China has begun strictly enforcing long-standing minimum salary requirements for its Category A and B foreign work permits, leading to sharp increases in required pay and a higher risk of rejection for both new applications and renewals – particularly in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Since early February, according to recent employer guidance from China Briefing, authorities have significantly upped their vigilance around verifying salary levels inside the mainland’s foreign work permit system. Applications failing to meet the required thresholds are getting automatically blocked at the system level, leaving no room for local discretion.
The salary-based entry rules state that Category A (high-end talent) applicants must earn at least six times the local average monthly social wage, while Category B applicants (most professional and skilled foreign employees) must earn at least four times that figure. Based on 2025 wage data, this puts minimum monthly salaries at about 71,600 yuan for Category A and 47,700 yuan for Category B workers in Beijing.
While these salary multipliers have existed on paper for a long time, enforcement softened during the pandemics. That flexibility has been withdrawn, with compliance checks resulting in on-the-ground required pay increases of about 50 percent more than the relaxed going rate seen in first-tier cities in recent years, China Briefing noted.
[See more: Shenzhen enforces age limit on foreign work permit renewals]
The update also introduces tighter procedural requirements. Applicants must now account for every month of their work, education and unemployment history without gaps, as missing periods will trigger system errors. Name formatting has been restricted to standard English characters, with no accents or symbols allowed.
Renewals face particular pressure, as foreign employees currently earning below the official thresholds face possible rejection if their salary can’t be adjusted in time. They may also need to submit additional documentation and can expect longer processing times. If a permit expires while an extension or modification is still under review, the system will automatically cancel the application and invalidate the permit.
Category C permits for lower-skilled, short-term or quota-based roles are not impacted by the changes, as they are not attached to an income threshold.
This year has also seen age requirements for Category B and C foreign employees tighten in Shenzhen, where authorities have been systematically rejecting renewal applications from applicants aged 60 and above. Analysts say the shift could become more widespread, given Shenzhen’s reputation as an early adopter of stricter labour enforcement measures.
