On the weekend at a fitness center, I met my fitness coach Daisy. In casual conversation,I learned that this professional fitness coach had just arrived in A city and started working in just two days. The sensitivity of my profession makes me want to learn more. Upon closer conversation, it was discovered that Daisy had come to China three months ago. Initially, she worked as a fitness coach at a fitness institution in B city. However, due to personal reasons, Daisy resigned from her previous employer and moved to the current fitness center in A city. Due to the remaining validity period of the original work permit being 9 months, both she and her current employer believe that she can return to work with the original certificate. In the end, due to the failure to change the work permit in a timely manner, the fitness center in City A was fined RMB X thousand by the public security organs as a punishment.To avoid more similar cases, today, let me share with you the relevant knowledge about changing work permits.

周末在某家健身中心中，我认识了我的健身教练黛西。闲聊中，我得知这位专业的健身教练刚来到A城市不过短短两天就上岗工作了。职业的敏感性使我忍不住想多了解一下。细问之下，才发现原来黛西早在三个月前就来到中国，最初在B城市一家健身机构担任健身教练，后来因个人原因，黛西从原工作单位离职了，来到了A城市现在这家健身中心。由于原工作许可证还剩余有效期9个月，所以她本人和现工作单位都以为可以持原证件重新上岗。最终，因未及时变更工作许可证，A城市这家健身中心被公安机关罚款了人民币X千元作为处罚。未避免更多的类似案例发生，今天，就让我给大家普及一下有关变更工作许可证的相关知识。

According to legal regulations, the employer of a foreigner employed in China must be consistent with the unit indicated on the work permit. If a foreigner changes their employer within the region specified by the issuing authority but still engages in the same occupation, they must obtain approval from the original issuing authority and complete the procedures for changing the work permit. After a foreigner is approved for an extended employment period in China or a change in employment region or unit, they shall, within 10 days, go to the local public security organ's entry and exit administration department to handle the extension or change procedures for their residence permit.

根据法律规定，外国人在中国就业的用人单位，必须与其工作许可证所注明的单位相一致。外国人在发证机关规定的区域内变更用人单位，但仍从事原职业的须经原发证机关批准，办理工作许可证变更手续。外国人被批准延长在中国就业期限或变更就业区域、单位后，应在10日内到当地公安机关出入境管理部门办理居留证件延期或变更手续。

Before a foreigner starts working at a new employer after leaving their previous one, they must complete the procedures for changing their work permit. The prerequisite for changing the work permit is to engage in the same occupation as at the previous employer. For example, in the case of our fitness coach Daisy, although she changed employers, she still works as a fitness coach, so she can change her original work permit without the need to re-apply for an employment permit notification.

外国人在上一家工作单位离职后，到下一家单位聘任前，一定要将工作许可证变更完成，方可开始新工作。变更工作许可证的前提条件是，从事与上一家工作单位相同的岗位。比如我们例子中的健身教练黛西，虽然换了不同的工作单位，但她仍然从事健身教练这一行业，所以可以将原有的工作许可证进行变更，不需要重新申请就业许可通知书。

Now, some may ask, what is the difference between changing a work permit and re-applying for a work permit?

那么有人可能要问了，变更工作许可证和重新申请工作许可证有何不同之处呢？

The difference lies in the convenience offered to applicants to a certain extent. On one hand, applicants can directly obtain a new work permit in China based on their still-valid work-type residence permit, without the need to first obtain a "Foreigner Work Permit Notification" from a Chinese embassy overseas to apply for a Chinese work visa (Z visa). On the other hand, when submitting application materials, if the documents submitted by the previous employer for the applicant's work permit meet the requirements of the Foreign Experts Bureau, these documents can be reused without the need for re-processing and submission. Otherwise, it is necessary to re-process and submit relevant documents that meet the validity requirements.

不同之处在于前者一定程度上方便了申请人操作办理。一方面，申请人可以凭借仍然有效的工作类居留许可，直接在国内换领新的工作许可证，而无需事先凭借《外国人工作许可通知》到境外的中国大使馆办理中国工作签证（Z 签证）；另一方面，在提交申请材料时，关于无犯罪记录证明等相关文件，若上一家工作单位为申请人办理工作许可证时提交过的文件符合外专局要求，则可继续沿用，无需再次办理并提交。否则，需要重新办理并提交符合有效期要求的相关文件证明。

It should be noted that before changing the work permit, the original work permit should be promptly cancelled.If the applicant terminates the contract or dissolves the employment relationship before the expiration of the contract, the employer shall, within 10 working days from the date of the occurrence of the event, apply to the decision-making authority for cancellation. In addition, many people may mistakenly believe that cancelling a work permit is an easy task, but in reality, it is not. In our experience with permit processing, we have encountered many applicants who were unable to normally cancel their work permit due to the inability to submit corresponding materials, resulting in the inability to normally change or re-apply for a new work permit.If the applicant originally obtained the work permit based on salary commitment, they need to submit proof of salary and tax payment that meets the commitment requirements during the start and end dates of employment when cancelling. If the amount does not match or the time is lacking, they will not be able to smoothly obtain the work permit cancellation certificate. Additionally, if the applicant was allowed to omit certain documents when applying for the work permit, they need to first complete these documents before successfully cancelling the work permit. Please pay attention to these situations from the beginning to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future.

需要特别注意的是，在变更工作许可证之前，应及时注销原工作许可证。如申请人提前终止合同、解除聘用关系的，用人单位应当于事项发生之日起10个工作日内向决定机构申请注销。另外，大多数人容易有个误区，认为注销工作许可证是件很轻松容易的事情，其实不然。在我们的办证经验中，也曾遇见不少申请人因无法提交相应材料而无法正常注销工作许可证，而导致不能重新正常变更或者新办工作证。！！！若申请人最初在办理工作许可证时是按照薪资承诺事项准入的，那么在注销之际，则需要提交本人工作起止日期内符合承诺要求的工资流水以及纳税证明，如果金额不相符和缺少时间都不能顺利获得工作许可注销证明；另有一些申请人在申请工作许可证时被允许容缺某些文件，那么注销时也需要先补齐这些文件，才能成功注销。请申请人从一开始重视上述情况，避免未来给自己带来不可逆转的麻烦。