Changing employers in China: the work permit is not “changed” — it is cancelled and re-applied (Guangzhou, 2026)

The step people get wrong when changing jobs in China is not finding the new employer. It is the Foreigner's Work Permit (FWP) already in their hand. Many assume it works like a passport number or a name — you open the system, click "change", and it follows you across. Guangzhou's current guide does not say that.

This piece puts the source text of every step on the table: which matters actually go through the "change" service, why moving to a new employer means cancelling first and re-applying, what decides whether you re-apply from inside or outside China, what the three identical-looking "10 days" each govern, what working during the gap is called in law, and the two changes that landed in August and September 2026 — one in Guangzhou, one nationwide.

The sources quoted here are the Guide to Apply for Foreigner's Work Permit (FWP) in Guangzhou (Amended in 2020), the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (as amended in 2025), Guangzhou Municipal Government Decree No. 223, and State Council Decree No. 841. Requirements differ by locality — confirm with your local accepting agency.

1. The short answer

If you move to a new employer, the old work permit is cancelled and a new one is applied for. As to whether that new application is made from within China or from outside China, the most direct provision — Remark 2 under the guide’s "Change" section — gives exactly one test: whether your previous residence permit is still within its validity period. But two other passages in the same guide fork differently (the Application Criteria for filing from within China add the condition that your position has not changed, and Remark 3 under "Extension" forks by talent category). Section 3 puts all three side by side.

2. What the "change" service actually covers

Start with what "change" handles. In Part VII, section (V) of the Guide to Apply for Foreigner's Work Permit (FWP) in Guangzhou (Amended in 2020) — "Guide for Extension, Change, Re-issuance or Cancellation of Foreigner's Work Permit and Cancellation of Notification Letter of FWP" — the subsection "Documents Required for Change of FWP" opens with a single sentence:

For any change with the personal information (name, passport, position and category) of a foreigner with a FWP, an application for change shall be made within 10 working days since the change occurs.

One sentence. The four items named in the brackets are name, passport, position and category. One caution about this very sentence: the Chinese original reads 「个人信息（姓名、护照号、职务、类别）等事项发生变更的」. The character 等 makes that an open list, and the official English above has no word answering to it. The official English is narrower than the Chinese here. The Chinese text governs — those four are not exhaustive. In the same subsection, item 2 of the checklist — "Proofs of change" — sets out four situations, and the one dealing with position reads, in the guide's official English, "For any change of job titles with the same employer, for instance, change from a professional/technical position to an administrative/management position…" — the part elided after the dash sets out which documents that situation requires. Either way, it is confined to the same employer.

In other words, "change" handles information that has changed on one and the same work permit. Moving to a different company is not in that set.

3. The employer-change provision looks at your residence permit — two other passages do not

This is the single most important passage in the article. In the same guide, the Remarks under "Documents Required for Change of FWP" run to 4 items; this article quotes item 2. The other three cover change of nationality, the translation requirement for non-Chinese documents, and the fact that the whole procedure is online. Item 2 reads:

When an applicant changes his/her employer or position/job, his/her last FWP should be canceled and a new application should made for FWP. If his/her last Residence Permit is still within the validity period, he/she should apply for the new FWP according to the procedures of Applying for FWP from Within China; if his/her last Residence Permit is expired, he/she should apply for a new FWP according to the procedures of Apply for FWP from Outside China.

Two sentences (quoted verbatim from the official English version, including its wording). The second one is the point: the test is whether the previous residence permit is still valid — not your talent category (A/B/C), and not whether your position changed.

The matching provision sits in Part VII, section (II) — "Guide to Apply for Foreigner's Work Permit (90 days or more)" — under sub-section 2, "Apply for FWP from Within China", Application Criteria. The 90-days-or-more qualifier matters: Part VII (III) is the separate short-term guide for 90 days or less and has its own, different criteria list. That list has nine items (item ⑧ itself describes two situations), and item ② is precisely the change-of-employer case:

② A foreigner working in China and intending to work for a different company, with the job position (occupation) remaining the same and valid work-type residence permit;

This item carries one condition the Remark above does not: the job position (occupation) remaining the same.

