Staying to Work in Guangzhou After a Master's Degree in China: the 2017 Graduate Route, Why Your Student Residence Permit Must Still Be Valid, and the Criminal Record Certificate from Home

Checked on 30 October 2026. We are an interpreting and translation company in Guangzhou (Guangzhou GuanRi Translation Service Co., Ltd.). We are not the work permit office, not the police, not a university, not a law firm and not an agency that handles applications. The service this article ends up recommending, translating the foreign documents in your application into Chinese, is one we sell ourselves. This is not legal advice. Every rule below comes from an official text, all linked in the sources; whether you qualify is decided by the work permit office and the public security exit-entry office, not by us. Where a sentence is our own reading rather than the wording of a text, we say so. This article does not use any company data of ours.

This article is for an international student who has finished, or is about to finish, a degree at a university in China and wants to stay and work in Guangzhou, and for the employer that wants to hire them. It covers the 2017 national notice that lets some graduates work in China without the usual two years of work experience, how Guangzhou's work permit guide applies it, what that does to your student residence permit, and the one document in the file that usually comes from abroad. It does not cover residents of Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, who are not foreign nationals.

1. Which case is yours

Your situation	What applies	What to do	Who decides
Master's degree or above from a university in China, graduated within one year, a job offer in Guangzhou, student residence permit still valid	The 2017 graduate route (section 2). Guangzhou's guide lets you apply from within China if you hold a valid residence permit (section 3). The work permit does not extend your student residence permit	Before your residence permit's end date, and 30 days before it if you can (section 3), ask the work permit window whether your file can be decided in time, and ask the exit-entry office (+86 12367) what happens to your residence if it cannot. The employer applies in the online system under the within-China module	Work permit: the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (Foreign Experts Affairs), whose window takes applications (4th floor, 155 Jiefang South Road, Yuexiu District; weekdays 9:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00; Guangzhou government service hotline 020-12345); the guide also lists the Huangpu and Nansha district science and technology bureaus as accepting agencies. Residence permit: the public security exit-entry office (+86 12367)
You have not graduated yet	The notice requires the corresponding degree (condition 4). Guangzhou's guide lets the university issue a statement where the degree has been awarded but the certificate is still being made; the same remark asks for that statement to be authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, by the embassy or consulate in China of the country where the degree was obtained, or by a Chinese academic qualification certification body; ask the window which it expects for a statement from a university in China. The criminal record certificate has a six-month limit (section 7)	Look at the end date on your residence permit now. Ask the window which documents can be prepared before graduation, and when the employer may start the 30-day advertisement. An internship endorsement is not a work permit: it covers only the place and period written on it, while you are a student	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; for the endorsement, the exit-entry office
Same as the first row, but your student residence permit has already ended, or will end before the employer can apply	The within-China procedure in Guangzhou's guide is written for graduates "holding valid Residence Permits"; the texts we read do not say what happens to a graduate whose permit has ended (section 3). Staying in China after the date on your permit is illegal residence (Article 25 of the regulations): a warning, and in serious cases a fine of RMB 500 a day up to RMB 10,000, or detention of 5 to 15 days (Article 78 of the law); you can also be repatriated and barred from entering for one to five years (Article 62)	If the date has not passed: ask the exit-entry office (+86 12367) and the work permit window (through the Guangzhou government service hotline 020-12345) now. Leave China before the date unless the exit-entry office has accepted an application from you and given you a receipt; the receipt lets you stay while your passport is held for that application (Articles 13 and 18 of the regulations). Once the reason for residence has ended, a stay permit of up to 30 days may be issued only for a humanitarian reason the office accepts; see our article on staying after work or study ends. If the date has passed and you are still in China: go in person to the exit-entry reception hall at 155 Jiefang South Road now; do not wait for a job offer first. If you need legal advice, contact a practising lawyer, but do not let that delay going	Residence and any penalty: the public security organs (Article 70 of the law); work permit: the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
Bachelor's degree only	The 2017 route is for master's degrees and above. You are back on the general rules: one of the routes for professionals (Category B) in the national classification standard is a bachelor's degree and two years or more of relevant work experience; the standard has other routes too	Read our article on degree verification and work permits, and ask the window which route fits you. If you want to start a business rather than be employed, see the row on starting a business	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
