Job Discussion Forums

[BigZen]

Hello Everyone!

I have a question about applying for a teaching position at a Chinese university. I am a Canadian citizen, but I no longer live there. I live on a permanent basis in Japan with my Japanese wife and two children.

I have been told that in order to get my work visa to teach in China, I will need to return to Ottawa, Canada to get a medical check-up, criminal background check, and degrees authenticated...I had to do the same for my last teaching position, which was in Saudi Arabia (2015-16). I had to leave Japan and return to Ottawa, where it took close to three months to get the medical tests, criminal background check, and all the other paperwork completed.

My question is whether it is possible for me to do all of this in Tokyo, since the Chinese embassy is located there. I am not sure if I have my facts right, but I have heard that Canadians get can an RCMP criminal background check while living overseas. My hope is that I do not have to return to my home country to do all of this again, like I had to do for the job in Saudi Arabia.


Sincerely,

BiGZen

[BWhereUR]

I am actually working my way through the same process right now, although I am a US citizen living/teaching in Japan, so my information might be just a bit different than yours. For what it is worth, here's the info that I have gathered so far:

Gathering the information/documents to submit to your university in China in order for them to secure your preliminary work permit/invitation letter (which you later submit when applying for the z visa) is the most difficult part.

-- You use an agent in your home country to get the diploma authentication done. Costly and still takes time, but can be done.

-- I have been told that I can go to a local hospital here in Japan to complete the medical check for the initial work permit/invitation, but that I will need to go and complete the same checks once I have arrive in China (the university is offering to pay for both medical checks).

-- The No Criminal Certificate is the tricky part. For US citizens it is extremely difficult to get the criminal check done from abroad...I can't figure out how to reasonably do it. I've asked for my university to check with the local work permit bureau in China to see if they will accept a criminal background check from Japan (and authenticated here) since that's where I've been living since 2013, but I haven't heard anything back yet. This may be the step that forces me to return home to complete the paperwork.

Once you've gotten your work permit/invitation letter, you can use the following center to actually apply for your visa (the Tokyo embassy doesn't accept direct applications any more):
http://www.visaforchina.org/TYO_EN/

Good luck.

[BigZen]

Dear BWhereUR,

Thanks a lot for the reply and the useful information!

BZ

[ChrisHenry15]

I'm sure you can use an agent for the background check. Check the forums.