ATTENTION | What will lead to deportation?

• What actions may lead to deportation?

• Is sublease ilegal?

• What to do if salary not paid?

• What to do if I'm stuck in China with an expired visa?

  ...

Questions like above has been rised frequently among expats.

It's NECESSARY to make sure you are not breaking any law which will lead to serious consequences and affect your life in China.

Therefore AnyHelper got professional advice from our advisors -- Edgar Choi (Advisor of International Financial Techonology Academy) and Wenjia Zhou (Criminal defense lawyer who worked in Shanghai People’s Procuratorate) about some concerned legal issues under the Chinese law.

Edgar Choi

(Click the picture to connect with him)

Wenjia Zhou

(Click the picture to connect with him)

1

What actions may lead to deportation?

Zhou:

In Chinese criminal law system, deportation is the compulsory removal of a foreign national from a country. 

Deportation may be applied in an independent or supplementary manner to a foreigner who commits a crime. Among the common crimes, if a foreigner commits the crime of disturbing peace, indecency, rape, disrupting public affairs, and drug-related crimes, he/she is generally punished by deportation in an independent or supplementary manner. 

There are also exceptions to deportation. A foreigner who commits crimes is generally not sentenced to deportation if he/she ismarried to Chinese, has real estate in China, or invests in China. However, if the nature of the crime is extremely terrible, even with the above conditions, the foreign suspect may still be sentenced to deportation.

2

Is sublease ilegal?

Do I need landlord’s permission before renting the apartment to someone else?

Choi: 

According to contract law, if the tenant subleases the flat without approval from the landlord, the landlord can terminate the contract. 

However, if the landlord knows about the sublease and does nothing about it for 6 months, it is automatically deemed as approval, and he may not terminate the contract using this reason.

Legal Basis:

Contract Law Article 224

Subject to consent of the lessor, the lessee may sublease the lease item to a third party. Where the lessee subleases the lease item, the leasing contract between the lessee and the lessor remains valid, and if the third party causes damage to the lease item, the lessee shall compensate for the losses. Where the lessee subleases the lease item without the consent of the lessor, the lessor may terminate the contract.

3

What to do if salary not paid?

Choi: 

You have several options to choose from. There is no specific order for these options. They are all cost-free and do not require a lawyer. A Chinese-speaking friend is enough to assist you through them as I have also included the Chinese terms.

1.劳动调解 Apply to your local mediation organization（基层人民调解组织）to reach a mediation agreement. This agreement is legally enforceable, which means you may apply to the people's court for a payment order if your employer decides to disregard this agreement. With this payment order, the court will make sure your employer actually pays you by means that include but not limited to directly transferring that amount to your bank account.

2. 支付令 Directly apply for a payment order from the court （法院）. If your employer has made a delay in paying your salary, or has not paid it in full, the courts will issue this payment order.

3. 劳动监察 Report this incident to your local labour security supervision unit （劳动执法监察大队）. They will investigate into this matter, and order your employer to pay up. If you are not paid within the time limit ordered, they will make your employer pay additional compensation at the rate of not less than 50% but not more than 1 times the payable amount.

4. 劳动仲裁 Apply for labour arbitration. It is like going to the court, but labour arbitration solved quickly and the results are usually tilted in the employee’s favour. In fact, you must go through this procedure before going directly to the court. Note that you must file your case within one year of this incident.

4

What triggers severance payment?

Choi: 

You are entitled to severance pay under these 12 circumstances if:

Scroll down for more paragraphs

1. You terminate the contract due to your employer failing to provide labour protection or work conditions as stipulated in the labour contract.

2. You terminate the contract because your employer has failed to pay the full amount of remunerations in a timely manner. 

3. You terminate the contract because your employer has failed to pay social security premiums.

4. You terminate the contract because the bylaws in your labour contract thereof are inconsistent with any law or regulation and impair your rights and interests

5. Your labour contract is invalid due to your employer concluding or modifing it by way of deception or coercion, or taking advantage of the your difficulties, to force you to conclude an employment contract, or to make an amendment thereto, that is contrary your true will.

6. Your employer proposes to terminate the labour contract through unanimity. Note that if you are the one who proposes to terminate the labour contract, you will not get severance pay.

7. Your employer terminates the contract because you have fallen ill or gotten injured for a non-work-related reason, and you are not able to bear the original post after the expiration of the medical treatment period as prescribed, nor can you assume any other position as arranged by your employer.
   

8. Your employer teminates the contract because you are incapable of doing your job even after training or post adjustments.

9. The company is undergoing economic downsize layoff and you are the unlucky one.
   

10. Your employer has gone bankrupt, is revoked of business license thereof, is ordered to close down, is discharged, or goes into liquidation

11. The term of your labour contract has come to an end. You are willing, but your employer is unwilling to sign a new one.

12. The term of your labour contract has come to an end and BOTH you and your employer is unwilling to sign a new one.

5

What to do if I'm stuck in China with an expired visa?

Regina (AnyHelper visa consultant):

In general, in Beijing and Shanghai, there is a fine of 500 yuan for each day of overstay, with a maximin of 10,000 yuan.

In Beijing, it is necessary to go to the punishment department of the exit and entry bureau in the area where the accommodation address is located and accept the punishment according to your actual situation. For information of the punishment department in your district , you can call the Beijing General Administration of Entry and Exit: 010-84020101. Each district has its own punishment department. You need to provide passport front page, visa page, entry chapter page, registration form of temporary residence , and local police officer will give a punishment decision according to each person's actual situation.

In Shanghai, expats who expect to overstay should  bring their passports and registration form of temporary residence to Room 303, No. 1500, Minsheng Road, Pudong to explain the situation and accept the punishment.

After paying the fine, you can still apply for other visas to enter and leave China in the future. But there will be a record of violations. If you do not pay the fine, you will not be able to apply for a new visa.

No matter what type of visa you hold, if you want to stay in China legally, you should leave the country in time after you complete your academic, traveling, business visits and other needs. If you need to change to other types of visa, please prepare doucuments in advance and submit your application to avoid overstay. If you want to transfer to a work visa, you need to prepare at least 1 month in advance, because it takes a long time to process work visa applications.

If you have any questions about visa application, feel free to contact our visa specialist Alisa and leave a messege. (Work hour 10am~6pm)

Hope you find above information helpful.

If there are other commonly concerned legal issues you'd like answers to, feel free to leave a comment below and we may able to gather more advice from professionals and continue with this series. 

If you have other questions about living in China, feel free to reach AnyHelper real-time Q&A system via our WeChat menu, our lovely volunteers are online from 9am-9pm everyday to help you!

More COVID-19 news via code

Expat-Friendly Businesses

Expat Gamer is a gamer community incubated by AnyHelper!

If you are a game lover, follow Expat Gamer now!

Free promotion/network sharing for expat-friendly businesses. Learn more HERE.

You might also like ▼

AnyShanghai Advisors

AnyShanghai Advisors provide professional suggestions and solutions to the expat communities in Shanghai. If you have questions related to their expertise, feel free to contact them.

SWIPE to click name card or extract code for profiles

Get daily news, tips, and events in Shanghai

Connect with expat communities and industry experts

Click "Wow" if you like this article