It is not necessary to switch from an X visa to a T visa in order to apply for a work visa. It mainly depends on the specific situation and relevant policies.
In China, the visa for foreigners to work in China usually refers to the Z visa. If foreign nationals want to work legally in China, they generally need to apply for a work permit and a work type residence permit.
For the conversion of student visa (X category) to work visa:
-Newly graduated foreign students without 2 years of relevant work experience may also directly convert their student visa to a work visa. According to the classification criteria for foreigners working in China, those who meet one of the conditions can be recognized as Class B or Class C.
-The first criterion of Class B judgment: Foreign professionals with a bachelor’s degree or above and 2 years or more of relevant work experience.
-Article 3 of Class B Judgment: Foreign Language Teaching Personnel. In principle, one should engage in mother tongue teaching in their native language country, obtain a bachelor’s degree or above from a university, and have more than 2 years of language education work experience. Among them, those who have obtained a bachelor’s degree or above in education, language, or teacher education, or have obtained a teacher qualification certificate in their country or a qualified international language teaching certificate (such as TEFL in China 120 hours), are exempt from the work experience requirement.
-Article 3 of Class C Judgment: Personnel subject to quota management, foreign students who meet the prescribed conditions, and foreign graduates from overseas universities. (For example, taking Shenzhen as an example, recent graduates who graduated from world-renowned universities abroad within the past 2 years and recent graduates from domestic universities within the past 2 years)
