Job Discussion Forums

[Voyeur]

I've been away from China for 6 months, and might want to return.
However, I'll now be subject to the new Visa rules.
Luckily, I live in Ottawa near the Chinese Embassy and RCMP, etc.
I'm just wondering what the bottleneck usually is for Canadians? The degree authentication (luckily again, I went to the University of Ottawa near the Embassy!), or the background check?

[Marinx]

I don't know about degree authentication, but in my neck of the woods a standard background check takes about 4-6 weeks if you have already had the enhanced background check before.

If you haven't, then you'll need to supply fingerprints to RCMP and it takes another 4-6 weeks or so.

https://www.ottawapolice.ca/en/contact-us/Police-Record-Checks.asp

[ttalapp]

Mine took about 6 weeks in total during the summer of 2017. Had to do everything from scratch, starting with the application for a new passport. I live in Toronto, so everything is also close by. If you don't mind paying extra, the RCMP check can be done with one of the agencies. The process takes 1 day and cost about 45$, depending on an agency. I then notarised one of the degrees, and then proceeded to authenticate both my background check and my degree. There is a special office in Toronto that does it. After authentication, one goes to the Chinese Consulate for the 2nd authentication. Hope that helps. No fingerprints needed at that time. And your background check needs to be notarised.

[Voyeur]

Hmmm...

So basically, I can do everything in a day or so: the background check, notarizing it and the degree, and then authentication by the Canadian side of things.
So the only delay is the Chinese Embassy. How long did that take?

I assume the 6 week total includes getting a passport and the post-authentication part of the Chinese Visa process, which I know varies wildly from province to province and situation to situation. The better connected your employer and.or the better they are at doing paperwork, the faster. Also, time of year can affect backlog on the Chinese end and processing time.
Do you need to get your TEFL cert authenticated? (The Chinese embassy charges like $50 a doc, and close to $100 for speedier service. Diploma and Background check are already two docs...)

Also, how long does authentication last. I'm not sure when I want to go to China. Could I do it all now and still go in the fall? In Korea, background checks were only good for 6 months.

[nimadecaomei]

Degree authentication lasts, criminal check needs to be more recent. How recent I could not tell you.

[Elicit]