One difference in wording has to be reported honestly rather than resolved on the accepting agency's behalf. The Remarks under "Documents Required for Extension of FWP" in the same guide also address a change of position — those Remarks run to 4 items, and this article quotes item 3; the other three cover the employer's seal on photocopies, the 30–90 day window for filing an extension, and updating employer or handler information. Item 2 carries a category fork of its own: miss the window and Category A re-applies from within China while other categories re-apply from outside. Item 3 forks by category:

3.When an applicant changes his/her position/job (the job nature has changed) or nationality, his/her last FWP should be canceled and a new application should be made for FWP (applicants of Category A have to re-apply according to the procedures of Applying for FWP from Within China, and applicants of Category B or C have to re-apply according to the procedures of Applying for Notification Letter of FWP from Outside China); whenever the Date of Birth and the Gender has changed, the applicant's last FWP should be canceled and a new application must be made for FWP according to the procedures of Applying for FWP from Within China and supporting documents should be provided.

One sentence. This one sits under "Extension" and addresses the case where the same employer keeps you on but the nature of the job has changed; the earlier one sits under "Change" and addresses moving to a new employer or a new position. The two do not cover identical ground, and they fork on different tests. Send both to your new employer's handler before applying and have them confirm with the accepting agency which one applies to you.

4. The order is nailed down by the checklist: cancel first, then apply

A common question: can the new permit be approved first, and the old one cancelled afterwards? The "Documents Required" subsection of "Guide to Apply for FWP from Within China" answers it:

The documents required are basically the same as the application documents for Apply for FWP from Outside China listed in Table 1 and Table 2. If the applicant meets the conditions for job changes from within China and related records can be checked in the System, he/she is not required to submit academic degree certificates, proof of work experiences and no criminal record certificate, yet, he/she is required to upload valid residence permit and FWP Cancellation Certificate of his/her last job.

Two sentences. The "FWP Cancellation Certificate of his/her last job" in the second sentence is an attachment that has to be uploaded — so it has to exist first. The order can only be: old permit cancelled, cancellation certificate obtained, and only then can the new employer complete the from-within-China filing. (Strictly, that sentence is scoped to applicants "who meet the conditions for job changes from within China" and whose records are visible in the System; outside that group, what you file is for the accepting agency to say.) (The part about not having to re-submit degree, work experience and criminal record documents is covered in our earlier piece on the three routes for degree verification; we will not repeat it here.)

And cancellation is, as a rule, not an action you can initiate. The subsection "Documents Required for Cancellation of FWP" in the same guide opens with:

The Foreigner's Work Permit shall be canceled automatically if not extended before the date of expiration. The approving agency will cancel those deactivated, withdrawn or revoked according to regulations. In case of death/incapacity of the applicant, or termination of contract/employment, the employer shall apply for canceling the FWP with the deciding agency within 10 working days after the foresaid events. If the employer is shut down, the applicant may apply for canceling the FWP with the deciding agency.

Four sentences. Of the four, the only situation in which the applicant may apply for cancellation personally is the fourth — the employer is shut down. Where the contract or the employment is terminated, the duty sits with the employer.

So what can you do if the old employer still exists and simply sits on the cancellation? This edition of the guide does not say. We are not going to invent an answer for it. In that situation, get a practising lawyer first and let the lawyer decide who should explain the situation, when, and to which authority — rather than signing some "statement of circumstances" with the old employer on your own.

5. What the three "10 days" each govern

There are three "10s" on this chain. They govern three different things and rest on different parties. Mixing them up costs time:

The first two are working days; the third is calendar days. The first two sit with the science and technology authority; the third sits with the exit/entry administration of the public security organ.

There is a fourth number people assume exists — how many days you have after cancellation to re-apply. The Beijing municipal government's English page on changing employment says "you should apply for a new work permit within 3 months from the date of cancellation", with a separate "within 30 days from the date of cancellation" for internal transfers inside regional headquarters and corporate groups. That is Beijing. We searched the full text of Guangzhou's 2020-amended guide and found no provision requiring re-application within any number of days of cancellation. Guangzhou does have a 30-day clock, but it governs something else — the Measures on Deepening Guangzhou-Foshan Integration to Facilitate Foreign Talent Working in China provide that where personnel move internally within multinational headquarters or corporate groups across the two cities, a new work permit application filed within 30 days of cancellation need not include the criminal record certificate or the medical report. That is a document-waiver window, not a filing deadline, and it only holds for intra-group moves between those two cities. Miss the 30 days and you lose the waiver, not your eligibility. The clocks actually running on you are your residence permit's validity and the 10 days above.

