On October 28, 2020, Guangzhou Foreign Affairs announced on its official account that as of October 20, they had approved 7,011 applications for foreign applicant to return back to China, involving 1,244 enterprises and schools. As of now, 6,529 people from 81 countries have received invitation letters by the provincial foreign affairs office, including foreign teachers, business executives, engineering and technical personnel, academicians, directors, players, chefs and all their family members
Returning of Foreigners
Per the Foreign Affairs Office of Guangzhou, there is no visa refusal among the foreigners who have received the invitation letter across Guangzhou, so it provides the greatest convenience for local foreigners to work and live in the city. Below is the industry acceptance scope of the invitation letter.
- Schools at all levels;
- Key technology enterprises;
- Commercial and trade enterprises;
- Enterprises of finance, insurance, education, sports and culture;
- Chamber of commerce;
- Representative office of enterprises.
Furthermore, as per the announcement, Guangzhou is one of the first group of cities that have issued invitation letters to foreign teachers and bring them back to China.
Favorable Policies for Better Living
Besides expanding the scope and occupation of the application for invitation letter, the Guangzhou Entry-Exit administration has also issued a series of favorable policies to solve the problem of obtaining permits for local foreigners during the epidemic period, including visas and residence permits, which are as follows:
- Set up the online processing channel for foreigners’ visa certificates, and coordinate the postal companies to carry out the “two-way express” business;
- Create the “whole-day” online service, foreign applicants can enjoy the counselling service on a 24-hour run;
- Promote the one-window service for foreign high-end talents to apply for work permits and residence permits;
- Implement the paperless examination and approval of entry and exit procedures for foreigners;
- Decentralize the authority of visa documents for foreigners to the regional bureaus.
It is worth noticing that the Guangzhou Foreign Affairs actively promotes the return of foreigners to China via the above-mentioned policies, which also promotes the resumption of work, production and education across the city.
