ShekouDaily | August 9, 2018
If you want to work in Shenzhen, chances are, you’re going to need to get a Non-Criminal Background Check. To help you out, Cody Hoffman, has been kind enough to provide us with the steps on how to do so. It may seem daunting, but with the help of this article, you’ll find it’s actually not so difficult.
NOTE: This does not apply if you are coming to Shenzhen from overseas to work for the first time. In that case you get the check from your home country. This is if you are renewing a contract after already having worked in China (if they ask for one), or if you are changing employers within China, or if you’re leaving Shenzhen and want proof of your non criminal record from your time spent here.
Good luck!
Steps to get a Non-Criminal Background Check
Note: If you are transferring your Visa to work with a new company in Shenzhen, Beijing or Shanghai, the Visa team from my teaching agency said you don’t need it (other cities they aren’t sure). However your new employer may ask for it anyway just to be safe, as mine did. Double check with them! It’s not a bad idea to get it anyway since it doesn’t cost you anything other than a bit of time spent.
It is also a good idea to get it if you’re leaving China as you never know if your future employer back home/in your next country might want it, and it’s a LOT easier and cheaper to get it now while you’re in China.
You do not have to pay for this check so you don’t need to bring money!
What To Bring:
- Passport
- Work Permit Card (You may need toask for this from your teaching agency if they are holding onto it for you. When we went, they didn’t seem to need it but they did have a look and it is listed as something you need, so I’d suggest bringing it to be safe).
- Registration Form of Temporary Residence (the form you should get from the police station after you register with them)
4. Go to Civic Center Metro station (line 2) and take exit B, or in a DiDi, you can go to:深圳市民中心(福田区福中三路) (Civic Center).
5. You will go to the Administrative Service West Hall, which is marked by a sign on the entrance.
6. To get there, turn left out of the metro exit, walk to the crossing and when atthe building door, follow it around to the left to find the west hall.
7. You’ll see a round desk in front of you, tell the person sitting there that you want a Non Criminal Background check… you can show them a photo of one if they don’t understand!
8. You need to get a ticket/number from the machines to your left but they are in Chinese so you can get the person working at the front desk to help you.
9. Bring your ticket to one of the desks between 28-41 (I am not 100% sure if these numbers are totally accurate but hopefully they can point you in the right direction if it’s not right). But you should just walk straight ahead a bit and they will be right there.
10. They will give you a form to fill out – it is in Chinese so hopefully they can help you understand what to put where, or fill in some of the details for you by looking at your passport. They will also take you photo.
11. Once you’ve finished filling the form and they’ve scanned your docs, you are done! You’ll get a text message to say that you’ve applied and when it’s ready to pick up (they told us 3 days), they will text you again. They will also give you some forms to bring back with you when you come to pick It up.
**The whole process should take about 15 minutes if there isn’t a line, which there was none when we went (around 4:30 PM on a Wednesday)!
This article was written by Cody Hoffman. If you’d like to read more, click here to visit her blog (VPN may be required).