Graduated more than a year ago	The 2017 route covers graduates within one year of graduation	The general rules apply, as in the row above	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
Master's degree from a university outside China, and you are now in Guangzhou	The notice covers a master's degree or above from a well-known university outside China, graduated within one year; neither the notice nor the guide says which universities count. It sends these graduates through the work permit notice and a Z visa, and Guangzhou's guide does the same; the guide's within-China line is written for graduates of universities in China (section 3). A foreign degree has to be verified	Before anyone pays for verification or advertising, ask the window whether your university counts and where you would apply for the Z visa. Then read our degree verification article	Work permit: the Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; Z visa: the Chinese embassy or consulate that issues it
You want to start a business in Guangzhou instead	Guangzhou's residence permit list has a line for international students setting up a business here, under the private affairs residence permit (section 5). A private affairs residence permit is not a work permit	Ask the exit-entry office (+86 12367) what that permit allows you to do before you rely on it	The public security exit-entry office
Your average grade is not on a 100-point scale, or is close to 80	The notice asks for an average of at least 80 on a 100-point scale, or B+/B or above on a letter scale, and says other scales are converted to 100 points. It does not say who converts	Ask the window before the employer applies, with your transcript in hand	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
It is the second half of the year	The notice puts graduates under a quota; Guangzhou's guide says Guangzhou's quota comes from Guangdong Province and applications stop for the year once it is used up (section 6)	The employer asks the window whether this year's quota is still open, before it spends 30 days advertising the job	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
Your country's police do not issue the certificate, or getting it from home will take too long	Guangzhou's materials table for graduates accepts a non-sworn certificate issued by your country's embassy or consulate in China directly, without legalisation; a sworn statement of your own is not accepted (section 7)	Ask your embassy or consulate in China whether it issues one, then ask the window whether that one will be accepted	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
You have already started working, but the work permit and work residence permit are not issued yet	Working in China without a work permit and a work-type residence permit is illegal employment (Exit and Entry Administration Law, Article 43): a fine of RMB 5,000 to 20,000, and in serious cases detention of 5 to 15 days as well (Article 80); you can also be repatriated and barred from entering for one to five years (Article 62). The application form asks for your continuous work history since graduation, including time without work; false materials put the applicant on the system's dishonesty list; falsification in a residence permit application is a ground for refusing it (Article 21 of the regulations), and obtaining a residence permit by fraud is penalised (Article 73 of the law)	Stop. Do not leave this work out of the form or describe it as something else. If you need legal advice, contact a practising lawyer before the employer files; if your residence permit is close to its end date, do not let that delay going to the exit-entry office. If you are still a student, an internship endorsement covers only the place and period written on it; our article on student internships covers the endorsement	The public security organs (Article 70)
The job is in Foshan, Shenzhen or another city	This article reads Guangzhou's guide. Other cities publish their own	Ask the work permit office of the city where the job is	That city's work permit office
You are the employer	The employer files the application, and two requirements fall on the employer: proof that the job was advertised to domestic workers for 30 days through a local public employment and talent service (one of the documents), and the salary (one of the conditions) (section 2). The graduate may not start work until both the work permit and the work-type residence permit are issued: no unit may employ a foreigner without both (Article 41 of the law), and illegal employment costs the employer RMB 10,000 per person, up to RMB 100,000 (Article 80). The university, and later the employer, must report certain changes to the exit-entry office (section 4)	Start the 30-day advertisement early, ask the window whether the quota is open, and do not let the graduate start before both permits are issued. If a start has already happened, stop the work now; if you need legal advice, contact a practising lawyer, but do not wait for that to stop it	The Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau; for illegal employment, the public security organs

2. The 2017 notice: who it covers and what it asks

The rule comes from a notice issued on 6 January 2017 by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Ren She Bu Fa [2017] No. 3. Its opening says it is meant to allow some outstanding foreign graduates with no work experience to work in China. Its first part defines who it covers, in one sentence (our translation):

Foreign graduates include international students who obtained a master's degree or above from a university in China and graduated within one year, and foreign graduates who obtained a master's degree or above from a well-known university outside China and graduated within one year.

