Job Discussion Forums

Gringo Greg · Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:01 pm Post subject: Visa and other Qs for China

Hi,

I am looking at going to China and I have a few questions. If I know what the usual answers are to these question then I can better negotiate.

1) Who pays for the visa at the embassy?

2) Is the airfare paid up front or is it reimbursed? If reimbursed, how long does it usually take?

3) How long is the process to get the visa?

4) Any chance of me being hired for a September start? Are some universities ok with teachers arriving a bit late because of visa delays?

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

1) You will need to pay for your z-visa in your home country (or at least, I have never heard of anyone getting reimbursed for this)

2) Despite what you might hear, most places will not pay for your flights to come over up front--you will need to pay for these and get a reimbursement. When you get that is up to your contract. Try to find somewhere that will reimburse you ASAP (I would expect it to take a month at least). Some contracts claim you can only get it at the end of a year of teaching--be cautious of this, as many teachers (especially those leaving) suddenly find they are having a hard time getting it back.

3) The visa process takes around a month or so. You need to sign some stuff, perhaps do a medical where you are. You school then has to get official documents from the local government, which can be done very quickly if they have the right connections, but usually seems to take a couple of weeks. They then (physically) send it over to you, you get the visa (again, a few days to a week, depending on your location) and you can leave.

4) I assume you are looking for university work? Most universities will have completed their hiring back in the March - June period. However, some will find teachers fall through, others may still be looking. So university jobs are still around. If they are looking late, they should not mind that you will arrive slightly late (they may either pay you pro-rata that month, or pay you in full and expect make-ups). As first year students need to do their 'national training' in the first few weeks, a late arrival is not always a problem.

Private language schools recruit year round.

Two things to consider:

a) Be careful of contracts and positions at universities that are still available. They may be undesirable (poor location, bad reputation, low pay), which is why they still have a post available. Get in contact with current teachers, and read the contract carefully (and seek advice if not sure). Investigate on the net.

b) Keep in mind some places might try to get you over on a non-Z visa and make you do a HK run or something like that. It is not necessarily that they are trying to trick you into working illegally (they might be), it could be they just want you to get to China while they do the paperwork rather than waiting a month for you. But they might be expecting you to pay for this extra visa-run trip yourself. Also be aware you might be flying over for a glorified job interview that doesn't work out. Again, contacting current teachers, doing some research might help you figure this out if it is offered.

Gringo Greg · Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:26 am Post subject:

Thanks Dean, great information. I hope you can give some advice on the thread I am starting about contracts.....

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

2) And for god's sake - - get receipts! If you can, get REAL receipts from the airline instead of email confirmation ones. Also, keep boarding passes (or at least the little stubs) or make copies of the ones you get. If you fly into China and stay overnight at a hotel and then take a train or bus, keep those receipts. The name of the game, it seems, is receipts, receipts, RECEIPTS . . . if you want to get reimbursed, that is.