Job Discussion Forums

[Chronos]

I'm sure many of you experienced folks have been through this so please enlighten me.

So I am getting myself situated to start work in China next month. Will be there until the end of the school year. So during the summer break (2014) I was thinking of returning to the USA to see family, tend to unfinished business, etc. My question is, when I go back to work in China for the next school term, do I need to apply for another Z visa, or does the residence permit suffice or how does it work? How does it work when you have already worked in China, came back home to the USA for a break and then want to return to work in China again after just a few months away? Any easier than the first time or same process?

Thanks

CH

[roadwalker]

The z-visa just gets you through the gate properly. After you arrive, your school will (should!) begin the process of getting you a Residence Permit (RP), which looks like the z-visa and also goes into your passport. They need to register you with the local police, get a medical check (again), use that to get a Foreign Expert Certificate and finally the RP must be applied for within 30 days of entry. That RP will last hopefully until at least a week or two after your teaching duties end.

If you renew your RP (it's another new sticker in your passport) before you leave for the summer, you are all set. No visa needed. Your school should start the ball rolling on it about a month before your school year ends, or sooner. It's definitely easier if they renew your RP before you go. If you change schools, the new school can apply for an RP for you as well, but there are more hoops to jump through (a Release Letter from the old school, the old school cancels the Foreign Expert Certificate) so your new school must have their stuff together, elsewise, you are looking at waiting for another z-visa from the new school.

[chinatimes]

It's too early to plan next year. Come here for a few months and decide if you really want to stay where you go to.

Since you might not get too many benefits besides airfare, decide which month you want to go back to the US (you might want to try to end the first school earlier, get a new school and then work out vacation dates with the second school where your residence permit and foreign expert certificate will still be good.).

This year I went in February, but I finished in December. I had to wait for the new residence permit before I could leave. Yes, it is possible to do all this early, but I couldn't get my release letter until the end of December. This partly delayed things, as well as the second school not knowing the process.

[johntpartee]

[Chronos]

Thanks guys, good to know. At least now I will be able to plan the trip in advance to make it easier on myself.

Thanks Chinatimes, I agree, I have to figure out how I feel about life in China once I am there on a daily basis. That is when I will have to decide on returning and what to do.

CH