Job Discussion Forums

[Volodiya]

Posters to this forum have reported their visa converted, in country, to a Z visa, and seperate resident permit- or, to a Residence Permit for Foreigners (stamp, placed in their passport)- since new rules, placing restrictions on this process, came into effect on January 1, 2005.


The following tables are based on the information they provided:


REPORTEDLY CONVERTING-- you may not have to leave the country to obtain a Z visa

Inner Mongolia (Alex_P);
Fujian (jeffinflorida);*
Guangdong (clomper);*
Jiangsu (amanda_barrick);
Lianoning (Alex_P);
Sichuan (ekirving, phillipl);
Zhejiang (dyslexic_dcuk)

* [May 17th- (englishgibson) has reported that these two provinces should be considered "not-converting", as of now. I'm still awaiting some poster's recent, actual experience with the process in those provinces, before re-classifying them.]


REPORTEDLY NOT CONVERTING- high probability that you will have to leave the country to obtain Z visa

Anhui (randyj);
Hainan (talkdoc);
Heibei (nolefan);
Hunan (Nauczyciel);
Yunnan (no_exit)




For further details regarding the experiences of the posters who provided the information on which the tables are based, see-

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=22363

If you have had experience with this process in these or other provinces, since January 1, 2005, please add your information; or, if your information was used, and you now have something new, or different to report, please update, as necessary, to keep this information current.

[To those outside of China- this information is based mainly on the personal experiences of the posters: it can only be used as a guide, not a guarantee, as to what may happen in your case, should you choose to come to China to work. Obtaining a Z visa before you enter China to work provides you a reasonable assurance that your employer has the capacity to employ you, lawfully: this will require proof that you are qualified to teach, under the standards set by Chinese law and, that your prospective employer has obtained permission to hire foreigners.]

************************************

Additional, explanatory material for people considering a job in China:

Both the Z visa, issued at a Chinese Consulate or Embassy abroad, and the Residence Permit for Foreigners (RPF), issued by the local authorities after you arrive at your post to work, are based on a grant to you of permission to live and work in China. The Z visa grants you permission to enter the country to work, and the RPF grants you permission to remain in the country to work.

Since Jan 1, 2005, the government has started issuing the RPF as a replacement for the former green book (the old style resident permit), which carried your name, address, place of work and a photo. To enter to work in China, you are supposed to obtain a Z visa at a Chinese Consulate or Embassy abroad. Some people, however, have entered on visas other than Z visas, and found work. They have been given, in some cases, if they have met all the requirements, a Z visa, a green book (resident permit), and a Foreign Expert's Certificate (FEC). Some have been given multiple entry Z visas, valid until the end of their contract. Others have been given, instead, the new RPF and the FEC. Still others, having found work, have been required by the local authorities to leave the country, obtain a Z visa (which can be done at any Chinese Consulate or Embassy when the requirements for issuance of the visa are met), and return; hence, the table, above, which is based on our posters' report of their experiences, in their provinces.

Is the RPF a visa? No. Does it allow you to exit and re-enter? Yes. (It does that by giving you the privilege to leave and re-enter, without a visa.) In this sense, it replaces the Z visa. But, as for the other purpose of the Z visa, giving permission to enter the country to work, it does not. The RPF is not issued at a consulate or embassy abroad. The Z visa is.

The holder of an RPF has the privilege to leave the country, and return, at will- anytime within the period of validity of the RPF. However, since the RPF is based on the grant to you of permission to work in China; and, that permission is, in turn, based on your maintaining your contractural relationship with your employer, should that relationship end, the RPF is subject to being revoked, at the request of the employer. Should this occur while you were out of the country, you would not be able to re-enter china on that RPF. You would, again, need a visa to enter the country.

Another way to think of it is, the RPF is given to you, for the benefit of your employer.

Some posters have said, and I have no reason to doubt them, that after one contract ends, the RPFs validity continues, and may be renewed, IF a new employer steps in immediately afterwards to sponsor you.