6. The residence permit side: what the law says, and what it does not

The work permit guide says two things about residence permits, and leaving either one out causes trouble.

The first is the test — "is the previous residence permit still valid" — covered in section 3 above. The second sits in the guide's Preface and is about how the new permit is obtained:

2. For foreigners in China: Applicants who are eligible to apply for FWP from within China can apply for the FWP directly. With the FWP, he/she can apply for the residence permit at the exit-entry administration departments of Guangzhou public security authorities.

Two sentences in the official English; the Chinese is a single sentence, and the split is the English version's own. This is the last link in the chain: the new FWP being approved does not mean you are done. You still have to take it to the exit/entry administration of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau for a new work-type residence permit. The Preface's from-outside-China paragraph ends on the same step.

What the guide does not say is the other half: what happens to the work-type residence permit you already hold once the old work permit is cancelled, and how long it survives. For that, go back to the law and the regulations.

Article 33 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China has 2 paragraphs, one sentence each:

The registered items of a foreign residence permit shall include name, sex, date of birth, reason for residence and duration of residence of the holder, date and place of issuance, passport number or other international travel documents number.

Where the registered item in a foreigner's residence permit has changed, the holder shall, within 10 days from the date of change, apply to the exit/entry administration of public security organ under the local people's government at or above the county level in the place of residence for going through the formalities for alteration.

The list of registered items in the first paragraph is open-ended in the Chinese — it closes on 等, "and so on" — and includes "reason for residence", but it does not list the employer separately. Note that the official English above, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bilingual text, ends at "…other international travel documents number." with no word answering to 等. Read as English alone that list looks closed; the Chinese governs and it is not. Whether changing employer constitutes a change in a registered item is not spelled out, and the determination rests with the exit/entry administration of the public security organ — ask them before you file.

The old employer carries a separate reporting duty. Article 26 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (promulgated in 2013 by State Council Decree No. 637, amended and re-published under State Council Decree No. 814 of 7 August 2025; that amending decision took effect on 1 October 2025) has one introductory sentence and four items; this article quotes item (1). The other three cover foreign students leaving school, violations of exit and entry administration rules, and death or disappearance:

Upon discovery of one of the following circumstances, the entity that employs a foreigner or admits a foreign student shall, in a timely manner, report to the exit and entry administration authority of the public security organ of the local people's government at or above the county level:

(1) A foreigner employed resigns or changes employment location;

Which means your resignation from the old employer is something the old employer has to report to the exit/entry administration.

Failing to file the residence permit alteration has consequences on two levels. The lighter one is Article 76, paragraph 1 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, which has one introductory sentence and six items; this article quotes item (4). The other five cover refusing document inspection, refusing to submit the residence permit for examination, birth registration and death declaration, using another person's documents, and failing to register when residing somewhere other than a hotel under Article 39, paragraph 2 (hotel registration sits in Article 76, paragraph 2, outside this list):

(4) Foreigners fail to go through the formalities for altering registration in accordance with the relevant regulations when there is any change in the registered items in their residence permits;

The penalty attached to that item is the one stated in the introductory sentence: "a warning shall be given, and a fine of not more than RMB 2,000 yuan may also be imposed".

The heavier one is Article 34 of the Regulations. Its first paragraph has one introductory sentence and four items; this article quotes item (3). The other three cover lost or damaged documents, documents not confiscated after an exit or deportation decision, and the statutory grounds for refusing issuance:

In one of the following circumstances, the visa, stay permit or residence permit held by a foreigner shall be declared null and void by the issuing authority:

(3) The original purpose of residence has been changed, but he or she fails to report to the exit and entry administration authority of the public security organ within the prescribed time limit and fails to do so even after the said organ has given a public notice thereon; or

The text says "the original purpose of residence has been changed". Your purpose of residence is "work" from beginning to end; whether swapping employers counts as a change of that purpose is again a determination, and the exit/entry administration's reading governs. It is here to make one thing clear: the residence permit does not lapse automatically just because the work permit is cancelled, but neither does it stay valid unconditionally — there is a route to being declared null and void, triggered by failure to report in time.

