Typical Scenarios
We're a new firm, and we won't fake a track record. These are typical scenario examples — composite illustrations of the cases we handle, not real client stories. They show how we think, what a realistic timeline looks like, and where things usually get stuck.
A language teacher accepts a Shanghai school offer in May for a September start. The degree is from a country where authentication takes six weeks, and the school has never sponsored a foreign hire before.
How it typically goes: degree authentication and criminal record check run in parallel from week one, the school is walked through its first foreign-hire filing, and the permit notice lands with two weeks to spare. The avoidable disaster — starting authentication in July — is the whole ballgame.
An engineer already in China gets a better offer. The old employer is slow with the cancellation letter, and the new role's job description doesn't quite match the old permit's occupation category.
How it typically goes: the transfer is sequenced before resignation — cancellation letter secured, new employer's filing queued, gap in status avoided by days, not weeks. A short memo on the job-description mismatch is prepared before the bureau asks. Nobody resigns on a handshake and a prayer.
A founder wants to move to Shanghai and run their own WFOE — company registration, corporate bank account, then a work permit sponsored by their own entity, with a spouse joining six months later.
How it typically goes: this is a marathon with three stages, and we say so upfront. Company setup takes 4–6 weeks before any permit work can even start, and the self-sponsored route draws more scrutiny than a corporate hire. The spouse's paperwork starts the day the founder's residence permit is issued, not before. Honest verdict delivered at the diagnostic: viable, but not fast, and not the cheapest path for everyone.