Foreigners working in the permanent representative offices of foreign enterprises in China and their family members (spouse, underage children) should hold Visa "Z" (work) to enter China and apply for, within 30 days of entry, residence permit to the Division of Exit-Entry Administration of Beijing Public Security Bureau. The residence permit shall be valid for no more than 1 year within the period of the passport.

I. When applying for residence permit, the applicants should present the following documents and certificates:

1. Valid passports and visa;

2. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employee's card" of the representative office of foreign enterprises in China, issued by the Administrative Bodies for Industry and Commerce;

3. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employment Certificate", issued by Beijing Bureau of Labor and Social Security;

4. "Health Certificate" issued by Beijing Exit-Entry Inspection and Quarantine Bureau;

5. Two recently taken, half-length bareheaded and full-faced photos of 2 inch size (either color or black-white).

Those applicants who work in Beijing for less than 1 year should apply for temporary residence permit, without presenting "Health Certificate".

II. When applying for extension or alternation to residence permit, applicants should present the following documents:

1. Valid passports and residence permits;

2. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employee's card" of the representative office of foreign enterprises in China, issued by the Administrative Bodies for Industry and Commerce;

3. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employment Certificate", issued by Beijing Bureau of Labor and Social Security;

4.Should there be any alternations to the contents of the residence permits (name, nationality, occupation or identity, address, passport number, children), the permit-holders shall register, within 10 days, the changes at the Division of Exit-Entry Administration of Beijing Public Security Bureau. If there is any change relating to work units, occupation or identity, the permit holders should also present the documents certifying the termination of his/her work from the previous enterprises, as well as a certification of the present work unit. Should the permit holders move into or out of Beijing, they shall finish the transferring procedure before they move. After they reach the destination, they should handle the moving-in procedure within 10 days.

III. The procedure of applying for an exit-entry Visa

With their passports and residence permits, applicants could apply for a single journey Exit-Entry visa which is valid for 3 month, or a double and multiple Exit-Entry visa valid for a half year, or a multiple Exit-Entry visa valid for a year (the term of validity of visa should be within the validity of residence permit). Applicants can apply for visa and residence permits at the same time.

IV. Applying for the alternation to the category of visa

For those foreigners working in the representative office of foreign enterprises who enters China with visa "L" (touring and visiting relatives) and visa "F" (visiting), they can change their visa to visa "Z"(work) under some special circumstances. When applying for the alternation to the category of visa, applicants should present the following documents:

1. Valid passports and visa;

2. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employee's card" of the representative office of foreign enterprises in China, issued by the Administrative Bodies for Industry and Commerce;

3. Master copy and photocopy of the "Employment Certificate ", issued by Beijing Bureau of Labor and Social Security;

4. Official letter provided by his/her work unit to state the reason for alteration.
V. Filling in the application form and points for attention.

1. When handling the above mentioned procedures, applicants should fill in the "application form for visa and residence permit", on which a recently taken, half-length bareheaded and full-faced photos of 2-inch size should be stuck;

2. Applicants should fill in the specific items on the application form with the seal of the host enterprises;

3. The application form should be clearly and neatly filled in with blue-black ink pen or ballpoints.

 (englis.gov.cn)