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Orrin · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Zhuhai, China

This is the 1st. of November, 2009; and there still seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding/misinformation going around the EFL community about the �Z� visa. Let me try once again to clear all of this up.

No matter what a particular school may tell you, read this carefully and burn it into your memory. IT IS NO LONGET POSSIBLE TO CONVERT A TOURIST OR BUSINESS VISA TO A �Z� VISA OR RESIDENCE PERMIT IN CHINA! If any individual or a school tells you anything different such as: �Don�t worry about the work permit and residence permit. We�ll handle all that once you get here. Just come here on a 30 or 180 day tourist visa and we�ll handle all of the paperwork from there.� THEY ARE LYING TO YOU! Drop them immediately and move on to someone else.

The �Z� visa, up until a few years ago, used to be a 1-year, multiple-entry visa AND your official authorization to work in China. Now, the �Z� visa is a TEMPORARY 30-day visa that allows you to work while your work/residence permits are being processed. Until some point last spring it was possible to convert a tourist visa to a residence permit in China; but that is no longer the case. We have the 2008 Beijing Olympics to thank for that little �pleasantry�.

Here is another point that the prospective teacher must understand and burn into their memories; IT IS ILLEGAL FOR A FOREIGNER TO WORK WHILE IN CHINA ON A TOURIST VISA! Now, I am neither stupid nor na�ve. I know that there are many teachers here in China that, for reasons known only to them, are working on tourist visas. They are, however, putting themselves in great jeopardy. In a best-case scenario they are leaving themselves wide open to exploitation/abuse by their employer; or, in a worst case, they are subject to deportation!

Let�s say that a gullible new teacher swallows the line of �bs� about it being �ok� to work on a tourist visa while the work/residence permits are being �processed� by the school or employment agency. Then, after 2 or 3 months and the �western style�, single apartment they were promised turns out to be a room in a 2-star �fleabag� hotel with a �squat toilet� that they are sharing with another teacher, their passport is still in the custody of the school, and the required work/residence permits have never materialized. The school then informs the teacher that, because business is slow, the �maximum 15 teaching hours per week� that was stated in the contract has now become 30 hours; and oh, by the way, because a student�s parent complained about your teaching (you�re not �entertaining� enough), they are not going to pay you your previous month�s salary as a punishment.

The teacher (because he/she is essentially an �illegal worker�) doesn�t have a legal leg to stand on, and therefore, absolutely no recourse. If the teacher calls their home countries� consulate or embassy, the first question they will be asked is �What is your visa/residence status?� If the teacher responds truthfully, they well hear �have a nice day.� and the line will then go dead. I�m not making this stuff up folks. Nobody could make up stuff like this. I�ve seen this exact scenario play out RIGHT HERE IN ZHUHAI!

Before I completely leave this subject of visas and work permits, there is a fairly new gremlin that has recently raised its pointed little ugly head; and it deserves some mention here. Although this issue will not affect the majority of current or aspiring EFL teachers, it will have significant impact on a certain demographic group within the EFL community; including those who have significant levels of teaching experience and/or time in-country.

For quite some time there has been a regulation on the books here in China that states in effect: �Any teacher/lecturer/professor who is employed by any state-funded institution (university) that awards a degree MUST hold or obtain a Foreign Expert Certificate (FEC).� For those teachers working at such universities, the FEC, which is valid only for the duration of the teacher�s contract, takes the place of the �Alien Work Permit�; and is required to obtain a Residence Permit (RP). The RP is actually a one-year, multiple-entry visa; very similar to the old �Z� visa.

I should remind any readers that the minimum education/certification requirements for foreign English teachers in China, and specifically in Zhuhai are: a Bachelors degree or higher in any discipline, and an English teaching credential such as a TEFL, TESL, TESOL, CELTA, etc. These and other items are required before a foreign English teacher will be granted either a FEC, or a work permit; either of which are required for the issuance of a residence permit (1-year multiple-entry visa). Both the labor bureau and the newly formed Zhuhai Foreign Experts Bureau are really playing hardball with these requirements. So, consider yourself informed.

I don�t know exactly how long this regulation has been on the books; but I do know that up until very recently it has been largely ignored by many universities and the central and provincial government agencies as well. I personally know of many teachers who have been working at universities for several years with only �Z� visas or work permits. All of this changed last fall in the wake of all the �Beijing Olympics visa turmoil�. As with many �official, central government regulations� here in China, regulations such as the �FEC rule� are interpreted differently, and in many cases arbitrarily, by different provincial and municipal Foreign Expert Bureaus, Labor Departments, and local Public Security Bureau (PSB) offices.

