Job Discussion Forums

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

i'm now on my fifth teaching job, third in china. i quit my last job in jiangsu (for reason that dont need to be discussed, they were legitimate in my view (not contract related) but i know the school saw my leaving from their perspective and would disagree). at any rate, i gave the school four days to sort out the termination of contract, and to decide what to do with the students before i left town. they never called me back until the end of the fourth day and by that time, i was waiting at customs in pudong airport for a flight. so i didnt bother taking the call....

now i have a new job in henan, my third in china, after taking a break away from this country, and came back here on the passport of my native country (as opposed to my adopted country passport for my last job in jiangsu). i'm wondering if the PSB in henan will figure out that i quit my last job and left china before my contract ended.... and reject my Z visa application.

if anyone has any experience with this type of situation, i'd like to hear about it. if i get bounced, then it looks like my photographic exploits of china will continue free of work.....

by the way, if anyone's interested, i took a short trip to gansu and some fo the photos can be seen here:

http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/24995.html

7969

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

If you held up the BOC in Nanjing, or murdered the provincial Party Secretary I would give not just that province but the whole of China a wide berth; so far few FTs have committed such heinous crimes, so I would guess they are not particularly interested in tracking you down. Could they do that? I guess they could though not with the normal police resources (you must see behind the walls how the cops operate here to believe it!). In other words: you are a totally different human entity to them, with a deceptively similar picture in that passport. Then again, all foreigners look the same - just ask any Chinese!

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

thanks for those answers. i do enjoy being in china and esl is not a bad way to make a living here, so i'd hate to lose the chance because i blew it on one job that didnt end up so well. i figured that any efficently managed database would be easy enough to plug in someone's name, come up with all the pertinent personal data and make the link between the two passports (same name, DOB, similar photo etc...). but i dont suppose chinese database management (PSB) is doing that yet..... who knows.....

cheers to you both.... 7969

Keath · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:12 pm Post subject:

Its unlikley that your either of the schools that have employed you have the know-how, or relations to either "blacklist" you or find you on a blacklist.

They can however report you are no longer employed with the local PSB - and this scenario is more likely because the school would not want to be legally responsible for any foreign teacher no longer working at their school.

Technically, if you went out and harmed someone or got into harm yourself, you are residing in China on the invitation of your former employer. So they have probably just reported to the local PSB you no longer work there.l

Regarding your Z visa status:

I wasnt clear if you were presently in China on a Z visa. If so, and you have left your former job and swapped into a new one. Then PSB generally requires you to have a letter of completion from your former employer in order to convert the residency permit to your new local area. Resolution to this problem usually involves going to hong kong once new documents have been generated by your new employer, or in some rare cases, your present employer will be able to convert the documents locally or provincially.

However you can probably get away with working on your former visa, but you should be aware that technically, if your former employer did for some reason report your leaving to the local PSB then you have 30-days to find new employent or leave the country.. Will it show up when you attempt to leave the country? I dont think so.. Probably not. But the risk however large or small exists.. Just keep track of your residence permit and Z visa expiry, Resident Book trumps the Z visa in your passport expiry.. (Go by the Res. Bk.)

PENALTY:
If for some reason you reside in China with expired visa and you leave the country, you will be asked to pay fines associated with illegal residence. The fine structure is something like this: 500 RMB per day up to and no more than 5,000 RMB for the total offense. There is also a clause in the law about jail or detaining, but it is almost never enforced unless there is an outstanding legal issue where a large sum of money is owed, (over $5000 USD typically) / pending court action / or criminal prosecution pending for some alleged crime.

Sometimes you can negotiate the fee, other times not. It will have to be paid before you can get on your plane though and it may smear a persons ability to return to China..

Anyway, these are just worse case scenarios. NOt meaning to scare you in any way but I've read the law on this as I was also in a similar situation about 5 years ago.. The rules may have changed since then obviously but I have spoken with someone who recently went through a similar situation and he had to pay a fine..

Anyway, hope that helps..

Keith
www.JourneyEast.org
TEACH ENGLISH IN CHINA
(773) 532-9988 Free Pre-Trip Consulting

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

i'm not currently on a Z visa, not even on a passport of the same country at the moment. i'm currently on a 3 month L visa issued in shenzhen. i'm just wondering if the bad luck/experience i had back in april will haunt me right now looking for new work. guess i will see soon enough.... i just like to expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything that might happen.

i left my former job (and china) in april my employer at that time probably didnt even cancel the visa for days or weeks afterward since i made it thru customs with no problem.

thanks again.

Keath · Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 9:44 am Post subject:

3 Mos L visa - Well, they shouldnt be able to do anything against you at all for leaving employment that wasnt technically legal to begin with. They never converted your visa so there is nothing they can do.

You shouldnt have any probs., enjoy working where you are and try to get your new school to convert your visa if you desire to stay.

Cheers!

Keith
www.JourneyEast.org

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

well, i guess i was misuderstood. when i had the job that i quit, i was on a Z visa. now i'm on a three month tourist visa, having left china and returned. the visa at my former job was fully converted into a Z and was legal work.

7969