Today is the big day: the last day of validity of my last Chinese residency permit. I lived in China for 10 years but never had any lasting stability because of their insane visa policies.

Why didn’t I just marry a Chinese woman? Then I’d have permanent residency by now, right? Wrong. A marriage visa in China does not even grant the right to work. “Sure, start a family here. But don’t you dare try to do anything to support them economically.”

Maybe you just didn’t live there long enough! In what other country is 10 years insufficient to establish permanent residency?

A green card program does exist, but the hurdles for obtaining one are extremely high. I made triple the average salary in my city and paid taxes... https://www.ptl-group.com/everything-you-need-and-want-to-know-about-chinese-green-cards/

...so please do not come at me saying I wasn’t doing enough because I contributed far more than the average citizen

Why would I want a green card in a totalitarian society like PRC anyway? For better or for worse I made my life there until recently and I believe that official recognition of that is a basic human right.

This is how my life in China ended: 1) The border got closed and even people with valid residency permits like me were locked out of the country as a result. https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/t1761867.shtml

2. My employer used uncertainty about borders reopening as an excuse to rescind the offer to extend my contract that was made before coronavirus hit. (This is not the whole story however.)

3. My residency permit was tied to my job. I couldn’t find another school that would hire me while stuck outside of the country. No job, no residency permit.

4. As a result of this I lost my apartment that I had been living in for several years and most of my possessions, as well as a big chunk of my life savings.

5. I wanted to spend another year in China to wind down my affairs properly, but that was impossible because the Chinese government made it impossible with their visa policies.