Job Discussion Forums

oxfordstu · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Changchun, China

I'm moving to Changchun in August. If I choose to marry my Thai g/f and she accompanies me, will she be able to work there? She has a degree in Aviation/Tourism from a university in Bangkok. I'll be working for an international school, so my hours are likely to be very long. I just worry that she'll be extremely bored and unhappy at home all day unless she has a job or something to do. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

time to teach · Joined: 03 Feb 2011 Posts: 73 Location: Bangkok

Your best bet is probably a more international/cosmopolitan Chinese city, where there are jobs for Thais and Filipinas as maids, nannies, and bar/restaurant workers. My wife is Thai and she has a spousal visa, not a work visa, but she enjoys her freedom and is happy being a housewife. You can get Thai websites here, and with MSN she's a click away from seeing and talking with her family and friends back home. Not sure how a Thai national gets a work visa in China, but if she speaks English you may want to look into it.

tributary · Joined: 04 Apr 2011 Posts: 28

Marriage is not a credential to have a job. She needs to find a job just like anyone would. China needs few, if any, non-white women (especially Asian ones) without advanced degrees in a university setting.

You have far better chances in Thailand and Japan and your own country.

wangdaning · Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 3154

I would think her best bet for work would be either with the Thai government or with Thai companies operating in China. You could do some research before you come.

I would ignore the previous post as China is a country that seriously lacks language skills in dealing with people from other countries (even asian ones). Ask a class of students if they have ever studied a language besides English and see how many say yes. Being Thai and studying tourism puts her in a position to help out Thai travelers who come to China.

Mister Al · Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 840 Location: In there

If she can find a suitable job then why not if she has the necessary legal requirements ; qualifications/experience. If so, then the difficulty will be whether she can find an organisation that can get her her own Z visa and comsequently her own RP. Assuming she'll be a dependent spouse attached to your RP if she accompanies you here she could look for PT opportunities but you and her would need to weigh up the risks in the place you reside.

oxfordstu · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Changchun, China

Thanks for your replies. She might be happy just being a housewife at first, but I'm afraid that she will get bored quite quickly. I will most likely be putting in long hours at this international school, so what can she do all day? Surf the internet and watch tv 10 hours a day? That's hardly healthy, and not very rewarding. The teaching contract I signed is for 2 years. As far as work goes, I wouldn't know where to begin to find a suitable position for her in Changchun.

clownshow · Joined: 19 Dec 2010 Posts: 181

Ask your employer to provide a z visa for her as well and then with the RP she can look for work.

desertdust · Joined: 02 Jan 2011 Posts: 57

I would also look into doing a Chinese (Mandarin) language course as this would

help her employment chances in her field.

xjgirl · Joined: 02 Feb 2010 Posts: 242

yeah, u could espouse to her the benefits of a thai learning chinese,
then get her into the country on a student visa and have her attend a course at one of the uni's in the city u'll be living in

LanGuTou · Joined: 23 Mar 2009 Posts: 621 Location: Shandong

The student thing is probably not a bad idea. Until you are actually married and she is entitled to accompany you as a fully fledged dependent, enroll her at a local university to study Mandarin and/or Japanese on a 'X' visa.

She may be able to find freelance translation work to cover the fees by carefully targeting companies and associations on the internet or by personal networking.

Technically it is illegal to work on a student visa but, providing the income is being used just to pay study fees and it's kept very low profile, there probably wouldn't be any comeback.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

An aviation degree is a good credential to have a job. She can can find a job just like anyone else can. China needs many workers with degrees in all kinds of settings as many Chinese workers are refusing to take jobs nowadays.

You have a far better chance looking at non-ESL websites.

Miajiayou · Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 283 Location: Nanjing