Job Discussion Forums

[alexmatos]

Hi.

I was contacted by "Tongwen International Culture Exchange Co.LtD".

They ask me to fly to Beijing for a 1 week free training and orientation course and will then get me a contract with a school. They also say I don't need a Z visa and can go on F or L and then apply for a working visa.


Has anyone ever worked with them?

Regards

Alex

[dragon777]

Ask them why they can't provide you with a Z visa? The schools concerned seem that they not licenced to provide a Z visa. Sounds like the dodgy brothers are at work.

[M3tt]

Sounds like standard recruiters with a twist. They get you over here and run you through a "training course" and then expect to ship you off to a school that pays them a fee.

So...............
What's their track record? Can they supply you with phone numbers of current teachers they have placed?
What happens if they cannot get you a school? Are you stuck in Beijing with no options?
What options do you have on refusing a position? What if they send you to Wuhan in August, Harbin in February, or a city with a population of 600 on the outskirts of B--F---?
What if the school can't get you a Z visa?

So many more questions to ask it's not worth it.

[distantrealm]

If they are already being untrustworthy about visas its only going to get worse.

[JamesD]

[alexmatos]

Thanks everyone for the posts.

They are valid points most of which I had already asked myself and some new ones as well

I've been exchanging emails and spoke several times on the phone with my TONGWEN contact.
They seam genuine (they'll probably get the placement fee, but in fairness no one works for free) and are going to send me an invitation letter so I can apply for the F visa.

I have no reason to suspect things won't work out for the best but if they don't I can always say no to the job and go travelling trough China ))

I'll keep you posted!

[yousofi]

hey dude, im in a similar spot as you. i have been in contact with them and plan to go to beijing soon. i'm hesitant like you and just looking around to see if they are legit.

http://www.boaoedu86.com/englishs/index.asp

this is their homepage. they seem like a legit company who recommend you to schools, the schools give them 100% of pay and they give you like 90% and get the 10 as commission. makes sense.

[alexmatos]

Just a quick update to let you all know I ended up going.

A few points:
1. A Tongwen representative as waiting for us at the airport and took us to a Hotel in Beijing as promised.
2. They did arrange teachings position for both me and my partner in the city of Yuyao
3. We ended up going with 3 months F visas as they suggested. They did not deliver on their promise of getting us Z visas and we had to pay a substantial amount of money to get a 3 month extension on our F visas. After some discussion we managed to get the school and tongwen to pay some of the cost of the visa.
4. the teaching experience was great and so were the 3 months we spent travelling through the country after we finished teaching the 1st semester.

All in all it was a brilliant experience!

[rogerwilco]

[alexmatos]

[/quote]


Thanks for posting the update, it is greatly appreciated.


But, being lied to, and cheated out of money is a "brilliant experience" ?
If they can do it to you, and get away with it, then it just encourages them to do it to others.[/quote]

I considered the visa issue to be a minor setback, the school still paid me enough money to live comfortably and to save for 3 months of travelling around China.

I didn�t go to China with any illusions of bringing back any money. I enjoyed the teaching experience, loved the country and the people I met were kind and friendly.

So definitely I would say it was a Brilliant Experience. You cannot put a price tag on good memories