Direct answer

A foreign worker’s spouse and children may qualify for family/dependent visa or residence routes, but dependent status does not automatically authorize employment.

Eligibility, duration and document requirements depend on the principal holder’s status, family relationship evidence and current exit-entry rules.

The classification screen

5 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

01

Check principal holder status

Identify the relevant facts, documents and operating role before choosing the route.

Decision factor
02

Check relationship

Identify the relevant facts, documents and operating role before choosing the route.

Decision factor
03

Check dependent age/status

Identify the relevant facts, documents and operating role before choosing the route.

Decision factor
04

Check work intention

Identify the relevant facts, documents and operating role before choosing the route.

Decision factor
05

Check city/local exit-entry practice

Identify the relevant facts, documents and operating role before choosing the route.

Decision factor

Working rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal
Ask the operating question
Why it changes the route
Principal holder status
How does the matter involve principal holder status?
This operating fact can change the applicable legal route, evidence and next step.
Relationship
How does the matter involve relationship?
This operating fact can change the applicable legal route, evidence and next step.
Dependent age/status
How does the matter involve dependent age/status?
This operating fact can change the applicable legal route, evidence and next step.
Work intention
How does the matter involve work intention?
This operating fact can change the applicable legal route, evidence and next step.
City/local exit-entry practice
How does the matter involve city/local exit-entry practice?
This operating fact can change the applicable legal route, evidence and next step.
Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01PassportsInclude this in the compact fact file for review.
02Marriage/birth certificatesInclude this in the compact fact file for review.
03Principal’s work/residence documentsInclude this in the compact fact file for review.
04Authentication/translation as neededInclude this in the compact fact file for review.
05Local application formsInclude this in the compact fact file for review.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

Sources last checked:

Exit and Entry Administration LawNational People’s Congress
Regulations on Administration of Entry and Exit of Foreignerswww.gov.cn
National Immigration Administration current policieswww.nia.gov.cn
Foreign work permit authority / MOHRSS-SAFEA current materialswww.gov.cn