Job Discussion Forums

[twosn3snfg]

Hey -

So I switched employers, took a break at home between contracts. When I returned to a new employer, I found that I had been deceived, nothing was as i was told it would be, and I was not willing to deal with it. I asked to leave, things got messy, and I begin to receive threats, so I took off.

I tried to come back and work for my original employer but when they went to PSB to get paperwork for me they weren't allowed to. Now I'm stuck in the States and can't get back.

I have a nice job here, but I loved living in China and would really like to return.

What can I do? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[SledgeCleaver]

I'm not familiar with China's exact bureaucratic system, however in a case like this you really have to ask your desired school to go to bat for you, and hope they have connections/guanxi. For example, a school I worked for in Russia apparently had access to "cultural visas" through some sort of Jewish organization there, which other schools could not get, and this allowed them to better navigate the system when there were visa changes and work visas could not be had.

Perhaps the head of your school knows who can make something like this disappear, or can write a letter or bring some type of case to a higher-up in the right government office.

Sorry, I can't be more specific than that. Also, my scenario is extremely contingent on various factors:
1. Whether the people at your school know how to navigate the proper bureaucracy, both in "white" terms (ie. letters, suits) and perhaps in "black" terms (ie. guanxi or "touching" someone who can help). In that sense, it will probably matter how "high up" such things go, ie. whether it's some local provincial office or a centralized organization.
2. Even then, the school has to want to go to bat for you. Do they genuinely like you, or are you such a good teacher that they badly want you back? I'm sorry to say, but it's possible they consider you quite expendable, and that for them it would be easier to find a fresh new teacher with no black marks rather than go to bat for you. Unless you have extremely marketable skills, I've often seen that schools don't care much about individual ESL teachers.

Good luck, hopefully someone with more China knowledge will chime in. Pretty sure you can also go back to China, but just in a different administrative region or province; someone will likely clarify that below.

[twosn3snfg]

whatever was done in Guangzhou kept me from working in Hangzhou.

[SledgeCleaver]

[litterascriptor]

I think it is more like your school in Guangzhou gave you a terrible reference, which is making it difficult for your school in Hangzhou to get you a visa.

I doubt this is some sort of "blacklist" at all.

Get your new school to talk directly with your old school. Maybe they can talk them down a bit.

[Bud Powell]

If it's true, you're providing direct evidence that some sort of "central blacklist" does exist.

Not necessarily. After the release procedure was instituted, I talked to an FAO about FAO's talking to each other about FTs. She implied that FAO's weren't allowed to do that. (Actually, her comment was somewhere between not allowed and discouraged). After the release procedure was instituted, she said that FAO's were more likely to talk to each other.

It's a lot more likely that someone picked up the phone and called someone.

I think that an official blacklist would work against schools because one school's jerk can be another school's answer to its prayers. Besides if there were a blacklist, FAO's and others in a position to hire would be privy to the list. After all, it costs money to secure a letter of invitation. If you went through a recruiter, the recruiter may even be entitled to her commission. In addition, if you were issued a Z visa, but denied a residence permit, the would-be employer would probably be responsible for returning you home at his cost, not yours.

FAO's and school owners and managers are well aware of the problems within the various systems. They know that scoundrels and incompetents abound. All employers everywhere know this. This is why some employers never even contact past employers.

If you intend to return to China to work for a few years, you may need to work at a less-than-desirable location, reestablish your reputation, then move on.

I think it is more like your school in Guangzhou gave you a terrible reference, which is making it difficult for your school in Hangzhou to get you a visa.

This may be true, but why did the process go all the way through to your arriving in China, only to be denied a residence permit?

Something isn't adding up.

[choudoufu]

[Shroob]

Yeah, I think the OP is still in the U.S.A.

I'm not so sure about the bad reference...as the OP said he was going back to his original employer. So they should know what he is like.

The plot thickens.

[Babala]

When a school cancels the FEC and provides a release letter they are required to check off a box on a form stating whether or not the teacher did an acceptable job. If the school checks off the box that the teacher was unacceptable then it can cause problems in getting a new RP.

[The_Kong]

Why don't you contact the Foreign Teacher's Union?

I'm sure they could help

[SledgeCleaver]

[choudoufu]

[LPKSA]

[jimpellow]

I had read through the "experts" that with the new visa regulations if a contract was broken without school consent, the school could contact the government and the visa holder would be denied a new one. If this was ever enacted, is part of private or public Chinese law, can be overlooked with the right guanxi etc I am clueless on.

Thought it was part of a past discussion on how the new regulations are skewed much more in favor of the schools and whiners like myself predicted that it would end up hurting the schools themselves with a dwindling supply of teachers.

www.lawandborder.com

He may have something in the comments, or you can pay him for a consultation if you are intent on returning. Good luck!

[Zang_Lajiao]