Geezer, your bus card experience proves nothing one way or the other concerning permanent residence cards.

It is extraordinarily difficult for a foreigner to get permanent residence in China. The few that I know personally are the handful of surviving old comrades who supported the revolution from before 1949, and some, but not all, of their children. Even among the children the process was not automatic but was sometimes dependent on them showing extraordinary service to China and receiving the China friendship award. The friendship award on its own is a route to a green card but I don't think it's automatic. Investing a large amount of money can qualify you for a green card as can family connections and I guess both of these are routes that are easier for overseas Chinese. Recently the government has started issuing green cards to highly qualified people as it tries to grow the high-tech sector. But the overall numbers remain tiny. By 2014 the government had issued 7,356 in total according to the South China Morning Post. Even allowing for the recent relaxation in the rules I can't imagine there are more than 15,000 in total now. So I guess the message is don't get your hopes up.

@Cloudtrapezer

You are mixing up the “Permanent Residence Permit” and “Chinese Nationality”. The later is indeed nearly out of reach but the PRP is becoming more common. Looks like you are speaking about a situation years ago but the times are changing.

@liuer2

Since you are retired, some of the benefits of the permanent residence status probably escape you.

But did you ever confirm what those wold be?

For example, does it really apply that PRP holders do not need work permit (or change to work visa) to be employed in China? Provided that they meet same employment criteria as local workers.

I faintly recall reading sometime last year, that China wants to pull retired people (teachers for example) back to work, and that could also apply to older (retired) foreigners with PRP who may otherwise be prevented from doing so by work permit age requirements.

@JanJal

Basically the same rules and regulations apply for PRP holders and Chinese citizens so yes it allows you to work. Mind you not all things have been adapted yet. One still has to report leaving and entering the country at your local police station.

Your second point looks unrealistic to me. Anyway I don’t get any retirement money from the Chinese state so how can they force me to work. And I am not a teacher.

@liuer2

Oh, I didn't mean the Chinese state would be forcing retired people to return to work, but allowing them. As it stands, there are some prohibitions for elder to work even if they want.

I have heard some older foreigners complaining about how they are not allowed to work in China even though both themselves and their prospective employers would want to. Their bottleneck seems to be in work permit, which would not be needed with PRP.

Personally I'm still in working age, and full-time employed both abroad and through partnership in China (also not teaching). For me, PRP could open backup options to easily find temp work "flipping burgers" if nothing else, in case the regular career has challenges.

Another technical question about your PRP - I assume that you didn't need to give up your passport for the whole 2 years while your application was processing? Were there stages at which they held your passport for extended periods?

@JanJal

You never have to give up your passport while the procedure runs. Only when submitting the application you have to show your passport and other originals (family book, marriage certificate etc) for verification that your submitted photocopies are real.
You still have to renew your 1 year residence permit in the normal way. I actually had to renew it three times during the two years it took because I had to renew my passport.

there are two shortcuts one can try. that is, become a hong kong permanent resident first then apply for Chinese nationality after. once you become a "Chinese," you can legally live and work in china. the other way is to become a Taiwan resident, works the same way. the hong kong route is better, because hong kong allows multiple citizenship. hahhahah

Geezer's bus card story indicates that even if the laws themselves aren't racist, the people carrying out the procedures are (perhaps subconsciously) racist, and need a nudge to do things fairly and give people access to the things they are entitled to by law.