Job Discussion Forums

[paulw]

I am in contact with a company calling themselves Yuncheng English Village about a high school teaching position. The only thing that is holding me back accepting their offer is they seem insistent I come on a L or F visa and then they will send me to Hong Kong after. This topic was discussed recently so I am not seeking an opinion on this aspect.

What I am wondering is if anybody has any experience of them and can give me an idea of what they are like to work for?

They did give me two contact details for past and present teachers but neither has replied after almost two weeks. I don't know whether to see that as a bad sign or they simply haven't checked their emails.

I have read some reports online, both positive and negative but they are quite old. Is anyone there now or has been recently?

[kungfuman]

Working on a non legal visa has risks - to you not so much them. This issue has been done numerous times - with responses from DO IT! to I got caught and here's what happened... to I am working on an f visa and they haven't paid me in 3 months and are holding my passport...

[roadwalker]

OP I think your post answers itself. Yes it's a bad sign that the teachers haven't gotten back to you. There is no need to arrive on anything less than a work (z) visa, so don't. Any employer shows good faith by sponsoring you for a work visa. They show cynicism by demanding you come over on a tourist or business visa. If they like you AND can actually sponsor a foreigner for a work visa, it may work out. If they don't like you, they never heard of you - enjoy your visit to China and pick up some lovely parting gifts as you leave. If they like you and they cannot actually sponsor foreigners for work visas, they will string you along at your risk of deportation and fines.

[paulw]

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I am aware of the visa situation. The issue is that I am from Ireland and currently in Indonesia. They are saying that they cannot get the invitation letter to work made for Indonesia and that if I want to do that I would need to go home first.

They also said I need a health exam. They did send me some forms, the only place I can get this done is an international hospital in Jakarta or Bali and I am a considerable distance from either. The price quoted to me was in the region of $400. It was suggested I do this in China at a fraction of the price.

So I am still considering the options. I am happy to pay for the health check but if it still means I have to go home as apparently I cannot get the visa in Indonesia anyway, I may as well go to China. All rather confusing.

What I am interested in now is as I said, does anyone have experience of this particular company? There are many other schools and universities to choose from but they are offering an immediate start and my current contract expires next week and I then have to leave within 30 days of that as my work permit also expires.

[hz88]

Even though you said you don't need assistance about the visa situation, I will add a little anyway as it may be of use to others who maybe in a similar situation to yourself.

Yuncheng is in Shanxi and they can issue invitation letters either to Hong Kong or your passport country but seemingly not a third country (this was my own experience with a new hire who was in Vietnam and this was in August).

Regarding the health check, yes you will need this. It is complicated and expensive in other countries, in Taiyuan, our provincial capital it is just short of 600rmb all in.

It's your call on whether you decide to come in on a thirty day visa as a stopgap. Given your current location and the other factors it may well be the cheapest option. However you are putting a lot of trust in your employer. If you do decide to do this I would send them an email and say that you will but you will not teach in the interim whilst everything is being processed, if they seem unhappy then look at other options. Whatever you decide, get it in writing and keep it with you.

Regarding Yuncheng English Village, they are an agency which supplies local Government high schools with oral English Teachers. I believe they were originally called Joint Venture Schools or something like that. They are based in Yuncheng but from what I understand they largely supply schools which are in the surrounding small towns, maybe just two or three schools are situated in the city itself therefore you might find yourself on your own in nowhereville.

As for what they are like to work for, I can't say as I have never worked for them. I too have heard mixed things and all I can say is follow your instincts. It may well be that the teachers you contacted have genuinely not checked their emails, don't use that account anymore or for whatever reason have chosen not to reply. I recall many years back I got an unsolicited email from someone that had been passed my details and I wasn't sure at the time if it was genuine or the school setting me up. You are going to have to draw your own conclusions.

[paulw]

Thanks for your help.

It all does seem very confusing. Just to see if it was just the situation in Shanxi, I have also spoke to a school in Tianjin and Xi'an. Tianjin said I would have to return home to Ireland first and Hong Kong was not an option, Xi'an said I could come and then they would send me to Hong Kong or I would have to go home first.

Tianjin also said I need to get my degree authenticated or apostled before they can accept it. Xi'an just said a copy is fine and the original later.I need to weigh up the options but I am leaning towards simply going back to Ireland and sorting it all out there first. It might appear more expensive on paper but if I decide to go to China first there might be hidden costs later which I don't know about.

Just another thing I don't fully understand, the original school told me I would still need to have a health exam again in China after arrival. Is this correct even though I would have had one before coming? It seems rather overkill to me!

Any other people been a similar situation? How did things pan out for you? Any advice would be appreciated.

[getbehindthemule]

I came to Shanghai in August 2014. I had completed my health check in Ireland but had to do another one shortly after arriving in China. So you will have to do this I reckon (this sould not be at your expense though).
I arrived on a tourist visa and then went to HK to get my Z visa (applied on a Thursday and collected it on the following afternoon), came back and converted it to a residence permit in SH. I was a bit nieve at the time, and would not advise this, but it all worked out and the company covered all of my costs.
I did not need to get my degree apostiled.
I think it all depends on the company/school and I know requirements vary from region to region but that was my experience.
Good Luck!

[paulw]

In the meantime while I have been ascertaining my options and the pros and cons thereof, it really has become apparent to me just how convoulted the visa process for China is. There does not seem to be any real consistency, the only thing that seems consistent from the myriad of offers I have had is that they need a health exam before I go to China if I want to apply for the z visa without a visa run and I either need a notorised degree or the real degree paper later (or in the case of Beijing, both!).

Given my proximity to Singapore I enquired there about health checks and to complete the same exam there according to what the Chinese Authorities need it is approx S$700, which is marginally cheaper than Indonesia and on a par with Dublin. Trailfinders International Clinic in London quoted me £380 plus VAT.

I would ideally like to go to China without having to do a visa run again. I encountered this issue when I first came to Indonesia and had to deal with trecks to Singapore twice which were tiring and time consuming.

There seems to be another spanner in the chain now regarding my degree. Some places are asking for it to be authenticated (notorised) by the Chinese Embassy. I called Jakarta and they said they only offer such a service for Chinese Nationals in Indonesia. They said to use an official notorisation service. The consulate in Bali said the same thing. I called Dublin and they said they will only notorise certificates confirming bachelor status for people marrying a Chinese National. Another complication is my degree is from Belfast (which is UK not Ireland, two hours by road but another country altogether). Thank goodness for Skype otherwise my phone costs would be insane! The whole thing is a kerfuffle.

Anyway I have decided that I am going to go to Hong Kong, get a visa there and take up the offer in Xi'an. They assured me I won't be teaching and it will take around two weeks to process the documents needed and I can have a new health check done while I am waiting.They also said my original copy of my degree is acceptable on arrival without all the issues. I ditched my initial choice of Yuncheng as they said that I would need to teach for the first month and were a little evasive about my exact teaching location and my questions about technology in classrooms. I had visions of ending up in the middle of nowhere and the FT's never replied to my emails.

Has anybody else encountered similar issues recently or am I just unlucky? I will post an update later when I am settled.