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Every day, there are hundreds of people who want to come back to China as soon as possible. But how to apply for the PU/TE Invitation Letter successfully in China? Or, what is the difference between PU letter, TE letter, and Verification letter? This article provides the real cases of PU Invitation Letter Application.
What is the PU (TE) letter and Verification Letter of Invitation
There are 3 types of Invitation letters PU letter, TE letter, and Verification Letter of Invitation.
According to the China Foreigner entry-exit Law, only the Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) and the Commission of Commerce have the right to issue the Invitation Letter.
We’ve split this kind of Government Invitation letter into 3 purposes:
Firstly, the PU letter is used for the M or Z Visa, or Q1/Q2 Visa, which means the applicator’s purpose is Commercial affairs, Working.
Secondly, the TE letter is used for the Visa F and the applicator’s purpose is the exchange, visit, investigation, etc.
Thirdly, the Verification Letter of Invitation is only used in some special countries.
PU Invitation letter
TE invitation letter
Verification letter of invitation
Good News for Foreigners who have the valid work permit
Foreign nationals with valid Chinese Resident Permits for work, personal matters, and reunion will be allowed to enter China starting September 28, announced China’s Foreign Ministry and National Immigration Administration.
Also, even if you have an expired residence permit after 28th Marth, you can go to the Chinese Consulate to apply for Z visa to enter China for the same purpose.
TIPS: If you have a valid work permit in China, you don’t have to apply for PU/TE letter.
You can read the announcement on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
China’s travel ban policy
China’s Travel Ban Policy
In order to prevent a large number of foreigners who return to China, the government announced China’s travel ban policy on March 26, 2020.
The main content for this policy includes:
- Normally, if you want to come to China, your Chinese corporation needs to apply for the PU/TE Letter at FAO.
- One PU/ TE letter can apply for up to five people of the same nationality, and family members can also be invited together.
- According to the latest regulations, the citizens of the countries listed who hold relevant Chinese valid residence permits (work, private affairs, and reunification residence permits) can return to China.
- According to the latest announcement, if you have a valid Chinese Resident Permit for work, personal matters, and reunion will be allowed to enter China starting September 28.
Notice:
- It takes 5 working days, you apply for the new visa at the Chinese Consulate or Visa Center.
- The Visa Officer will not cancel your current valid Residence permit. If you entered China with the new visa, you can continue to use back the valid Residence permit.
- Even if you hold a valid work residence permit of China, also need to explain the non-substitutability of your position in the listed countries. In the explanation letter, you should explain the urgency and necessity of backing to China to the Chinese consulate.
- It’s the same as the application report to the FAO submitted. The consular will issue the visa according to your actual situation. Thus, you should explain the specific reasons and urgency for coming to China.
List of Foreign Affair Offices/Commission of Commerce in China
Because China is a large country, different regions use different types of official invitation letters. For example, Shanghai FAO released a notice from May 2020 that announced the suspension of the Verification Letter of Invitation. That means maybe you can only apply for the PU invitation letter if your company is in Shanghai.
This is the major list of Foreign Affairs Office or Commission of Commerce in China:
| Province/City | Competent department | Contacts | Telephone | Website |
| Beijing | FAO | Jia Zhaohui | 010-55574027 | http://wb.beijing.gov.cn/ |
| Shanghai | FAO | Liu Lijun | 021-22161580 | http://wsb.sh.gov.cn/ |
| Zhu Chunxia | 021-22161312 | |||
| Shenzhen | FAO | Caiying | 0755-88125982 | http://fao.sz.gov.cn/ |
| Tianjin | FAO | Li Wenyuan | 022-58368603 | http://fao.tj.gov.cn/ |
| FAO | Yang Hanyang | 022-58368712/8815 | ||
| Guangdong | Commission of Commerce | Chen Peiqi | 020-38819973 | http://www.gdfao.gov.cn/ |
| FAO | Huang Kaiyi | 020-81202751 | ||
| Henan | FAO | Fujing | 0371-65688835 | http://www.hnfo.gov.cn/ |
| Zhejiang | FAO | Tao Yunji | 0571-87056612 | http://fad.zj.gov.cn/ |
| Jiangsu | FAO | Shi Ying | 025-83670716 | http://wb.jiangsu.gov.cn/ |
| Shandong | FAO | Qin Bo | 0531-81286786 | http://www.sdfao.gov.cn/ |
| Hebei | FAO | Zhao Zhen | 0311-87807396 | http://hebwb.hebei.gov.cn/ |
| Jilin | FAO | Zhu Wei | 0431-82752897 | http://wb.jl.gov.cn/ |
| Fujian | FAO | Zheng Xin | 0591-87837101 | http://wb.fujian.gov.cn/ |
| Hunan | FAO | Liang Shu | 0731-88665509 | http://wqb.hunan.gov.cn/ |
| Anhui | FAO | Xie Yang | 0551-62703568 | http://ahfao.ah.gov.cn/ |
| Guangxi | FAO | Wang Yu | 0771-5659230 | http://wsb.gxzf.gov.cn/ |
| Sichuan | FAO | Li Weiwei | 028-84356797 | http://www.scwsb.gov.cn/ |
How to apply for the PU/TE letter in China
If you apply for PU/TE at the FAO, there will be rounds of document submission and coordination. In other words, successful applicants usually depend on the corporation scale and the purpose of entering China. In our experience, only a few people have the chance to pass the approval by FAO.