Part two lists six conditions: at least 18 years old and in good health; no criminal record; an average grade of at least 80 on a 100-point scale (other scales converted to 100 points) or B+/B or above on a letter scale, and no record of misconduct at the university; the corresponding academic qualification and degree; a definite employer and a job that matches the major; and a valid passport or equivalent travel document. The fifth condition is two sentences in Chinese, and Guangzhou's guide repeats it word for word. The official English of Guangzhou's guide splits it into three; these are the first two:

Having a certain employer and the job that fits in with his/her major. The salary shall be no less than the average income of the local employees.

The third says the standards are set by the provincial human resources and social security departments. The Chinese says the salary should "in principle" (原则上) be no lower than the average wage of employees of urban units in the area; the official English drops "in principle", so it reads stricter than the Chinese, and it also drops "urban". Go by the Chinese. Neither text gives a figure, and we do not give one either: ask the work permit window which figure Guangzhou applies this year.

Part three lists eight documents the employer submits: the graduate's CV; a letter of intent to hire, including the intended salary; a report on the reasons for hiring, including proof that the job was advertised to domestic workers through the local public employment and talent service for 30 days; proof of health; a certificate of no criminal record; degree and qualification documents; the university's statement of no misconduct and the transcript (graduates of universities outside China may omit the misconduct statement); and a photo taken within six months. Part four says the first work permit is valid for one year; the employer can renew it, for a period of no more than five years, but not if the tax the graduate actually pays is lower than the tax due on the salary offered, or if the salary is below the standard. Graduates are under a national quota, set for each province every year.

3. In Guangzhou: the within-China route needs a valid residence permit

The notice itself distinguishes the two groups. For international students who qualify, the authorities issue the work permit directly; graduates of universities outside China first get the employment licence (in Guangzhou's guide, the work permit notice), apply for a Z visa, and get the permit after they arrive. Guangzhou's work permit guide (2020 revision), part (6), turns that into procedure. Its official English for graduates of universities in China is two sentences; this is the first:

(2) International students obtaining master degrees or above from the universities in China for less than one year and holding valid Residence Permits, apply for FWP according to the procedures of Applying for FWP from Within China.

The second sentence tells the employer to choose the within-China module in the online system and then follow the same steps as an application made after entering China. Two details. First, the Chinese says "毕业一年以内", within one year of graduation, which on our reading includes the one-year mark; the official English "for less than one year" does not. Go by the Chinese. Neither says which date counts as graduation: if you are close to the one-year mark, ask the window how it is counted. Second, and this is the one that matters: "holding valid Residence Permits". The texts we read do not say what happens to a graduate whose residence permit has already ended.

That condition collides with how student residence permits are issued. The National Immigration Administration's residence permit guide says this about the study category, in its English text (the Chinese page is dated 2019; the English page, dated 2021, says its English is only for reference):

Residence permit may be issued with a residence period in consistent with the indicated term of study of the school/university.

So, on our reading, a student residence permit often ends at or soon after the end of the study period the university wrote in its letter. A graduate who finishes in summer and looks for a job in autumn may find the permit has ended before the employer can apply. The 2017 route itself lasts a year from graduation; the within-China procedure in Guangzhou needs the permit to be valid. Look at the end date printed on your permit now, and work back from it. The law asks for an application to extend a residence permit to be made at least 30 days before it expires (Article 32; its official English says "within 30 days prior to", which reads the other way round; go by the Chinese).

