China’s National Immigration Administration and the Human Resources & Social Security Ministry have instructed local offices to resume full enforcement of pre-pandemic salary and age thresholds for foreign employees, according to a Newland Chase alert dated 9 February 2026. During Covid-19 many cities quietly relaxed the ‘six-times average salary’ requirement for Category A permits and granted waivers on the official 60-year age ceiling for Category B renewals. Those dispensations have now been withdrawn nationwide.
Effective immediately, applicants who rely on the salary-based pathway to secure Category A status must prove monthly pay of at least six times the local average social wage—RMB 71,600 in Beijing and RMB 68,400 in Shanghai based on 2025 data. Existing permit-holders who fall short at renewal risk being downgraded to Category B, triggering additional paperwork such as degree authentication and police-clearance certificates. Officers have also been told not to grant new age waivers for Category B first-time applicants; renewals may receive limited discretion but only with strong employer justification.
![China Tightens Salary and Age Rules for Foreign Work-Permit Holders]()
For employers the abrupt swing back to strict criteria could up-end budget assumptions made when hiring expatriates over the past three years. Human-resources teams need to audit all foreign staff packages against the updated multipliers and model the total cost—including social-insurance contributions—of lifting salaries to maintain Category A status. Mobility managers should build in longer lead times: cases reclassified to Category B typically require notarised academic credentials and a criminal-record check, documents that can take weeks to obtain in the assignee’s home country.
Companies operating in emerging tech sectors, which Beijing is keen to attract, may still leverage alternative Category A routes such as ‘points-based’ high-level talent or R&D exemptions, but these too carry strict documentary proof and quota controls. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to RMB 50,000 per individual and reputational risk that affects future sponsorships.
Analysts view the move as part of China’s broader push to professionalise its immigration regime while reserving top-tier status for genuinely senior, highly paid or strategically important staff. The message to multinationals is clear: align compensation structures with central guidelines—or prepare for heavier compliance burdens.
Effective immediately, applicants who rely on the salary-based pathway to secure Category A status must prove monthly pay of at least six times the local average social wage—RMB 71,600 in Beijing and RMB 68,400 in Shanghai based on 2025 data. Existing permit-holders who fall short at renewal risk being downgraded to Category B, triggering additional paperwork such as degree authentication and police-clearance certificates. Officers have also been told not to grant new age waivers for Category B first-time applicants; renewals may receive limited discretion but only with strong employer justification.
For employers the abrupt swing back to strict criteria could up-end budget assumptions made when hiring expatriates over the past three years. Human-resources teams need to audit all foreign staff packages against the updated multipliers and model the total cost—including social-insurance contributions—of lifting salaries to maintain Category A status. Mobility managers should build in longer lead times: cases reclassified to Category B typically require notarised academic credentials and a criminal-record check, documents that can take weeks to obtain in the assignee’s home country.
Companies operating in emerging tech sectors, which Beijing is keen to attract, may still leverage alternative Category A routes such as ‘points-based’ high-level talent or R&D exemptions, but these too carry strict documentary proof and quota controls. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to RMB 50,000 per individual and reputational risk that affects future sponsorships.
Analysts view the move as part of China’s broader push to professionalise its immigration regime while reserving top-tier status for genuinely senior, highly paid or strategically important staff. The message to multinationals is clear: align compensation structures with central guidelines—or prepare for heavier compliance burdens.
