Guide to the whole process of employment permit for foreign employees: key points of enterprise compliance operation and risk prevention and control

Guide to the whole process of foreign employee employment certificate: key points of enterprise compliance operation and risk prevention and control

Under the background of increasingly fierce competition for global talents, the introduction of foreign professionals has become the key path to enhance the ability of innovation. However, the handling and management of the employment permit for foreign employees involves multi-department coordination and multi-link audit, which may lead to compliance risks if it is not careful. In this paper, from the enterprise qualification audit, material preparation, approval process to follow-up management, the system combs the core points of employment permit processing and practical operation strategy.

1. enterprise qualification threshold: double verification of hard conditions and soft capabilities

Enterprises must meet basic registration requirements: legally established and no major illegal records, the registered capital needs to reach the industry average. For example, a biotechnology company was required to supplement materials when applying for a foreign R & D director's employment permit because it was less than two years old and its registered capital was less than 10 million yuan, resulting in a two-month extension of the approval period. Industry adaptability is the core audit point. A new energy automobile enterprise has successfully proved the irreplaceability of foreign battery system engineers by submitting government industry planning documents and post skill gap report.

Enterprises need to establish foreign talent management mechanism, including cross-cultural team building plan, salary and welfare system, etc. A multinational manufacturing enterprise was approved the employment permit of foreign production manager only after being asked to explain the talent development path because it did not formulate a training plan for foreign employees. In addition, enterprises need to promise to pay social insurance for their employees. An Internet company's application for employment permit was rejected because it did not specify the social insurance clause in the labor contract.

Key to 2. material preparation: triple guarantee of authenticity, integrity and professionalism

The basic materials must include a copy of the business license, organization code certificate, foreign employee passport and visa page. A trading company was required to make a new correction because the business license submitted was not stamped with the official seal, delaying the approval cycle by nearly three weeks. Job certification materials need to highlight the "urgent shortage" attribute, a medical equipment enterprise by submitting the industry association talent gap report and job description, successfully approved the foreign imaging diagnostic expert employment certificate.

Proof of professional qualification must be notarized. The academic certificate of foreign engineers needs to be certified by the overseas study service center of the Ministry of education. A construction company failed to go through the certification procedures, resulting in the application for employment permit of foreign structural engineers being returned. The work experience certificate should include the recommendation letter of the former employer and the list of project achievements. An IT enterprise has successfully proved its technical leadership by submitting the project code and patent certificate of the foreign technical director in the Silicon Valley company. Proof of language proficiency should be matched with the position. A foreign bank requires foreign account managers to pass Level 5 of the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) to ensure barrier-free daily communication.

Analysis of 3. approval process: multi-department collaborative compliance closed loop

Employment permit approval involves the linkage of the three departments of human resources, social security, foreign professional and public security. Enterprises must first submit the "Application Form for Employment Requirements for Overseas Personnel" to the Human Resources and Social Security Department, and obtain the "Foreigner Employment Permit Notice" after review and approval. An educational institution was asked to supplement materials and re-evaluate because it did not specify the teaching contents and class hours of foreign teachers in the declaration form.

The residence permit of the public security department should be processed simultaneously with the employment permit. Foreign employees are required to apply for Z visa with employment permit notice, complete the application for employment permit within 15 days after entry, and apply for work residence permit within 30 days. A manufacturing enterprise was punished for failing to complete the certificate processing within the prescribed time limit, resulting in the illegal residence of foreign equipment debugging experts. During the examination and approval process, the enterprise needs to cooperate with the on-site inspection. A chemical enterprise failed to prepare the work records of the director of the foreign laboratory in advance, resulting in the failure of the inspection to be rectified.

Key points of 4. follow-up management: dynamic monitoring and compliance update

Enterprises need to establish an early warning mechanism for the validity period of the employment certificate and set a reminder 90 days before the expiration of the certificate through the digital system. A financial enterprise faces the risk of labor disputes because it fails to renew the employment permit for foreign analysts in time, resulting in the interruption of its legal employment status. Job changes need to be re-declared. An Internet company was found to be illegal employment because it did not report the transfer of foreign product manager to marketing director.

The annual work report and performance evaluation form of foreign employees shall be submitted during the annual review. A foreign company demonstrated the technical contribution of foreign engineers through quantitative indicators, such as the number of patent applications, project savings, etc., and successfully passed the annual examination and obtained the extension of the employment permit. Resignation management needs to cancel the employment permit simultaneously. An energy enterprise failed to cancel the certificate of foreign engineers in time, resulting in its resignation being still included in the enterprise's employment index, affecting the subsequent introduction of talents. Enterprises need to keep employment permits to handle the whole process of archives, a multinational company due to lack of archives in the labor inspection was punished.

5. risk prevention and control strategies: typical cases and solutions

Material fraud is the highest risk. A trading company forged overseas work experience certificates for foreign employees, was included in the "blacklist" and canceled the 3-year employment permit application qualification. Enterprises should establish an internal audit mechanism to ensure the authenticity of materials through background checks and third-party certification. For example, an automotive company commissioned a professional organization to conduct due diligence on the overseas projects of foreign design directors and successfully avoided compliance risks.

Over-range employment is a common violation. A foreign designer was engaged in management work with an employment permit and was identified as "not qualifying for employment in accordance with the employment permit", and both the company and the individual were punished. Enterprises need to clarify job responsibilities in the labor contract and strengthen compliance awareness through regular training. A manufacturing enterprise has established a post compliance inspection system to check the consistency between the work content of foreign employees and the scope of employment permit on a quarterly basis.

Cross-region flow requires re-approval. A foreign company transferred a foreign employee of its Beijing branch to work in Shanghai and did not re-apply for the change of employment permit, resulting in the employee's illegal employment in Shanghai. Enterprises should establish a personnel flow reporting system to ensure that the employment permit is consistent with the actual workplace. A logistics enterprise updates the working location information of foreign employees in real time through ERP system, and automatically triggers the change reminder function.

The management of employment permits for foreign employees is a systematic project. Enterprises need to build a full-chain compliance system from qualification review, material preparation, approval process to subsequent management. Through standardized process design and dynamic risk prevention and control, it can not only give full play to the professional value of foreign talents, but also avoid legal risks caused by improper operation, and provide a solid guarantee for the internationalization strategy of enterprises.