Once the work permit is issued, the residence side is the exit-entry office's. Guangzhou's list for the work-type residence permit asks for the work permit, or, if the permit itself is not issued yet, the work permit notice, plus a letter from the employer, the health certificate (first application only), your accommodation registration in Guangzhou and the employer's registration in the foreign-affairs unit system, and says the office decides within 7 working days. The national guide says a change in the reason for residence is handled by issuing a replacement permit on proof of the new reason. Whether your student residence permit is replaced by a work-type residence permit or a new one is issued is the exit-entry office's call: ask +86 12367.

4. When you graduate: the university reports it, and you may have a change to apply for

Article 26 of the Regulations on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners makes employers of foreigners and institutions that admit foreign students report certain changes to the public security exit-entry office "in a timely manner". The second of its four items, in the official English:

(2) A foreign student admitted has graduated, completed his or her course(s) or study, has quit school, or has left the school ungraduated;

The first item makes your future employer report it when a foreign employee resigns or changes work location.

Two more rules sit next to that one. The Exit and Entry Administration Law lists the reason for residence among the registered items of a residence permit, and says that when a registered item changes, the holder applies for the alteration within 10 days from the date of the change (Article 33); not doing so is punished with a warning, and a fine of up to RMB 2,000 may be added (Article 76). And Article 34 of the regulations says the issuing authority declares a permit void if the original reason for residence has changed and the holder has not reported it within the prescribed time limit, even after a public notice. Whether graduation itself, or only the start of a new job, counts as a change of the reason for residence, the texts we read do not say. They also do not say that a student residence permit stops being valid on the day of graduation, or that it stays valid to the printed date whatever happens. Ask +86 12367 within 10 days of graduating, since that is the time limit if graduation does count, and before you plan around the printed date. If you need legal advice on this, contact a practising lawyer, but make the call first.

5. Bachelor's graduates, and starting a business

The 2017 route is for master's degrees and above; a bachelor's graduate is on the general rules (first table, third row). There is one line in Guangzhou's own lists that mentions international students and is not about employment. The private affairs residence permit list (the Word file in the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau's residence permit pack, last modified 2 September 2026) lists, among its supporting documents by type of applicant, a line for international students starting a business in Guangzhou. The line reads (our translation):

(4) International students starting a business in Guangzhou: provide the business plan or proof of the enterprise to be set up, and their own academic qualification (degree) certificate; if it is from an educational institution outside China, it must also be authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad or by a verification body designated by the education authorities;

The list does not say what degree level is needed, how long the permit is, or whether it lets you be employed. The National Immigration Administration's English residence permit guide (2021, marked as being for reference only) describes 2–5 year residence permits for outstanding foreign students with a bachelor's degree or above from key universities in China who start a business or do innovation work here; we did not find that paragraph in the 2019 Chinese guide. A private affairs residence permit is not a work permit, and the illegal-employment rules in the first table still apply. Ask +86 12367 before you plan around this line.

6. Quota and time

Guangzhou's guide repeats the quota in its own words: Guangzhou's quota is allocated by Guangdong Province, and applications stop for the year once it is used up. Neither the notice nor the guide says how large the quota is or when it usually runs out, and we do not guess. The guide's procedure gives the online pre-review 5 working days and the decision 5 working days from the day after acceptance; a file sent back for corrections starts again. Add the 30-day job advertisement, which comes before the application, and the residence permit's 7 working days, which come after it.

7. The document that comes from abroad: the criminal record certificate

Most of a China graduate's file is Chinese: the degree certificate (for a degree from a university in mainland China, the guide asks only for the original), the transcript and the university's statement. The certificate of no criminal record usually is not. In the Chinese of Guangzhou's materials table for graduates, it has to be issued by the police, security or court authorities of your country of nationality or habitual residence and legalised; a sworn statement by the applicant is not accepted; habitual residence means the last country or region where you lived continuously for one year or more after leaving your country of nationality, not including China; and the certificate must be issued within six months. The official English of that table, in the graduate part, leaves out the habitual-residence definition and the six-month limit. Go by the Chinese and plan on both.

