Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Overseas students, high-caliber foreign personnel, and incoming employees from abroad may now apply for a Visa-on-Arrival at Gongbei, Jiuzhou, and Hengqin ports, the Zhuhai Visa Office of the Exit-Entry Administration of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department announced on Aug 23. 

Aisle to the visa counter [File Photo]

The four types of travelers and visas included in the policy are: 

1. S2 Short-term Private Visit Visa (indicating "internship") for foreign students from overseas universities who are invited by Guangdong FTZ enterprises for an internship and recorded at the Exit-Entry Administration; 

2. R (Talent) Visa for high-caliber foreign personnel to work in Guangdong Province; 

3. China Work Visa (Z Visa or Employment Visa) for foreigners to work in Guangdong Province with an employee permit issued by the Human Resources & Social Security and Foreign Expert departments of prefecture-level cities or above in Guangdong Province;

4. Foreign Student Visa (X1 Visa) for foreign students enrolled by Guangdong Province's primary and secondary schools. 

Sixteen exit-entry policies have taken effect along with the Visa-on-Arrival measures -- 10 applicable to the whole province and six to Guangdong pilot free trade zones. They are intended to create a more open environment for high-level foreign talents and entrepreneurs, form an internationally competitive talent system, and promote Guangdong pilot FTZ construction, innovation, and reform, according to a government official.