Compliance guide for the whole process of recruiting foreign employees: from qualification examination to landing management

With the acceleration of globalization, the recruitment of foreign employees has become an important means to enhance the technological competitiveness and expand the international market. However, cross-border recruitment involves multiple thresholds such as policies and regulations, job adaptation, visa processing, etc., and requires a systematic strategy to achieve compliance. This paper provides a landing-able operational framework for enterprises from the four dimensions of enterprise qualifications, job requirements, personal conditions, and process compliance.

1. enterprise qualification and job adaptation conditions

1. enterprise compliance requirements
• industry access standards : enterprises need to belong to the fields where the state encourages foreign talents to participate, such as high-tech, strategic emerging industries, international education, high-end service industries, etc. Traditional labor-intensive positions (such as basic manufacturing and simple services) are not allowed to employ foreign personnel in principle.
• Credit and Business Records : Enterprises need to have no illegal records such as major labor disputes, tax evasion, production safety accidents, etc. Some regions require tax payment certificates or government recommendation letters for 3 consecutive years (such as enterprises in free trade zones and key parks);
• The position is irreplaceable : one of the following conditions must be met:
• involves cutting-edge technology (such as artificial intelligence, gene editing) or international certification (such as aviation engineer, cross-border financial expert);
• need to use foreign personnel home country resources (such as overseas market channels, international industry standard certification);
• There is no domestic candidate with the same qualification, or the training period is more than 3 years.

1. Salary and Social Security Standards
• Salary Baseline : the monthly salary of foreign employees shall not be less than 4-6 times of the local social average salary (the standard in first-tier cities is higher), and the salary composition (basic salary, performance bonus and welfare subsidy) shall be specified in the labor contract.
• social security payment requirements : mandatory payment of "five insurances", however, some types of insurance can be exempted according to the bilateral social security mutual exemption agreement (such as the mutual exemption of some types of insurance between China and Germany and China and France).

personal qualification requirements for 2. foreign personnel

1. basic conditions threshold
• age and health : they must be at least 18 years old, hold a medical examination report issued by a designated institution, and exclude health problems affecting their work such as infectious diseases and mental diseases;
• no criminal record : the notarization of no criminal record issued by the home country or the country of permanent residence shall be provided and certified by Chinese embassies and consulates abroad;
• professional skills matching :
• management and technical positions require 2 years of relevant working experience;
• academic positions such as professors and researchers require 5 years of teaching/scientific research experience.
• high-end talents (such as academicians and Nobel laureates) can be exempted from the restrictions on academic qualifications and work experience.

1. language and qualification certification
• language proficiency certification : non-native English speakers are required to provide IELTS 6.5/TOEFL 90 and other transcripts, or other language skills (e. g. German, Japanese) required for the position;
• industry special qualifications :
• education positions must hold home country teacher qualification certificate and international English teacher certification (e. g. TEFL/TESOL);
• medical positions need to provide home country medical practitioner certificate and international medical certification (such as USMLE);
• financial positions need to hold CFA, FRM and other international certification or home country qualification.

3. visa and work permit processing conditions

1. permit type and application process
• R visa (talent visa): suitable for high-end talents (such as academicians and senior executives of international organizations), who can enter the country quickly and apply for work permits first, the approval period is reduced to 5-10 working days.
• z visa (work visa): applicable to regular positions, application must be made on the basis of the notice of work permit for foreigners to come to China, and the permit period is linked to the contract period;
• M visa (business visa): short-term project cooperation only (no more than 90 days), no formal work.

1. list of materials and approval standards
• materials submitted by enterprises : job requirements description, enterprise qualification certificate, labor contract, resume and qualification certificate of foreign personnel;
• personal submission materials : passport, academic qualification certification, notarization without criminal record, physical examination report, and identification photo within 6 months;
• approval classification management :
• category a (high-end talents): no restrictions on age, educational background and working experience, up to 5 years of work permit can be obtained;
• category B (professional talents): bachelor's degree is required for 2 years of experience, and the age is not more than 60 years old. in some cases, the conditions can be relaxed.
• category c (other personnel): only temporary and seasonal positions, emergency employment certificate is required.

4. labor relations and compliance management conditions

1. necessary terms of labor contract
• specify working period : the contract period shall not exceed the validity period of the work permit, and renewal shall be applied for 30 days in advance;
• dispute resolution method : give priority to arbitration institutions in China to avoid cross-border litigation risks;
• ownership of intellectual property rights : it is necessary to clarify the ownership of patents and copyrights generated by foreign employees during their employment.

1. welfare and tax compliance
• differentiated welfare design : provide housing subsidies, international medical insurance, children's international school tuition subsidies, home leave and other benefits;
• personal income tax declaration requirements : foreign employees are required to pay personal income tax according to their comprehensive income (royalties for wages, salaries, labor remuneration) and can enjoy additional deductions (such as children's education and continuing education);
• employment permit and residence permit : the Foreigner Work Permit and residence permit shall be applied for within 15 days after entry, and the employment unit shall be the same as the permit unit.

1. Resignation and Change Management
• Obligation to inform in advance : Enterprises need to inform in writing 30 days in advance to terminate the contract and assist in the cancellation of work permit;
• change of residence permit : foreign employees need to apply for change of residence permit within 10 days after leaving office (such as conversion to short-term stay visa);
• file retention requirements : enterprises need to keep documents such as labor contracts and work permit application materials for at least 5 years.

Conclusion

Recruiting foreign employees is a key measure to promote the global layout of enterprises, however, compliance needs to be the bottom line and efficiency as the goal. By accurately matching the qualifications and job requirements of enterprises, strictly examining the personal conditions of foreign personnel, standardizing visa and labor relations procedures, and optimizing the cross-cultural management mechanism, enterprises can not only efficiently introduce high-quality foreign employees, but also avoid legal risks and enhance team combat effectiveness. In the increasingly fierce international talent competition, mastering the whole process conditions of foreign talent management will become one of the core competencies for enterprises to win.