# To be Voluntarily un-employed in Shenzhen for one year



## mhaggag (Aug 3, 2012)

Hello everyone!
I am pondering the possibility of a one year sabbatical in Shenzhen to be with my Chinese girlfriend. As I do not speak any Mandarin and would make a very bad English language teacher, I think my prospects for finding a decent job are slim to none, and I would rather stay home and start writing that book I always wanted to write anyway. For those experienced ex-pats, can you give me an estimate for a total cost of one year in Shenzhen without any income? Something along the lines of:
Monthly rent (decent 1 bedroom apt. in average neighborhood): XXX Yuan x 12 = XXXX
Monthly food (eat home-prepared meals 90% of the time): XXX Yuan x 12 = XXXX
Miscellaneous (no frivolous spending): XXX Yuan x 12 = XXXX
TOTAL for one year = XXXX

Any other advice? Things I should think about (other than the abvious: a permanent resident visa, which I may get if I end-up marrying my Chinese g/f).

Advice much appreciated.


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## muppetmoo (Jul 24, 2012)

Hi,

I don't have much information for you I'm afraid. Just that in my experience you can't get a permanent resident visa by marrying a Chinese citizen. You can apply for a family visa which lasts 90 days and requires leaving mainland China and I letter of invitation from your partner. Now online it states that you can only renew this visa twice on each occasion the visa only lasts 30 days. However, I am in the process of renewing my family visa in Shandong province and ye have said that we can renew as many times as we like and each renewal will last 90 days. This is of course is excellent news for us! Although completing the paperwork involves having to go to 3 different police stations to get numerous forms filled in and stamps on them all.

For a permanent residence visa I believe you have too have been in China for a minimum of 5 years before you can apply. As I I have not been here that long and am not intending to I didn't continue researching that route, therefore I am unable to provide any more information on this.

If you find a way of obtaining a permanent or long term residence permit could you please let me know as I would be very interested in applying myself.


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## mhaggag (Aug 3, 2012)

Thanks for info. I have a Freanch friend of mine who has been living in Shengdu (Sichuan Probince) for 4+ years now, married to a Chinese woman and teaches French. I will ask him what is his legal residence status and whether he has to renew it every 90 days (sounds too cumbersome).


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## mhaggag (Aug 3, 2012)

Since no-one has volunteered a figure for living without income for a year... let me ask the question differently: Can I live on 15000 US Dollars (about 100K Yuan) for one year without anyincome?


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## kellygang (Mar 1, 2010)

you will have no problem living on that.


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## dvdlin (Jun 14, 2011)

That's about 7700 per month depends upon exchange rate. You can find a one bedroom apartment for around 2-3k and food less than 1k. Utility bill with mobil phone, Internet for couple hundreds. You can also have spa once a week at cost of 100 for two hours. Not sure what else you need to pay. Should be enough. Enjoy!


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## fjols (Nov 20, 2011)

I know this is a very old thread, but since it was already bumped I'll add my 2 cents.

I am doing something similar.

My wife's family has an apartment in Shenzhen we can live in very cheap, so that won't ruin our budget.
I got myself a 1 year multi-entry F visa, even though I applied for a family visit visa.
I am sure you can also get that visa. Only downside is I have to exit the country every month, but since Hong Kong is only 20 minutes away from our new home that will be no problem.

I have a similar savings as you, but I have to support 2 people and will do a lot of travelling. My wife assured me it would be no problem to make it last half a year, so I am absolutely positive you can do it.


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