Changing or ending an off-campus work-study job: the ten-day duties

If the employer or the period of your off-campus work-study job changes, take the new agreement and a new school letter to the exit-entry administration of the public security organ where your school is located, within ten days, and apply to change the endorsed information (Article 11, second paragraph). If the job ends — the measures give the employer terminating the agreement as the example — give your school a written report within ten days and have the endorsed information changed at that same exit-entry administration (Article 11, third paragraph). Until the endorsement matches your current job, you may not do off-campus work-study at all: a residence permit without the work-study endorsement cannot be used for it (Article 11, first paragraph).

The measures are published in Chinese; the English wording on this page is this site's translation.

What counts as a change

Article 11's second paragraph names two triggers: a different work-study unit and a different period. In both cases you need a new agreement (协议书) and a new letter from the school (学校证明函件), and in both cases the application goes to the exit-entry administration at the place where the school is located. Article 11 states the ten-day deadline and does not say what follows if it is missed. Article 14 separately provides that work-study beyond the scope of posts or the prescribed time limit is dealt with by the exit-entry administration of the public security organ according to law (依法予以查处); the measures do not say whether that covers a missed ten-day deadline.

When the job ends

The third paragraph of Article 11 covers termination of the activity, naming the employer ending the agreement as an example of the reasons (用人单位中止协议等原因). It sets two steps: a written report to the school, and the change of the endorsed information at the exit-entry administration. Because the wording is open-ended (等原因), the same two steps follow whatever the reason for ending; the measures do not mention resignation or set out a separate procedure for it.

When the school cancels your eligibility

Under Article 13 the school shall cancel your work-study eligibility and promptly report to the exit-entry administration of the public security organ in any of these four situations:

1. You complete your studies, finish without a degree (肄业), suspend study (休学) or withdraw (退学).
2. You violate state laws or regulations, or the school's own management rules.
3. You show poor moral character or violate public order and good customs, causing adverse effects.
4. Other circumstances the school determines make further work-study unsuitable, such as work-study affecting your studies.

Article 13 gives no number of days for the school's report; it says only that it must be prompt (及时).

Two limits to check before you switch

Article 12 sets the boundaries: the work-study area is limited to the prefecture-level city administrative region (设区的市级行政区域) where the school is located, one application's period may not exceed the validity of your study-type residence permit, and no single period may be longer than one year.

What it may cost

The measures do not mention a fee. The National Immigration Administration's English service guide for foreign residence permits lists CNY 200 per person per time for an information change; that figure comes from that guide, and the office handling your case is the one that confirms what it charges.

Your school decides the details

Article 4 requires each institution to make its own implementing rules, so the forms, internal approvals and internal deadlines are the school's. The measures apply to higher education institutions providing degree education (Article 2) and apply from the date of issue (Article 17); the notice is dated 29 December 2021.

Questions people ask

Can I keep working while the change is being processed?

No. Article 11's first paragraph bars off-campus work-study on a residence permit that does not carry the work-study endorsement. Article 11 provides no grace period.

How long may one approval last?

Article 12: not longer than the validity of your study-type residence permit, and at most one year per application.

Does the school have to notify anyone?

In the four cases listed in Article 13, yes: the school cancels eligibility and reports promptly to the exit-entry administration. Article 13 sets no specific number of days for that report.

Sources

• Measures for the Administration of Work-Study by International Students at Higher Education Institutions (高等学校国际学生勤工助学管理办法), 教外厅〔2021〕2号 — Ministry of Education (General Office), with the General Offices of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the General Department of the National Immigration Administration
• Service Guide on residence permits for foreigners (English page dated 2021-04-01) — National Immigration Administration (en.nia.gov.cn)

Checked 10 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or immigration advice, and is not published by the bodies named above; where the official text or the instructions of the visa office or exit-entry office handling your case differ, those prevail.