Job Discussion Forums

[Modernist]

I have a new job in a new province for late August. Like so many universities, mine has a 10 month contract, with WP ending in July. The new school just recently said they think I have to return to my home country and apply for a whole new Z visa there before I can start working for them. This seems wrong to me, given I already applied for a Z once and got it there last year.

Lots of people switch jobs every year, lots on 10 month contracts, and they don't have to do that. What am I missing? Do others have 10 month contracts but 12 month visas? Is there anything I can do aside from that (the plane rides and expense are pretty horrifying to contemplate?). I heard you can use L tourist visas as a bridge, but that would only work if they would give me a Z/new WP here in country.

If anyone can shed some light on this, please let me know. It's giving me a huge headache right when I thought I had everything sorted out...

[hz88]

You shouldn't have to return home to transfer your resident permit. The sticking point is if both your existing university and new employer can get the required documents ready in time to enable the transfer.

With all the new regulations this year, there is a lot of confusion as different regions seem to be applying and interpreting it differently.

Firstly you need to ascertain from your new school what it is exactly they need for you to transfer your resident permit. It should ordinarily be your Foreign Experts Certificate cancellation letter and a letter of release/recommendation (as is sometimes referred to) and the copies of your degree etc. If the new province is requiring authentication for transfers (some are, some aren't) you will need this, also in some places also your criminal records check authenticated. You can get round this in some jurisdictions by obtaining a Chinese police clearance certificate.

A lot of schools are now just asking for everything they can think of so they can cover themselves. There seems to be no one fits all answer as even the Foreign Experts Bureau seem to be still unsure themselves.

If you can get the above key documents from your existing school to your new one at least a month before and allow them to start processing the transfer then you should be fine, however you will need to move directly to the new location as you need to present in person to deal with the transfer at the PSB.

The transition period from old to new system is what seems to be causing the most confusion at the moment. From my experience here, new applicants and transfers must be under the new system, whereas renewals can be under the old system for this year. The application side of the old system has been shut down but the renewal part is still open.

It could be that your new school is not yet familiar with how to deal with transfers under the new system and therefore have said you may have to go home. It could be that in the summer vacation they have nobody to deal with it and the time between now and the end of the current semester is insufficient.

Your priority should be getting your existing FEC cancellation letter and getting this to the new school. Push the new school to start the transfer process and state that you should not have to go home to do this (which is true).

I expect far more of similar instances similar to yours over the coming weeks as simply there is a multitude of new rules, all of which are being enforced differently in different places.

[Modernist]

Thank you for the very detailed answer.

To clarify, as far as I can tell, their main issue seems to be the 'gap' between the end of the current WP and the beginning of their contract, which is around 7 weeks (from early July until the end of August). This is why I mentioned 10 month contracts. They haven't mentioned anything about document problems or even asked me to contact this school about FEC canceling or anything like that. They just say that the PSB/FEB or whatever it is, says that the length of time is too long which means I would have to start over again with a new visa instead of doing a regular transfer of visa.

In other words, even if I went to the new province in July, the new school contract doesn't start in July, as of now, so I am thinking that is the problem. Or is it?

I've been told that another teacher from this school, did exactly what I want to do, last year, even to the same province (Jiangsu, if it matters), and he had no trouble doing it and did not have to return to the home country. So I'm really confused about it all.

[hz88]

This is one of those situations where theory and practice come to mind.

Most schools and universities issue initial ten month contracts. The PSB issue resident permits to match the validity of the contracts. It used to be that they added a month to the expiry date to give you time to transfer or pack up and go home. What I noticed last year here was that all new RP's were issued to end on the same day as the FEC which is also the same day as your contract expiry.

In this situation your existing school are obliged to take you to the PSB around two weeks before to obtain you a 30 day stay permit (it is a kind of L visa) which gives you this grace period to transfer or travel before departure.

It can then be changed into a new resident permit if the new school has got everything in order. If they haven't or can't then you will have to exit China and you will be starting again.

It depends on the new province, their local rules and how well versed the FAO is with these procedures. Some FAO's are pretty clueless. This combined with all the new legislation this year is only adding to the troubles. Be mindful that it will be the first time that they have had to use the new system and are probably giving you a worst case scenario.

What we have decided to do in this regard is to issue a twelve month contract from 1st July to 30th June for those transferring which simply indicates no pay over summer, this way it matches the PSB's requirement about matching dates.

You could suggest this to them. My only concern in your case is that unless you are going to get an interim visa, the time frame is very short given that you will I assume finish work towards the end of next month and your RP expires on 7th July. The key will be to get all the documents together that you need and insist the new school start the processing.

If they are serious about wanting you to start work there then they will find a way. The problem is that this year everything is up in the air and everyone is still finding their feet with the new application system and are still unsure what can and can't be done.