Early last October, the HR department at my university circulated an email that stated, in effect, that the provincial (Guangdong) Foreign Expert Bureau had decreed that they were not going to issue or renew FECs to/for any foreign teachers who were 60 years old or over. Therefore, the university would not be able to continue with or renew the affected teachers� contracts. As one might imagine, this caused quite a bit of a �stir�, not only within the English Department faculty, but the �major subject matter� faculty as well. After a considerable amount of �discussion� with the local bureaucrats, several teachers managed to be granted a temporary �stay of execution� until the expiration date of their contracts or June 30th, 2009; which ever was shorter. As of the date of this writing, there has been absolutely no indication of relaxation of this rule by either the local Labor Department or the Guangdong Foreign Expert Bureau.

So, you ask, what does all of this mean? The answer, quite literally in the Chinese government�s viewpoint is that, if you are a foreigner, no matter if you happen to hold multiple doctorates in applied linguistics from the most prestigious universities in the civilized world, and have 15 or more years teaching experience in China, if you are over 60, YOU ARE A USELESS FOSSIL who is not (no longer) wanted in the university classroom; or even in �the land of China� for that matter. Who was it that said that xenophobia and ageism no longer exist in China?

Therefore, my advice to those of you fellow �seasoned citizens� who are either contemplating coming to teach at a Chinese university, or an in-country teacher/lecturer/professor whose contract and/or visa documents are up for renewal, please don�t waste any time in checking with your respective institution�s HR department for exact details about this situation before you make any irreversible decisions.

So, what�s the bottom line here? That�s quite simple. Number 1, Make absolutely certain that the particular school you are negotiating with has the proper authority from their local Labor Bureau and PSB office to employ and document foreign teachers. This check can be accomplished by contacting the Chinese embassy/consulate in your home country and asking them to perform a check. Trust me, they will do it. Number 2, Use every resource at your disposal to check out anything a school or recruiter tells you BEFORE you make any commitments or hop on that �big jet airliner� headed for China; and for God�s sake, don�t try to �game� the system or take the advice of anyone who tells you that they can do it for you or help you do it. If the deal sounds to good to be true� it probably is.

Cairnsman · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 203

sojourner · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:52 pm Post subject:

Orrin,

In case you missed my reply to your other post (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=76344&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 ), could you please elaborate further on your comments ( above) re age discrimination,and how you were still able to get an FEC ? The subject of age discrimination concerns many of us !

Peter

mike w · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 4:05 pm Post subject:

Orrin · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Zhuhai, China

chinatwin88 · Joined: 31 Aug 2009 Posts: 379 Location: Peking

. IT IS NO LONGET POSSIBLE TO CONVERT A TOURIST OR BUSINESS VISA TO A �Z� VISA OR RESIDENCE PERMIT IN CHINA!

Actually, by regulation it is possible.

The Ever-changing Cleric · Joined: 19 Feb 2009 Posts: 1523

Orrin · Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 206 Location: Zhuhai, China

mike w · Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject:

chengdude · Joined: 13 Jun 2004 Posts: 294

Hmm...historically Z visas were issued with a 90-day validity (must enter within 90 days of issuance), were good for one entry, and had no indicated duration of stay (typically had a line drawn through the "____ days" in case there was any doubt). Once your Z visa was stamped at the border, it was invalidated and it was up to your waiban to get your Work Permit (little green book) and Foreign Expert Certificate (bigger maroon book) tout de suite.

If you renewed a contract -for example at a university- the school would typically issue another Z visa covering you for the summer (up to the school and the PSB to figure out for how long it would be valid) and then, come fall and the new contract, renew your FEC and Work Permit...thus invalidating your Z visa once again. As previously stated, if you ever chose to leave China, you needed to get a re-entry permit because the FEC & Work Permit were not travel documents.

In 2004, as others have also said, all visas (L, F, Z) and the Residence Permit changed to page-sized stickers placed in your passport...and they all look basically the same. Once again, the Z visa was/is a single-entry, no-duration-of-stay document and after you enter the country you have a month to get the Residence Permit that allows you to live and work. And, as everyone knows, the biggest change of 2004 was the added luxury of no more re-entry permits...the Residence Permit also functions as a multi-entry visa for as long as it's valid.

OK, I was bored and enjoyed looking back through my old passports and little green books.