7. Working during the gap is unlawful employment

This is the one thing in this article that cannot be left vague. Article 43 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law has one introductory sentence and three items:

Any of the following acts of foreigners shall be deemed unlawful employment:

(1) Work in China without obtaining work permits or work-type residence permits in accordance with relevant regulations;

(2) Work in China beyond the scope prescribed in the work permits; or

(3) Foreign students work in violation of the regulations on the administration of foreign students working to support their study in China and work beyond the prescribed scope of jobs or prescribed time limit.

Whether starting at the new employer after the old permit is cancelled and before the new one is approved falls under item (1) or item (2) is for the public security organ to determine; we are not making that call. The exposure, however, is written down. Article 80 has 3 paragraphs, one sentence each:

Foreigners who work in China illegally shall be fined not less than RMB 5,000 but not more than RMB 20,000 yuan; where circumstances are serious, they shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than fifteen days and shall also be fined not less than RMB 5,000 yuan but not more than RMB 20,000 yuan.

Persons who introduce jobs to ineligible foreigners shall be fined RMB 5,000 yuan for each job illegally introduced to one foreigner, with a cap of not more than RMB 50,000 yuan in total; and entities that introduce jobs to ineligible foreigners shall be fined RMB 5,000 yuan for each job illegally introduced to one foreigner, with a cap of RMB 100,000 yuan in total; and the illegal gains, if any, shall be confiscated.

Individuals or entities that illegally employ foreigners shall be fined RMB 10,000 yuan for each illegally employed foreigner, with a cap of RMB 100,000 yuan in total; and the illegal gains, if any, shall be confiscated.

Fines are not the worst outcome. Article 81 has 3 paragraphs — one sentence each in the first and the third, two in the second:

Where foreigners engage in activities not corresponding to the purposes of stay or residence, or otherwise violate the laws or regulations of China, which makes them no longer eligible to stay or reside in China, they may be ordered to exit China within a time limit.

Where a foreigner's violation of this Law is serious but does not constitute a crime, the Ministry of Public Security may deport them. The penalty decision made by the Ministry of Public Security shall be final.

Deported foreigners shall not be allowed to enter China within 10 years calculating from the date of deportation.

Note the second half of paragraph 2 and the whole of paragraph 3: the Ministry of Public Security's decision is final, and deportation carries a 10-year bar on entry. Any arrangement that touches the lawfulness of your status in China has to be weighed against this article.

That route, though, needs "serious" circumstances and a Ministry-level decision. The one reached more often is Article 62, which puts unlawful residence and unlawful employment side by side among the grounds for repatriation. It has 3 paragraphs — the first is one introductory sentence and four items, the second and third one sentence each. This article quotes item (3) of the first paragraph and the third paragraph; the other three items cover failing to leave within an ordered time limit, being subject to grounds for refusal of entry, and other violations requiring repatriation:

Under any of the following circumstances, foreigners may be repatriated:

(3) Illegally reside or work in China; or

Repatriated persons shall not be allowed to enter China for one to five years, calculating from the date of repatriation.

One more provision is easy to miss. Item (3) of Article 59, paragraph 1 lists "foreigners suspected of illegal residence or illegal employment" among the grounds for continued interrogation; Article 60, paragraph 1 allows detention for investigation on that basis; and Article 60, paragraph 3 reads: "The period of detention for investigation shall not exceed 30 days; for complicated cases, the period may be extended to 60 days upon approval by the public security organs under the local people's governments at the next higher level or by the exit/entry border inspection authorities." So do not treat "five to fifteen days" as the worst case — fifteen days is the ceiling on the administrative detention in Article 80; detention during investigation is a separate thing, on a different clock.

One more thing worth saying plainly: paragraph 3 of Article 80 exposes the employer to RMB 10,000 per person. A new employer's "just start working, we'll sort the paperwork out" arrangement puts the employer in the frame too — but its interests and yours are not necessarily aligned. If it is already happening, the order is: get a practising lawyer first, then decide who explains what, when, and to which authority.

