You are either confused or they played you like a cheap piano.

I am very familiar with the process and the people involved in the process. The decision to grant permanent residency is not in any way, shape or form decentralized and, as such, local Public Security Bureau offices or even provincial PSB offices haven't any input whatsoever into the process. Decisions to grant or deny permanent residency are made exclusively by the Ministry of Public Security in, of course, Beijing ... and even then the authority is not vested in one person nor in any one group.

Your claim that all your friends have serious guanxi in ministry level officials is undoubtedly laughable. And even then it wouldn't work unless their guangxi extended to above ministry level -- specifically the prime minister. That's even more laughable.

You see, liars tend to believe that everything with permanent residency is as it is with everything else -- subject to influence based on guanxi. Where these liars make their mistake is that in the case of permanent residency the process is highly centralized and is conducted not like everything else in China.

The fact that few people who apply are approved for permanent residency does not mean that politics is involved in the process unless at above ministry level. What it does tell us is that there the regulations as published are just the beginning. In fact, even after the regulations were published there was still no way to apply until about a month later when the implementation regulations internal to the PSB processing of applications were finalized. It is these internal implementation regulations that throw a wrench in the applications of those otherwise qualified since they expand on simply stated requirements such as, for example, how to conduct the background investigation.

The law on permanent resdency states that one must, for example, provide proof of no criminal convictions. This on its face should be simple enough. However, the internal implementation regulations state that this document must certify no criminal convictions on a national level. In the case of US citizens, this document is virtually impossible to obtain in the USA.

Chinese income tax payments have minimal place in the process and even then the PSB obtains this information directly from the tax authorities without any involvement from the applicant. Tell your friends to be careful when they lie about things they know nothing about.

After you have lived in China for 5 years, you'll need to prove stable residence and stable employment in addition to a nationwide criminal records check in your home country. Once you meet those requirements the Chinese PSB will conduct their own background investigation of you. Then they pass everything to Beijing for decision.

I'm sorry you are not capable of grasping the issue. May I suggest a Literacy Volunteer?

What I have stated is from personal experience -- not only with my permanent residency but also with that of several others that I personally played a hand in.

During my application process I was lucky enough to form several friendships with people who are still in the Ministry team who decide residency applications. We are still friends and two of them are, in fact, my neighbors.

You see, it's precisely fools like you who think everything in China functions in a half-baked manner and that it's always who you know that counts. While that may work many times, the permanent residency process was specifically designed to vest total control of the process in one highly centralized unit to avoid inappropriate conduct.

The law on permanent residency as published is accurate and followed. There are additional implementation regulations, however, that give further guidance on how each requirement is to be met and the administrative process for documenting eligibility. For example, several categories require the applicant to show stable residence. How do you define stable? That is something the implementation regulations lay out.

Again, I'm sorry. Next time you start thinking and your brain hurts, take an aspirin.

I've been through this process once myself and three times for friends I was assisting in their application.

What you've written is correct. If the Chinese spouse does not have Beijing hukou, you'd have to apply in whichever city her hukou is. The rules on permanent residency are the same in every city in China since the whole process is tightly controlled by the Ministry of Public Security -- the local PSBs simply gather the documents required and conduct the background investigations and then forward everything to the Ministry for approval / disapproval.

The certification of no police record also needs to be authenticated by the Chinese embassy in your home country.

You'll need to show "stable" income and "stable" residence as well as write a brief synopsis of what you have been doing in China for the past 5+ years. Many people screw this up by saying, for example, they have been working at such and such company / school, when in reality they have been on a tourist / business visa without the ability to work legally. These people undoubtedly do not get approved for permanent residency.

The process takes at least 3 months at the local level because police need to conduct a background check. This background check is condicted twice: first by the city PSB and then done again by the provincial PSB. After approximately 3 months, everything is forwarded to Beijing (Mnistry). There it sits & sits & sits. What they tell you about getting an answer in 6 months from application date is false. It generally takes about a year.

One thing that's important to remember is that a typical Chinese way of saying "No!" is to delay and delay approval. If going on a year you have received no results, no news is bad news.

PLEASE CALL ME , I CAN HELP YOU DO THE GREEN CARD IN BEIJING.

^ Fraud.

I bet David is a liar and a thief.