Job Discussion Forums

healinghumanity · Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 10 Location: right now Korea

To be direct about it: If you have one university apply for foreign expert certificate for you in one city, and then later have another uni in another city do so, should you expect to have any problems?
Why I am asking:
I signed a contract and had a university in Shanghai try to obtain a Foreign expert certificate for me, but they said that they were not sure if they would approve of my credentials.
Then another even better job came up in Beijing so I jumped on that in case the first did not work out, yet they also said something about seeing what the state department in Beijing would say. I wanted to make sure I got something so I decided to wait until I broke it to the first uni, but now I just realized that it has been two weeks before my correspondent at the uni said that "we will get the official documents to apply for your visa soon"! Since we are in early July and they want me there a week before september, should I worry that the first may have cut me off, or does the visa part normally take this long?
I realize that I may have created some inconvenience and feel bad about it but they made things sound so uncertain I did not want to hinge everything with one employer.

Kiwi303 · Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:32 am Post subject:

Two weeks before? or two weeks since?

It only took a few days to get the documents needed here in CQ for me to apply for my Z visa back home. More time was spent in the Customs warehouse than aquiring them in china according to the posts tracking website at the time.

If they put the application through ASAP you would know already, so they're likely either denied and the first uni is staying mum to avoid loosing face, or they're sitting on a desk somewhere while the office boy plays WoW or CS.

healinghumanity · Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 10 Location: right now Korea

I mean two weeks since the second school said "soon". It took the first school so long (3-4 weeks) to get back to me, so I figured it would take time and was patient even though she said "soon".
The first school is saying there has been "progress" on the application, but to get the work permit and visa they ask me to sign a new version of the contract (which I guess means the first one was not good enough and therefore the first was not entirely valid) and send them a medical report (which unfortunately may take a while). My sense is then that the contract I signed was not fully valid for the work permit (as opposed to the one I signed for the second school, which was so ridiculously thorough (4 signatures) that I think they did it right the first time) and that while an application was filed in my name, they obviously have not issued anything. So I guess that makes my situation marginally less complicated? but feel free to offer your opinion.
I figured that since the unis were in different cities they would have different FAO offices and would not conflict, and I also understand the contract htat matters is the one you sign in China. I am on good terms with both schools at the moment, and I confess to being hesitant to inform the first school that I have decided to go with the second until I knew my visa was ready at the first. I suppose honestly I have also been hesitant to telling the first school that I prefer the second as I feel bad for all the work they did .
Do you or anyone have advice on how to best deal with this complicated situation? I am just going to try to reach my correspondent at the office of the first school and try to lay out the situation as clearly as I can. Hopefully if I make it clear that I prefer the second school they will do what they can.

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

Decline the job from the school that seems clueless. If they don't know if they can get you the letter of invitation or have your certs accepted, they aren't worth wasting your time with. I was offered a spectacularly good job with a language center in my city. They said that they already had four FTs working for them. When I pressed them about obtaining proper paperwork they assured me that they had the guanxi to get everything. (When they mentioned guanxi, I knew that the job would go t*ts up. I told them to check with their main office. Three weeks later, they told me that they were surprised that their home office said "no". They were a bit worried about their existing foreign teachers after that.

If the school doesn't know, you don't have time for them to find out. Move on.