Job Discussion Forums

[chengdude]

I teach at a university here in Sichuan. Next term will be the first hiring cycle that the Foreign Afffairs Office will be dealing with the new, multi-entry Residence Permits and tonight I heard these two bits of news:

1) The university is now going to ask the teacher to pick up the cost of the Permit...and it ain't no chump change: 1000 RMB.

2) For applicants who are entering China and applying for a Residence Permit FOR THE FIRST TIME, apparently the process includes a sit-down interview with a PSB officer.

I haven't had the chance to probe the FAO for any rationale and/or explanation. It's certainly not very difficult to come up with many on my own, but for the moment I'm curious if others, both in-country and first-time applicants, have been confronted with one or both of these rather interesting developments?

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[chinamike]

I picked up the cost of my multy-entry residency permit as I wanted to change the single entry visa my school provided me with so I could enter Hong Kong.

Don't know about the interview, but in Shandong at least the cost is 400RMB, you sure they're not tacking an "administrative" charge onto your permit to line their own pockets?

[tw]

What happens at one shcool, in one city, in one province doesn't necessarily mean that it happens everywhere too. Every city/province/school seems to have its own subset of rules and regulations.

[tofuman]

"Rule # 1: Never pay to work."

Pure genius.

Being no genius, I did pay for my own visa at contract renewal time. What was I thinking? In brief: I went with the FAO to the PSB and asked for a 5 year multiple entry visa. The FAO thought it was a good idea.

When I went back to pick up the visa, it was a 1 year multiple entry visa. I paid fot the 5 year, they gave me a 1 year and no refund. I lost 600 Rmb on the deal. The PSB explained that since my contract was one year, there was no reason to give me a 5 year visa. Agreed!

Rule number #2: Don't assume that your FAO is familiar with visa regulations.

Rule # 3: Pay for your visa when you pick it up, not when you apply for it.

Incidentally, if you think the Chinese government likes Americans, look at the price of visas.

[Babala]

I find that more and more schools are asking the FT to pay the visa fees. Some schools have now added the clause that you pay the visa fee and it will reimbursed on the completion of your contract. I guess this is partly to protect themselves from runners.

[cj750]

Or to have time to cheat you out of the cost..remember at the end of your contract there is no room for this kind of promise. Because the work permit is job specific it is reasonable to expect the employer to pick up the cost.

[Babala]

I don't really blame the schools for making the FT pay up front. When I consider how many runners I have seen in the time I have been here, why wouldn't they want to protect themselves. It's those people who have ruined it for the rest of us. My school gets us apartments. When they first started, we had to pay no deposit at all, the school paid it for us. We had one crazy female FT who pulled a runner without paying any of her bills leaving the school to pay, now we all have to pay a deposit that we get back when we complete the contract. I blame the irresponsible teacher, not the school. I think the visa issue can be looked at the same. Most FT's get their airfare upon completion of the contract, why not trust them also for visa fees.

[chengdude]

OK, apparently the visa fee is going to be 800 RMB, which still buys you an awful lot of noodles.

Remember, folks, this is a public university, not a high-paying private school. 800 RMB represents about 25% of the monthly salary the school will attempt to offer you. The issue of "runners" at a large public university is to a great extent, a non-issue...at least at this university where pay is on time, housing is very comfortable, and the low hours and long holidays match the typical university job.

My interest in posting, then, was to determine if this is an isolated instance or perhaps a growing trend - not only through the private sector, but the public as well. To my mind, it is simply a case of an FAO trying to "realign" their budget, as it were. Whether it's being done out of pure greed, precipitated by a reduction in government funding, or something somewhere in-between the two, it is as I have stated, an interesting development.

[Girl Scout]

I will be working in Henan. According to my FAO the province officals will not give Z visas. They can not change other visas into a Z visa. They also require a medical exam before they will issue work permit. I am required to have my visa before I arrive. Which means I have to pay for it.

[chengdude]

[tofuman]

"According to my FAO the province officals will not give Z visas"

Does anyone here believe that a Visa Z is unavailable in all of Henan Province?

[brsmith15]

THE Z VISA IS AN ENTRY VISA!!!!! It's only good to get into the country. No one can issue another Z visa once you're here!

You then must apply for a RPF within 30 days and hopefully your FAO will help you.

I, also, had to pay for my RPF. BUT, my uni pays me handsomely.

[tw]

[cj750]

In the city of Dalian...where you were last year tw, they have recently converted from F to Z..yes convertion is still taking place .and yes z visas can be issued in country..the law states under special circumstances. I have been issued 3 z visas from inside China.