On our reading, that makes time the problem: a graduate who has lived in China for two or three years needs a certificate issued within six months and legalised, while the student residence permit runs down. The same table offers two things that can save time: a non-sworn certificate issued by your country's embassy or consulate in China is accepted directly, without legalisation, and legalisation can be done by your country's embassy or consulate in China as well as by the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country. Whether your embassy issues such a certificate is for the embassy to say; whether the one it issues is accepted, ask the window. If your country is a party to the Apostille Convention and it is in force between that country and China, an apostille replaces consular legalisation; the 2020 guide does not mention it, so ask the window. Our article on apostille or legalisation goes country by country, and our article on criminal record certificates for work permits covers the habitual residence rule in detail.

Then the translation. The graduate part of Guangzhou's guide has no translation line of its own; it sends you to the general procedure. The general requirements say (official English):

C. For documents of non-Chinese language, translated version issued by Chinese notary organizations shall be provided.

The remarks under the materials tables in other parts of the same guide are wider: a Chinese translation issued by a Chinese notary office, or one authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad or a foreign embassy or consulate in China, passports excepted. Which sentence governs your file, ask the window. Either way, the guide names a notary office, or an embassy or consulate, as the source of the translation; ask the window what it accepts for your file before you rely on any other translation.

8. What we do

We translate the foreign-language documents in this file: the criminal record certificate, and anything else in the file that is not in Chinese, in the languages listed on our FAQ page (Chinese with 24+ languages; some, such as Persian, Mongolian, Lao and Burmese, need more lead time). Because Guangzhou's guide asks for a translation issued by a notary office or authenticated by an embassy or consulate, we do the step before that: we translate the document accurately, in a layout that matches the original, for the notary office; whether it accepts the translation is decided by the notary office under its own procedure. Our FAQ page says we coordinate notarised translation with Chinese notary offices; the notary step typically adds 3–7 business days and RMB 150–400 per document; certificates are charged per document, typically RMB 50–120. Prices exclude tax, plus 6% for a VAT special invoice or 3% for a general invoice. Whether you qualify, and which route your file takes, we do not judge; we do not apply for work permits or residence permits.

Send us the document and the date you need it by: WhatsApp / 微信 +86 139 2416 6640 (WeChat ID: Saralee93), or our contact page.

Sources

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education, Notice on Matters concerning Allowing Outstanding Foreign Graduates to Work in China, Ren She Bu Fa [2017] No. 3 (6 January 2017), as carried by the Beijing municipal government website: page, Chinese
Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Guangzhou guide to applying for foreigners' work permits (2020 revision), parts (2) to (6) and Appendix 1: Chinese; official English (PDF)
Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, notice on the Guangzhou work permit window moving to the Guangzhou Immigration Service Center from 9 October 2025 (19 September 2025): page, Chinese and English
National Immigration Administration, Service Guide on Issuance of Residence Permit for Foreigners: Chinese, 2019-09-05; English, 2021-04-01, for reference only
Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, exit-entry service points and guides (residence permit lists, work-type and private affairs): page, Chinese
Regulations on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, Articles 13, 18, 21, 25, 26 and 34: official English, 2013 text; the 2025 amendment as published by the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau
Exit and Entry Administration Law, Articles 32, 33, 41, 43, 62, 70, 73, 76, 78 and 80: official English; Chinese
Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, notice on passports for Chinese citizens (14 August 2024), cited only for the 12367 hotline answering 24 hours: page, Chinese
Our FAQ page, read on 30 October 2026: translationchina.com/m/en/faq/

1. Which case is yours

2. The 2017 notice: who it covers and what it asks

3. In Guangzhou: the within-China route needs a valid residence permit

4. When you graduate: the university reports it, and you may have a change to apply for

5. Bachelor's graduates, and starting a business

6. Quota and time

7. The document that comes from abroad: the criminal record certificate

8. What we do

Sources

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