Police award more expat green cards

Three foreigners living in Beijing received Chinese permanent residence cards on Saturday at a police-hosted event aimed at building bridges with the capital's international community.

During the event, entitled "Serving International Friends, Building a Harmonious Community," the director of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, Fu Zhenghua, also moved to calm down fears over the recent crackdown on the "three illegal foreigners." Fu said it was just part of normal policing procedures in the same way that other countries do, and was to protect the rights of the majority of foreigners.　

Fu also guaranteed that Beijing police will offer equal services to both foreigners and Chinese residents. In addition, a new policy to allow foreigners to stay in China for 72 hours without a visa will be launched, Fu said.

Foreigners have been eligible for Chinese green cards since 2004. Out of 852 who applied in Beijing, 721 have been granted, including four for investment, 67 for occupying important positions in major institutes, 265 for a great contribution to the nation, and 270 for family union, according to a press release from Beijing police yesterday.

Permanent residence means foreigners no longer require a Chinese visa, and can reside in the country as long as they wish.　

But a green card does not mean a full extension of rights as Chinese residents. There are restrictions for foreigners in the Chinese voting system and also working in government, according to Xinhua News Agency.

While estimates put the number of foreigners in Beijing at around 200,000, the number of those with a green card is still low.　

"There are lots of foreigners wanting a green card, but there's a high threshold to qualify," said Lin Song, publicity officer with the Exit-Entry Administration of Beijing police.

Foreigners have to meet certain criteria to qualify, which includes investing more than $500,000 or having worked as a deputy leader in a State- or provincial-level institute for four consecutive years, according to the policy on Chinese permanent residence. Nationwide, 4,752 foreigners have received a green card as of 2011, according to Xinhua.

"China is not an immigrant nation like Australia or the US, it already has a large population," Lin said, explaining why the threshold is so high.

As for the new 72-hour visa-free stay, "There are no details yet," Lin said, adding that China currently adopts the international 24-hour policy, which means foreigners can stay visa-free in China for 24 hours.

Liu Guofu, an expert in immigration law from Beijing Institute of Technology, believes the large population should not be a reason to refuse skilled foreigners.

"The number of skilled workers in China is low compared with Western countries," Liu said, adding that issuing green cards is a great way to attract the specialists the country needs.

Referring to the small number of foreigners who apply for a card, Liu thinks it is probably because they are reluctant to live in China forever, as the country is not fully developed, and the green card policy needs to be improved.

But Chinese permanent residency may not be attractive to all foreigners.

Peter Lyon, from Scotland, has taught English in Beijing since 2003, but said that he thinks Beijing has grown less attractive in recent years, and thus he would not apply for a green card.

"The population is growing larger, and it's more difficult to get on the subway every day," Lyon said, adding that getting a cab is another headache during the rush hour.

He would like to stay in Beijing for a few more years, considering his pleasant job, but will definitely return home when he is older.

"Education in Beijing is not that open as in Britain, and also the hospital bills are way too expensive," Lyon said.

At the event, Beijing police also reiterated a number of measures they have recently rolled out to make foreigners' lives easier, including bilingual information and sending text messages to people whose visa is due to expire.