Job Discussion Forums

[tomrobson]

Hey all this is all new to me so please excuse me if i break any sort of etiquette.

I'm a British citizen and am looking to teach in Shanghai next September. The problem I have is that I am currently outside of the UK and will be for the next 8 mths and plan to go directly to china. I've tried the emabssy in london, but they are not the most helpful people in the world!

Does anyone know if you can obtain you Z visa at a chinese embassy outside of your home country? I'm currently in Canada if that helps.

Thanks

[Steppenwolf]

I can only guess as this problem has not affected me; my suspicion is that the Chinese consulate or embassy in Canada will require you to supply authenticated documents (since they cannot verify the authenticity of your credentials over there).

That might cost you some extra dough!

[chinaamber]

When I worked as a DOS I had new teachers getting visa's in countries that were not there own regularily.

The places included Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Australia (That one was me!!), and Japan.

In all of these cases the process was exactly the same as when I got my original Z back in The UK.

Best advice, find out where you will be and contact that embassy. The London one probably wouldn't know anyway.

[Itsme]

Right. Documentation. That's the issue.

You didn't mention your future job. Did you ask the school about the documentation? Are they sponsoring you for your Z visa?
If so then that's great! All you should need to do is have them fax you the docs and you take them to the embassy and fill out a visa application.

I am not sure about the process in detail. I am sure that there are others on this board who know all about that, however it is my guess that you should have no problem getting a Z visa before entering the country or even getting one after you have entered the country, depending on the school.

[adamsmith]

the key is that the docs are issued for one city. You need to tell your school what city you will apply for the z visa in and go to that city to apply. If you are planning on travelling around prior to coming here you should just have the school get the letter issued for Hong Kong as the place of application and go there to get your Z visa. It is usually less hassle getting the Z visa there than many other countries as well.

[erinyes]

I suggest getting all of the paperwork, and flying to Hong Kong. An overnight stay there will be enough. As a British citizen you can go to HK for 90 days with no visa.

Maybe there are better options, but that's my 2 cents.

[KES]