Who is applicable for PU or TE letter?
We present the following suitable types below:
- The General Manager or Legal Representative of a Chinese Company (WFOE/JV);
- The key employees in the important trade/economic sectors in China;
- The Scientists or key staff in the high technology company;
- The Family members of the foreigner(s) who has been working in China;
- The person who needs urgent humanitarian assistance.
The corporation should submit the application letters carefully, which include the particular circumstances of the parties concerned, the company guarantee for the applicator, the urgency and the necessity of the entry, etc.
Information to be prepared for the PU/TE letter
Applying for the PU/TE letter is very complicated in China. In order to improve the pass rate, you need to tell us the following information:
- What is the company’s name in Shanghai? (Chinese Name, Photocopy of Business License)
- What is the annual turnover of this company and the tax records in the past year?
- What is the Business activity of this company? Do you have a partnership with state-owned enterprises or Famous Enterprises?
- Who is the invited person for the PU letter and please tell us her/his educational background, position, Visa and Work permit, etc?
- What is the purpose of the invited person?
- What is the date of entry and Time of stay of the invited person?
So, if you are a foreigner who can not speak Chinese, please tell us the information above, that we can help you and give you some useful suggestions.
Be careful of the fake PU/TE letter
Moreover, if somebody tells you that she/he can help you to get the PU in China through a Chinese Company, don’t believe them easily. Because some people have turned this into an opportunity to earn money in the Fake PU letter. But if you use a fake letter for the embassy in your country, it could be very embarrassing for you. That’s why firstly you’d better verify the Authenticity of this Chinese Company.
You can use the China Company Free Search Engine to verify the Chinese Company.
Real Successful Cases for PU Letter Application
Here are some actual cases where you can deeply understand the conditions needed for a PU letter. Of course, the people’s names and corporation names have been changed to protect the safety of privacy.
Case 1: Legal person of WFOE in China
Nuodong Intelligent Robot Company is a start-up high technology WFOE in Shanghai. It delivers a comprehensive wellness solution for the health of old people in China.
Charles has been living in China for seven years and he is the Legal person and CEO of Nuodong company. Because of taking a holiday in France in March, he can not return to China even with a valid residence permit.
As a matter of fact, Nuodong company has almost no Tax records in the past year. So how to pass the PU letter application by Shanghai FAO in this case?
Because of the long-term business registration client of GWBMA, our experts tried our best to assist Mr.Charles to get the PU letter.
After the analysis of Nuodong company information, we find that the company has a lot of famous clients, such as AXA, PingAn, Angelcare, etc.
Finally, after several rounds of coordination with the government, Mr. Charles smoothly obtained the PU letter and entered China with an M-visa in May.
Case 2：High Technology Company in Shanghai
Huamu is a Chinese Architecture Design company, which serves a lot of famous enterprises in the world. At present, It has an important intelligent project with the local governments in China.
As the project engineer, Peter is a German with a master’s degree and a High engineer Certificate. However, he can not come back to China even he has a Valid Work permit and residence in May.
Because Peter is an irreplaceable candidate for the architecture position. Therefore, the company needs him to attend an important negotiation with the suppliers.
In short, we present the above information and more in a clear, high-quality letter to the FAO. In the end, Mr. Peter successfully obtained the PU letter and entered China with an M-visa in July 2020.
Case 3: Familly Reunite
As an important supplier of state-owned enterprises, the Antong Company is the development production and distribution company in Shanghai.
Jack is the CEO and the shareholder of this company. He and his family have lived in Shanghai for almost one year. Unfortunately, the family can not be reunited because his wife and daughter came back to Canada for a vacation in Feb.
Because Antong company is our client, so Jack asked us for help. But how can we enable the family to reunite?
Considering this case was “out of emergency humanitarian needs”, we submitted the required documents to FAO with a guarantee letter from one famous company. Fortunately, after several rounds of reasonable negotiation with the FAO that approved the PU letter application, his family successfully reunited in China.
Summary
We also have failure cases for the PU letter application process. This is often because the company didn’t provide an accurate description of the application documents. Meanwhile, Lack of effective communication with the government, feedback, and trust seems to be the underlying reason for most of the above points.
In general, a professional Chinese Application Letter from the applicant is the first key point for the PU letter application. Furthermore, the key to determining which company can pass the PU application is in its scale and industry.
To apply for PU/TE letter at the FAO in China, there will be rounds of material submission and coordination. Also, You can read our helpful guide to know how to get the PU Invitation letter in China.
Conclusion
As previously described above, applying for the PU letter in China is very difficult in this period. Because there are at least tens of thousands of foreign-invested companies and Chinese corporations in Shanghai and they need the PU letter for employees and visitors.
Briefly, if you don’t have a valid work residence permit and want to return to China, you have to ask your company to apply for the PU/TE Invitation letter. Besides that, If the work permit has expired, you have to ask your company to apply for the Notification Letter of Foreigner’s work permit in China.
Finally, you’d better consider the advantages of setting up your own company in China. Besides, you can apply for the work permit as a legal person. Although registering a company may not be able to get the PU/TE invitation letter from the Government, it is the first step that you have to do. Because the Chinese Government encourages foreign investment, that is a good reason for the PU/TE application.
Honestly, the PU letter application is not a consulting business for us, but we’ll try our best to help the foreigners just like in your country may you can help the Chinese.
