Job Discussion Forums

jonathanj · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 93

So confused with all the abundant info. I have tried searching the stickys above but it never really answered my questions. Here is my situation:

I am working for a Mill school in Fujian province. I am currently working on a tourist visa, but the compnay is paying for me to go to HK in a few weeks. After I come back, I assume I am supposed to get a sticker placed in my passport that acts as my VISA.

I hate my job so much. I am always jerked around, my schedule is awful; and they told me TS. I am always getting more hours then stated in the contract, they lie to me constantly about everything, and I also hate this city (Fuzhou). My girlfriend and I are very unhappy here. 10 people have already quit in the last month.

I plan on going to Canada in August, and return at the end, and move to Beijing with my girlfriend in September, and work for a good school.

If I was to just leave after getting my sticker placed in my passport, break the contract, and cut off all ties with the school, what will happen to me? Can I easily leave the country for a month, then return and work for a new company?

I am sorry if this has been asked a billion times but the search was overwhelming and ended up being extremely confused. Thanks.

Steppenwolf · Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 1769

The only piece of information worth giving you is this: if you want to cheat that school out of a visa's worth of investment you are going to find out that you are taking yourself for a ride.

Read the stickies and find out that your employer is your sponsor, and no one else is in a legal position to employ you.

If you move to another city after your jaunt to Canada you will have to go through the same motions again before you get your resident's permit.

jonathanj · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 93

Well, then, if I leave for Canada, and my new employer gives me a foreign expert certificate, can I just got to a Chinese Embassy and change my VISA over to my new employer?

If I were to give my employer enough notice based on the contract (7 days written notice due to still being under probation), do I need a release letter to state that I legally finished the contract, and then there will be no problems having the VISA transferred over in Beijing (or would I still need to have a foreign expert cert. to get a new VISA in Canada)?

Thanks for the help.

P.S. Yes, I am cheating this company out of a VISA, but this is nothing compared to what myself and all the other teachers/workers are being treated like!!!!

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

So are you going to Canada in August, then supposedly returning to this mill afterwards to finish up your contract? If that is the case, then I won't advise. If your contract is up at the end of July/end of August, THEN you're going to Canada, THEN planning on finding a gig in Beijing, then I say why not just stick it out in Fuzhou for another, what, six weeks? seven?

When is your contract scheduled to end? By the way, if you are working more hours than are stated in your contract for no extra pay (and I have to ask, "Why????"), then they are breaching your contract. If you've talked to them about it to no avail (I'm guessing "TS" means "tough sh*t!"), then make sure you make a note of your conversation (date, time, talked to whom, etc.) and then, when you're giving your notice, you can simply tell them THEY are breaching the contract and it's just not working out for you. Put the onus on them and it may work out for you.

jonathanj · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 93

No, my contract ends in April 2008. I am still under the 3 month probation period. I have just had enough of this place. It's not culture shock because I have lived in China and Japan for many years.

My whole plan is to get the working VISA and sticker in the next couple of weeks, go back into the school's office, then quit. Loaf around China for another 2 weeks, then go home for a month. Return to China at the end of August, get the girlfriend, then move to Beijing. I will already have a job lined up by then. I am just curious as to what will happen with my VISA and will I be able to be employed by my new employer in Beijing?

I have worked at 6 different schools in China and Japan, and have fulfilled my contract with each of them. This is the worst job I have ever had, and I am being constantly lied to. I can't take another month of this, let alone finishing the contract in March 2008.

By the way, the school is an independent school. No chains. Another teacher is bringing in a lawyer for unpaid fees and contract breach!

Thanks for the input!

lychee · Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 109

If you are on probation for 3 months doesn't that work both ways. If they don't like you, they can let you go and if you don't like them, you can go.
As the other posters said you don't have a Z visa, so you are employed illegally.
Why not fly back to Canada now and hang out there until your new job starts? Will the new position provide you with a Z visa?

If you are in a job and town you really can't tolerate, April 2008 seems a long long time

jonathanj · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 93

The reason I can't leave right now is because I need the 6000 Yuan they owe. They pay me in 10 days, and then, I go to HK. Also, I already bought my plane ticket to go back to Canada on July 25th. My L VISA expires on July 15th.

Another question, if they fire me, what changes on the status on my VISA. I guess I can always try and get fired instead of quitting. This way, they have to give me a release letter. Would this create less problems than quitting?

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

Your on an L visa - no rights at all - your contract is worthless - the probation period has no legal foundation - you don't need any release letter to leave on an L visa, but then you say you're collecting this mystical work visa in HK - what type of visa is this (is it F or Z)? All you can do is sit tight for 10 days and hope they pay what you're owed - and then get out to HK to collect the mystical new visa - or better still get out and never return. If your bosses decide not to pay you're out on a limb since you have zero legal recourse to take action against them. Is the guy who is bringing in a lawyer legally employed????

HunanForeignGuy · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 989 Location: Shanghai, PRC

As Vikuk wrote, your situation is indeed precarious.

As we say at home, you are up the creek with no paddle at all.

An "L" visa confers no rights upon you at all and I was surprised that you even consented to work on it. I would keep my mouth shut, hope that you get paid something, and then VikUk said, run for your life. I strongly doubt that your boss will get you a "Z" visa -- more than likely an "F" visa. Many of these mills have no authority to enhire foreign teachers as they have no authorization and if there were ever one province that is notorious for this in China, it is Fujian.

Your boss could even arrange to have you "arrested" for working on an "L" visa, pocket your wages, share some of it with the local police and then send you packing out of the country. That has also been known to happen very frequently.

So my advice is that of VikUk : keep quiet, take the money, whatever and then run for cover. Otherwise you may be in for a very unpleasant surprise.

And I would also bet that you do not have a university degree, no TESOL certificate, etc., etc, which makes matters even more precarious for you.

jonathanj · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 93

I do have a degree, a TESOL experience, and 4 years of ESL Teaching under my belt. I was just under a lot of pressure to find a job fast and pretty much settled for the first one that fell in my lap. I was stupid to not do some research. I learnt a lot from this.

I am curious, what if I were to marry my Chinese Native girlfriend over the next few weeks. We have been dating for 2 year sand can prove it. Can I get a marriage VISA or something?

Thanks

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

If married you can get a special year long L visa (a family visiting visa) - but this visa infers no working rights, it only allows you to visit for a period of a year - to work you have to go after the correct visa just as any other FT.
The length of how long a couple has been dating has no interest to any immigration dept. anywhere in the world - and after reading your posts and some of your querries (you claim quite a bit of experience which doesn't really show up in your posts) my advice to you is to head back for Canada, for good. Since that should be a place where I believe you may be less confused and on safer ground!!!!

HunanForeignGuy · Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 989 Location: Shanghai, PRC

Something doesn't add up here...

Forgive me? You are on the three-month probation....you have an "L" visa...you want to hang around until the end of your three-month probation period to have your airfare reimbursed?

That triggered a big query with me...I know of no mill in Fujian, of all places, that will reimburse an airfare to the tune of RMB 6,000 upon completion of the three-month probation period.

Then there is this business about marrying your Chinese fiance in order to obtain a new visa, etc., etc.

And then there are the six jobs in China and in Japan, might I ask in how many years?

Because if you came from another job in China, what happened to your visa from that job?

I would very, very politely like to ask the OP what he is exactly asking us here on this Board. The range of events has become murky enough that I can no longer follow it clearly.