Working In Macau

Non-residents who wish to take up employment in Macau, including those from Portugal or China, need to obtain a valid work permit and are then issued the so-called 'Blue Card', officially called Non-Resident Worker's Permit. The process takes approximately a month to receive a work permit, at which time employment may begin, and another one to two months to receive the Blue Card.

As illegal employment has over the past decades been a problem plaguing Macau, the authorities do crack down severely on any offenders (both worker and employer) caught. Visitors are therefore advised not to engage in illegal employment.

To be eligible to reside in Macau, an expatriate should apply for a temporary residence permit to the IPIM (Macau Trade & Investment Promotion Institute). You can also start processing temporary residence permit while you wait for your blue card since the blue card processing would take some time.

Make an appointment to the IPIM officer, they will provide interview and screening before they give you the Gabinete Juridico e de Fixacao de Residencia that will ensure that you are qualified to get a temporary residence visa. The paper will also be submitted in the immigration office of Macau along with the following document.

• Passport – will also serve as your proof of residency 
• Departure card – one copy 
• Non-resident worker card – one copy 
• Birth certificate – one copy 
• Police criminal declaration - From country of origin (original) - If you previously had work permit or temporary residencies permit in Macau 
• One set of original fingerprints 
• Photos – 5 black and white or color photos; print your name on the back of 4 of the photos
• Proof of marriage – one copy 
• Employment contract – one copy; should include all of the following: - employment period, remuneration, name of post - It is very important that the contract will take effect according to the date where temporary residence is granted to the applicant. 
• Main description of job and duties, proof of education certificates and resume. 
• Proof of professional qualifications 
• Certificate of commercial registration of organization employing or offering employment to the applicant 
• If applicant currently working in said position, Individual Professional Tax receipt should be submitted 
• Job description (must be separate from employment contract)

General Job Search Engines and Classifieds

With the sites below, you can expect to get a 0.5 to 1.0% response rate (people who will respond back to you to whom you sent your application/CV.) Nevertheless, I encourage you to give these sites a try as you never know what you will come up with or what connections you can make from a simple e-mail or application.

1. Macau HR: A great place to start your job search.
2. Hello-jobs: This site provide an effective platform connecting companies hiring in Macau and job seekers in Macau. 
3. JobsDB: JobsDB is really well known in Asia.

Teaching English

Teaching English might be an option (if you are a native English speaker that is). All of the sites below are pretty similar and have a massive amount of teaching English job options. Browse through each of the sites for any English job opportunities in Macau. Also, be sure to check out this cool table from the International TEFL academy that shows how much money teachers can expect to make in various countries around the world.

• ESL Employment: Not the most beautiful interface, but who needs a pretty website when you have so many English teaching job options to choose from.
• Total ESL: Also an overly busy interface but a wealth of job postings for teaching jobs abroad.
• ESL Cafe: Dave does a great job in compiling some of the best job openings from around the world.
• Tesall: Big teaching jobs aggregator.

There you have it. The best places to find jobs in Macau as a foreigner. For information on visas for Macau, be sure to check out Macau visa page.