Job Discussion Forums

[katylady]

Hello! I am from the US, and I've been offered a spot in teaching certification programs for CELTA in Shanghai, and CertTESOL in Hong Kong.
I've been informed that upon securing a job after the course in Shanghai, one then typically has to go back to the states for 6-8 weeks in order to get the visa processed. Is this always true?

Is the process different in Hong Kong? My contact in HK mentioned nothing of this and made it sound like it was easy to slip in and secure a job after course completion. Would I also have to go home in order to work in HK for a year?

As for mainland China, could one leave the country for a certain amount of time to sort of restart the tourist visa and be legal while staying there? Is there any other option instead of returning home for two months to be able to teach there?

Thank you!

[Non Sequitur]

The consensus a few weeks ago when this was last discussed seems to be 'Yes' BUT this being the country it is there are variables.
Most posters reported that it is no longer possible to whip over to HK and get a Z visa - others maintain they can.
The only explanation I can see is that hard to recruit/remote areas are still cut some slack. Shanghai probably doesn't meet those criteria.
The only word you can 'trust' is that of your prospective employer who will be providing the offer that you use to initiate the Z process.

[teenoso]

Stay on an L visa , yes , work on one legally , no.

Look into the 'new' X visa. You should probably have this for studying in Shanghai anyway, and it may give you a right to work (work-study visa).

Or , after the CELTA, head to Yangshuo (D-M land) in rural Guangxi. The schools there could get you a z visa in HK; then you convert to a Resident's Permit , work one semester in Yangshuo, and then find a job and transfer back to Shanghai.

Complicated yes, but also good experience. You may love Yangshuo. IMO, Shanghai is not very liveable on a teacher's salary , and also I heard some people have trouble getting a job there, because of the competition.


The visa and employment regs. for work in HK and Shanghai are entirely different

[D-M]

^^^ as teenoso suggests.

Two of my colleagues in Yangshuo entered on tourist visas and changed in Hong Kong in September of this year. Thats fairly recently, but of course things in China change all the time.

A returning American colleague of mine arrived back in China on Friday. His Z visa application was processed in Bangkok last week. Further proof (anecdotally of course) that a visa can be obtained in places other than your own country ... my employer can certainly arrange it and I guess they cant be the only one. (The returning colleague left here in the first week of September and had been travelling for 3 month ... his Chinese visa expired late October and he had to begin the visa process anew)