Originally Posted by
garykung
In the Mainland, agents are practically jokes because many of them simply know how to get money without accomplishing anything. And some of the money you pay may not be pocketed by the agents solely, if you know what I mean. You should never try to find one yourself, but instead, ask for a referral. So that even you may end up spending big, still you are still able to get the visa.
While I did get hooked up with the agent we use via a trusted referral, I went mostly on my own (e.g. soft referrals in Wechat groups) when I was researching other options earlier this year, and was sufficiently confident that any of the agents on my short list could deliver desired results.
As I mentioned above, my primary filter was/is big companies with lots of expat employees as clients (easy to verify). Basically, any agency that is capable of becoming a supplier to MNCs or SOEs is probably good enough for me.
Another filter I would apply if I was applying for the first time (or first time after a significant lapse) competency with respect to streamlining some of the initial documents. For example, I ended up getting an FBI background check, and waiting 4 months for it to come through. This turned out to be overkill because my agent later told me that he usually uses the local government in order to fulfill this requirement. Getting my university degrees in order was also painful (e.g. originals only, official translations, authentications from both US State Department and PRC consulate in DC). If I were to do it again, I'd still get the original diplomas, but I'd try my best to pull off the drill in China (after confirming with an agent they can pull it off). Then, there was the employment contract...new territory for us at the time because we had never previously employed ourselves using our Chinese company.
Unfortunately, I recently cleaned up my Wechat account and deleted all of the agencies I didn't end up using, but I am still happy to refer my (higher than average cost) guy to anyone who is interested; he only does Shanghai. And, I also want to reiterate that I didn't find searching on my own to be especially taxing.
In rereading my previous post, it occurred to me that the following statement could be a little confusing due to unclear punctuation:
I definitely recommend outsourcing this drill in spite of the high costs for renewals, let alone for first time applicants.
My point was that paying up is a no brainer for first time applicants. Renewals, by contrast, are much more straightforward, but if I hadn't used my agent this last time, I probably would have had to make at least 4 more visits to government offices, each sucking up half a day, might have ended up with a 1-year RP, and surely would have encountered a delay or two along the way. Bear in mind that you need to get/renew your work permit in order to apply for the residence permit; good agents do these two processes in parallel to the greatest extent possible.