8. Where to file, and how long it takes

The window. Under the Announcement (Guangzhou Foreigners' Work Service Window relocated to Guangzhou Immigration Service Center), issued by the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Guangzhou Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs), from 9 October 2025 the Guangzhou Foreigner's Work Service Window moved in its entirety to the One-Stop Service Window for Foreigners Working in China at the Guangzhou Immigration Service Center, at the 4th Floor, Entry and Exit Reception Hall for Foreigners of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, No. 155 Jiefang South Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. The former service counters 516 and 517 on the 5th Floor of the Guangzhou Government Affairs Center closed after 30 September 2025. Service hours stated separately in the same announcement are Monday to Friday 9:00-12:00 and 13:00-17:00, closed on weekends and public holidays; the enquiry line is the Guangzhou government service hotline, 020-12345. The announcement lists five services provided at that window: Foreigner's Work Permit in China; Confirmation Letter for High Level Foreign Talents; Invitation Letter for Foreign Experts; Recognition of High Level Foreign Talents; and Recognition of High Level Talents From Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

Huangpu and Nansha need a second look. Decision of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government on Adjusting Certain Municipal Administrative Powers (Guangzhou Municipal Government Decree No. 223, adopted at the 121st executive meeting of the 16th Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government on 13 April 2026, signed and promulgated by the Mayor on 24 June 2026, in force from 1 August 2026; the copy we read is the one reposted by the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau on 1 July 2026) carries Annex 2, the catalogue of municipal administrative powers delegated to the districts. Item 10 of that annex reads (our working translation; the decree is published in Chinese only):

The three matters named after "limited to" are exactly this article's handling, change and cancellation. Two clarifications. First, in the flow chart of the 2020-amended guide, the Science and Technology Bureaus of Huangpu District and Nansha District were already accepting agencies for the Notification Letter and the FWP; Decree No. 223 adjusts the delegated exercise of a municipal administrative power, and is not the first time these two districts appear. Second, that annex table only has the columns matter, type, municipal implementing body, receiving body and remarks — it does not say whether cases are routed by the employer's registered address or by the place of work, and it does not separately list extension or re-issuance. We are not filling in columns the table does not have; ask which level will accept your filing before you submit.

One more thing sits in the body above the annex and matters more than the effective date. Part 1 of the decision, "Ensuring a proper handover", says (our working translation):

Within 10 days from the date this decision takes effect, the relevant municipal units shall complete the handover of the adjusted powers with the relevant district units. … From the date of handover, the receiving unit shall handle the relevant matters within its remit, and matters already accepted by the original unit shall continue to be completed by it.

So: the real switchover is the handover date, not 1 August (the decision only caps the handover at 10 days), and a case already accepted by the municipal bureau stays with the municipal bureau. If you have a filing in progress, do not re-submit it to a district desk just because you saw "1 August".

Timing. The guide states: for extension, review and a decision within 5 working days; for change, re-issuance and cancellation, review and a decision within 1 working day. A new from-within-China application follows the same procedure as "Apply for FWP After Entering China" — online pre-examination within 5 working days, and a decision by the deciding agency within 5 working days counting from the day after the documents are accepted. What actually eats the calendar is usually the cancellation and the rounds of document corrections, not the review itself. On expedited handling and extended service hours, see our piece on how much faster Guangzhou's "urgent handling" really is.

9. From 15 September 2026: one extra question if you plan to use an agency

The Provisions of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration (State Council Decree No. 841, adopted at the 90th executive meeting of the State Council on 29 June 2026 and published on 22 July 2026) takes effect on 15 September 2026. Its Article 7 has 3 paragraphs, the second of which has 3 sentences. The decree is published in Chinese only; this is our working translation, and the Chinese text governs:

The State shall apply filing-based administration to institutions and persons that, on the commission of persons exiting or entering China, provide intermediary services such as exit and entry policy consultation, document handling on behalf of clients, and procedural handling.

An institution providing exit and entry intermediary services shall file with the immigration administration authority at its location within 15 days from the date of its establishment. Persons providing exit and entry intermediary services shall have the filing formalities completed by the institution to which they belong. Those already providing exit and entry intermediary services before these Provisions take effect shall complete the filing formalities within 90 days from the date these Provisions take effect.

