Job Discussion Forums

littlelauren86 · Joined: 20 Sep 2011 Posts: 94 Location: Korea

Has anyone had to do a visa run to Hong Kong recently?

My boyfriend an I have accepted positions at a school in Shanghai. I will be an IB homeroom teacher, and he took a position as an ESL teacher at the same school. The recruiter told me that it takes awhile for the paperwork to process, and that it could run dangerously close to the start date. They said that we will probably have to come to Shanghai on an L visa, collect the rest our work visa documents when they become available, then do a visa run to Hong Kong to get the Z.

Has anyone had to do this from Shanghai? Is this a complicated process? I'm trying to find out more information about the process and it seems difficult. We are both coming from Korea.

jimpellow · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 913

There was just a thread on this. If you do a search you will find a lot.

But to recap it is illegal to work on anything but the z-visa for the employment you seek. They do enforce this now with sporadic checks and on occasion some type of crackdown.You and your boyfriend will be putting yourself at risk for a fine, imprisonment and deportation. They may be a bit lenient if you write a long apology letter of your horrible act and beg for forgiveness from the Chinese people and government. You will get extra points for apologizing on behalf of all foreign devils for the Opium Wars, financing the Fulan Gong, and the conspiracy to thwart the Middle Kingdom's legal and righteous claim to 95% of the Earth's surface.

If the school is raided, not only will they not help you, but every single Chinese person will deny even knowing who you are. Inexplicably the police will very likely believe them. The school staff will then go back to napping or playing video games while you are led out by several dozen police people.

If your adventure in China does not end this route there are a few possibilities. One is that they will never actually attempt to get you the proper visa. You will be strung along and lied to with an expertise perfected over the course of thousands of years.

It is true the paperwork is taking very long these days and the schools are scrambling to fill white face positions more than ever before. You likely will make it to the point where you can plan a trip to HK. Who will pay for this? Does Shanghai allow a visa to be processed in HK and will HK convert an L to a z-visa for Shanghai? Rules have changed and only some jurisdictions allow the processing of a z-visa outside of the applicant's home country. I know I had read with the 2014 visa changes that Hong Kong would no longer convert an L to a Z visa. I don't know if they have lightened up on this. I can't see why, but who knows in China.

Sadly, only a minority of those in hiring positions seem to have any proper knowledge of the current regulations. And for some of those who do, they will knowingly take the risk as you will be paying for it if/when the plan goes awry.

The risk and reward ratio is so highly skewed against the applicant these days that I really don't think there is any reason to do the school a monster favor.

littlelauren86 · Joined: 20 Sep 2011 Posts: 94 Location: Korea

Thanks for the info, I am basically wondering the same thing about whether Hong Kong will change an L to a Z visa, and I can't find anything online. It would be good if Hong Kong had some sort of immigration help line.

The recruiter will pay for the Z visa run to Hong Kong, but looks like I would theoretically be on the hook for the L visa. I asked about that because it is expensive.

Anyway, I'm confident that they are providing us with the Z visa. So I'm not worried about that part. The question is when where and how.

rogerwilco · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1549

hdeth · Joined: 20 Jan 2015 Posts: 583

I've posted this several times. We had 3 new teachers come in on tourist visas with the plan of an hk visa run. Beijing said no, you have to return to your home country. School paid for the flights. March 2015.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

littlelauren86 · Joined: 20 Sep 2011 Posts: 94 Location: Korea

rogerwilco · Joined: 10 Jun 2010 Posts: 1549

Deats · Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 503

Regardless of what the school may or may not do later down the line, what you KNOW is that they aren't running a smart operation from the offset. If they are so disorganised that they want you to come and work ILLEGALLY on a L visa until they sort themselves out, this may be a sign of things to come.

During the first month or two (however long it takes them to process your paperwork) you WILL be working illegally. This is not smart.

You can be fined, deported, put in jail. On top of this you can get a 5 year travel ban. Is it worth the risk?

They will tell you whatever you want to hear to get you there, then there is no guarantee what they will or won't do. Chinese people have a very sloppy memory when it comes to remembering promises they have made... check the contract will probably sound a familiar phrase after a few weeks of working there. They will leave you high and dry should it suit them.

doogsville · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 924 Location: China

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

I agree with doogsville.
The take home message here to newbies is ALWAYS have 2 or 3 schools in your mix until one self selects by being totally upfront about visas and all the other stuff you need to know.
Just dealing with a recruiter and with no contact or verification from a legit employer is a danger signal.
Suggesting a visa run is just anther bad aspect.
Forget these people and apply elsewhere or leave it until the Spring hiring season for Feb 2016 start.