shapes everything afterwards.

The national points table scores salary, education, experience, Chinese ability, age and where in China the job is. Category A sits outside quota and age limits and can get permits of up to five years; Category B is the ordinary professional tier at one to two years; Category C is quota-controlled and much harder. Employers frequently apply for B by default without checking whether an A limb — a talent-list role, a recognised qualification, or a salary above the local multiple — is available. Ask before the filing, not after.

Source: Service System for Foreigners Working in China

Shanghai's own talent residence permit runs alongside the national one and most people never hear about it.

The Shanghai Talent Work Bureau administers an Overseas Talent Residence Permit for degree-holders legally employed or running a business here, under rules in force from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2030, with validity from one to five years and up to ten in some cases and a five-working-day approval commitment. Because your employer's HR only ever files the national work permit, the municipal scheme simply does not come up. It is a separate application you make yourself.

Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government

The Lingang Special Area has its own employer-recommended route to permanent residence.

China's national permanent residence tracks are narrow. Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area of the free trade zone runs a recommendation channel: broadly three years' continuous work in Lin-gang, actual residence in China of at least six months in each of those years, an annual salary at or above four times the local average for urban employees, a matching tax record, and a recommendation from your current employer. If you have a choice of office location within Shanghai, this is a real consideration and almost nobody weighs it.

Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government

Common mistakes to avoid

Moving into a private flat and never registering with the neighbourhood police station within 24 hours.
Treating the Z visa as permission to live here and missing the 30-day residence permit deadline.
Letting the employer file for Category B without checking whether a Category A limb applies.
Arriving without an apostille on the degree and criminal record certificates, which cannot be fixed from inside China.
Changing employer or moving flat without re-doing the permit and the police registration.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.