The specific measures for filing-based administration of institutions and persons providing exit and entry intermediary services shall be formulated by the national immigration administration department together with the State Council market regulation and other competent departments.

The text says "intermediary services such as exit and entry policy consultation, document handling on behalf of clients, and procedural handling". It does not name work permit agency work. The work permit is granted by the science and technology authority and is not itself an exit or entry document; the second half of this chain — the work-type residence permit — is. Where the boundary falls is left by the third paragraph to separate measures to be formulated by the national immigration administration department together with the market regulation and other competent departments. Until those measures appear, the immigration administration's reading governs.

The last paragraph of Article 8 of the same Provisions states that overseas enterprises and institutions shall not provide exit and entry intermediary services within China; Article 10 lists six prohibited acts for such institutions, item (2) being providing or assisting in providing false materials, or assisting others in irregularly obtaining visas, stay or residence permits, passports or other exit and entry documents or formalities. What you can do is simple: establish who exactly you are engaging, whether they have filed or will file, and what the scope of that filing is.

Worth noting alongside: the Guangzhou guide has its own separate requirement — where a specialised service agency handles the filing, an authorisation letter from the employer must be submitted specifying the entrusted organisation, the specific entrusted person and the entrusted matters, with the entrusted person's ID number and phone number, one authorisation per person per matter, and the specialised service agency must be registered in the System. These are two different registrations; do not treat them as one.

10. One line, pick yours

• You are in Guangzhou, changing employer, the job position (occupation) is unchanged, and your work-type residence permit is still valid: this lands squarely in item ② of the guide's Application Criteria for applying from within China. What you do is push the old employer to file the cancellation and obtain the FWP Cancellation Certificate for your last job, so the new employer can file the from-within-China application in the system. Once the new FWP is issued there is a further step that is yours: per the guide's Preface, take the FWP to the exit/entry administration of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau for the work-type residence permit. Separately, where a registered item on a residence permit changes, Article 33, paragraph 2 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law requires the holder in person to apply for the alteration within 10 days — whether an employer change counts as such a change is theirs to determine (section 6) — so ask early rather than waiting.
• You are in Guangzhou, changing employer, and the job position (occupation) has changed too: the Remark under "Change" forks only on whether the previous residence permit is valid; the Remark under "Extension" forks by category for a change of position. Send both to the new employer's handler and have them confirm with the accepting agency which one you take. Do not guess. You also have a channel of your own: the Guangzhou government service hotline on 020-12345, or the one-stop window in section 8. The answer may be "leave China and re-apply", so do not rely solely on the employer's handler getting back to you — the time pressure on them is not the time pressure on you.
• You are in Guangzhou and your old work-type residence permit has already expired: first work out what your status is right now. If nothing replaced that permit and you hold no other valid stay or residence document, item (1) of Article 25 of the Regulations — "the applicant's stay or residence exceeds the duration specified in his or her visa, stay permit or residence permit" — makes that unlawful residence outright. Article 78, paragraph 1 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law attaches to unlawful residence "a warning; where circumstances are serious, … a fine of RMB 500 yuan per day, with a cap of RMB 10,000 yuan in total, or … detention for not less than five days but not more than 15 days", and Article 62 lists unlawful residence among the grounds for repatriation, with a one-to-five-year entry bar. Do not handle this one yourself: get a practising lawyer and let the lawyer decide how to explain it to the exit/entry administration. Once the status question is sorted, the work permit side goes through the from-outside-China procedure — the new employer applies for the Notification Letter in the system, and the applicant at that step is the employer, not you. After you re-enter there are two further clocks: per the guide's Preface, the FWP is applied for within 15 days of entry and the residence permit within 30 days of entry; Article 30, paragraph 1 of the Law puts the latter as "where visas held by foreigners specify that foreigners need to apply for residence permits after entry, such foreigners shall, within 30 days from the date of their entry, apply…". That one is on you.
• Your employer is in Huangpu District or Nansha District: handling, change and cancellation are received by the science and technology authorities of Huangpu and Nansha Districts (Decree No. 223, Annex 2, item 10). But the switchover is the date of handover between the municipal and district units, not 1 August (the decision caps the handover at 10 days from when it takes effect), and a case already accepted by the original unit is completed by that unit. The annex does not say whether routing follows the registered address or the place of work, so ask which level accepts your filing before you submit.
• The old employer will not file the cancellation: the guide only says that where the employer is shut down, the applicant may apply for cancellation with the deciding agency. It does not say what you can do while the old employer still exists and simply delays. Get a practising lawyer, and let the lawyer decide who explains what, when, and to which authority.
• You are already working at the new employer and the new permit is not approved: stop working as an employee of the new company and get a practising lawyer immediately — stopping has consequences under your employment contract, and that part is for the lawyer to weigh, so do not sign anything with the company first. Whether this is unlawful employment under Article 43 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law is for the public security organ to determine; Article 80 is the fines and administrative detention, Article 62 is repatriation plus a one-to-five-year entry bar, and Article 81, paragraph 3 is deportation plus a 10-year bar.
• It is your current employer relocating to another city, not you changing employers: the guide says a registered employer that changes its registered office address to another city must first cancel the valid foreigners' work permits under its account, then apply to change the account information, and re-apply for work permits after the new accepting agency approves. This operates at the employer-account level, and the locality that matters is the employer's new registration.
• You plan to engage an agency: from 15 September 2026, institutions and persons providing exit and entry intermediary services are under filing-based administration, with a 90-day transition for those already operating (State Council Decree No. 841, Article 7). Establish whether they have filed and what the scope of the filing is.

