Job Discussion Forums

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

My foreign expert's permit is seriously delayed. This presents a host of problems to me though the worst is that I don't know what is going on. In my most recent message from my contact in China she said that the "master of government" had just recently gotten back and this is why my permit had not been completed yet. The problem is that she provided no information as to what role this person plays and has not answered my emails asking how much longer the permit will take to produce.

Has anyone ever heard of a "master of government" what role do they play? After their involvement how long does it usually take? It's gone from 3 days to get the permit to two weeks to three weeks and since the three weeks elapsed (on Tuesday) my contact has not replied to my enquiries. Am I getting the runaround? Does anyone have any similar experiences? Should I be reinitiating my job search or is this normal?

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Your FAO doesn't know English. There is no "master of the government".
And you don't really need a foreign expert's cert; besides, you will get it once you are in the country. You need it to change RMB into foreign currency. There is no other need for you to have a FE's cert.
If you have your invitation letter, get your visa, then get your resident's permit, and perhaps, your FE's cert. I am not sure they are abandoning those FE's certs.

smalldog · Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 74

Sounds like someone with poor English and an electronic dictionary. Probably a bad translation of zhuren, which would mean 'director of an office' here, but could mean master in other contexts.

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

Does the contract count as a letter of invitation or is it a separate doccument? The information I have recieved from my contact has suggested that I needed the Foreign Expert's certificate to get the visa.

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

Just an update. My contact got in touch with me this morning. She said that she hopes to have all the necessary doccuments for me by either Monday or Wednesday (I think Wednesday) and explained that the delays are because the school is not 100% certain about the new visa process. She also gave me the EMail address of another teacher who is either in the process of coming to the school or who currently teaches at the school (not to clear which) and I dropped them a line. So things are slightly less tense now.

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Hmmm... you are one of the victims of the changes to the visa-issuing rules that we have discussed in a couple of threads recently - see "which provinces change your tourist visa to work visa..." ro something like this.
Yes, you may need a resident's permit upfront. How to go about this? YOur school must have applied for it, then sent it to you.
But they can only do so if they have particulars of you, for which purpose they will need a photocopy of your passport.

SimonM · Joined: 17 Apr 2005 Posts: 1835 Location: Toronto, Ontario

Yeah, I sent them that information over a month ago.