My wife and I are looking into moving to Sichuan from Yunnan. Unfortunately there is a policy unique to Sichuan that states that a foreigner who has a z (work) visa that is five years old must return to their native country to reapply for a new z visa. I've been searching around trying to figure this out; some people in government say it doesn't exist, while schools say it does exist, some say I need to return to my native country for a year, others for just a few days. It sounds like nobody knows what's really going on. My question: what is the reality for you foreigners in Sichuan? Do you need to renew your work(z) visas every 5 years?