One closing note: every line above is scoped to Guangzhou and limited to the texts we were able to read. An employer and an accepting authority can ask for things no provision requires; requirements differ by locality, so confirm with your local accepting agency.

Sources

1. Guide to Apply for Foreigner's Work Permit (FWP) in Guangzhou (Amended in 2020), Chinese and English versions, Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau: http://kjj.gz.gov.cn/wjhgatrcyw/wgrlhgzxk/content/post_7034328.html
2. Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, National Immigration Administration: https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741440/n741547/c1013311/content.html
3. Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, Chinese-English bilingual text, Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: https://cs.mfa.gov.cn/wgrlh/bgzl/201307/t20130701_961342.shtml
4. Decision of the State Council on Amending the Regulations on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners (State Council Decree No. 814) and the re-published full text of the Regulations, gov.cn: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/202508/content_7036507.htm
5. Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, official English text, National Immigration Administration (this English text predates the 2025 amendment; that amendment added a sixth item to Article 6 and a sixth item to Article 7, paragraph 1, both for the K visa, and left Articles 26 and 34 as quoted here): https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147458/c155970/content.html
6. Decision of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government on Adjusting Certain Municipal Administrative Powers (Guangzhou Municipal Government Decree No. 223), reproduced by the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau: http://kjj.gz.gov.cn/wjhgatrcyw/wgrlhgzxk/content/post_10887127.html
7. Announcement (Guangzhou Foreigners' Work Service Window relocated to Guangzhou Immigration Service Center), Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Guangzhou Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs), dated 19 September 2025 — still the most recent item on the bureau's work-permit column as at 12 September 2026: http://kjj.gz.gov.cn/wjhgatrcyw/wgrlhgzxk/content/post_10461084.html
8. Provisions of the State Council on Exit and Entry Administration (State Council Decree No. 841), reproduced on the Ministry of Commerce "Going Global" public service platform: https://fec.mofcom.gov.cn/article/ggfw/crjfw/crjzcwj/202607/7209.html
9. Measures on Deepening Guangzhou-Foshan Integration to Facilitate Foreign Talent Working in China (Guangzhou and Foshan Municipal Science and Technology Bureaus; valid for 2 years from the date of issue): http://kjj.gz.gov.cn/wjhgatrcyw/wgrlhgzxk/content/post_10700562.html
10. Beijing Municipal Government English site, "Work Permit Application for Foreigners Currently Working in China who are Changing Employment" — used here only as a contrast, to show that Beijing's deadlines do not apply in Guangzhou: https://english.beijing.gov.cn/mostrequested/workpermit/changingemployment/

Neighbouring pieces in this series: can a foreigner take on a second job in China, and does Guangzhou still issue a physical work permit card.