_______________________

[Everything I've written here is subject to revision, if future developments in the law, or the experiences of the posters to this forum, suggest it should be. I am indebted to the score of other posters who made the effort to familiarize themselves with the details of obtaining visas, and made their valuable, technical and practical contributions to the information contained in this post- and will continue to do so, I trust, when they see something in need of correction. As author of this thread, I apologize to anyone who may have been mislead by the title; however, I find it a convenient, shorthand way to introduce and communicate the concept that- as of now, so far as we know- this is occuring in some provinces to the extent stated, above.]

[no_exit]

Update on my friend who went to Thailand to get his work visa.

He arrived in Kunming on an L visa originally, found a job with a school here, and was told by the school that he had to go out of country to process his paperwork (and they made him pay for this expense as well!).

So he went to Thailand, where the paperwork was processed. He entered the country again on a temporary Z visa, which had to be converted to a residence permit within 30 days. He took his passport with the new visa and the relevant forms to the local PSB, where they issued him one of the new visa/residence permit things, the sticker in the passport which acts as both.

So, in short, they would not issue him the Z visa in country. In Thailand they did not issue him a residence permit, but a temp. visa. When he came back in, they processed the residence permit and issued that in country.

Also, the PSB told him that were he to switch jobs, all he would have to do would be to bring in an invitation letter from his new company, and they would simply change the name on his documentation, without actually processing a new visa. His current visa/residence permit is good for a whole year, starting now, which actually means it will outlast his actual contract by about 4 months (contract started in February).

[Volodiya]

Good work, no_exit! Excellent report- clear, and based on a colleague's actual experience with this process.

This post re-confirms that Yunnan Province is "not converting", and, because of that, after locating a job in Yunnan he had to visit a Chinese Consulate or Embassy abroad to get a Z visa (permission to enter China to work); in this case, at his own expense.

No_exit said:

[nolefan]

as of this week, Hebei province is still not converting L to Z. teachers are given F visas and the authorities are aware of the issue. The official "unofficial" reason is that this is a measure to curb the employement of unqualified teachers (mainly africans and filipinos).
There will be a meeting this summer to try and re-evaluate the situation.

[deezy]

We have a situation here which we are currently trying to resolve. Although we sent all the necessary paperwork for a Z visa to our new teacher, his agent only got him an L visa. He phoned me when he was about to get on the plane, and I told him to still get on the plane, and we'd try to resolve it here in Shandong. He arrives this morning.

We've talked to some 'high-ups' in Beijing, and the advice has been that we should first go to the PSB and state the case, explaining that it is a genuine mistake, and we have been told that there's a 99% chance that if we have a reasonable PSB officer, the visa will be changed.

The only other option, we have been told, is to send him to Korea or Hong Kong to get the visa changed.

So... Shandong is unlikely to change Fs or Ls to Z's now...

[Volodiya]

Deezy, that was an unbelieveable piece of bad luck for all concerned- the school, and the prospective teacher. Why, he could've gotten himself a L (tourist) visa for a lot less trouble on everybody's part. We don't shoot incompetant visa agents anymore, but perhaps an exception should be made in this case!

Thanks for the information about Shangdong. And good luck getting the residence permit for your new employee. I, too, think you'll find a reasonable person at the PSB, in this case. Hope so.

[Meggles5]

I am an American passport holder in Shanxi province. They are refusing to change my "F" visa into a "Z" visa in this rural village outside of Datong. My "F" visa expires in one month. My school wants me to go to Hong Kong to get a "Z" visa there. Is this possible? What are my options as returning to America is NOT one of them?

Megan

[latefordinner]

Meggles5, if you want to continue teaching in China, then HK or Korea or anywhere outside the mainland is the way to go. But once you're there, do you want to come back to the same employer who got you into this mess? If this employer is willing to dump you into the brown stuff, is there any reason to believe you'll get the Z when you come back? That you'll be reimbursed for your time and trouble? That upon completion of your contract, you'll receive what you are owed? This might be a good time to consider switching employers.

[Volodiya]

Meggles5, going to Hong Kong to get a Z visa is something that can be done. You can get a Z visa at any Chinese Embassy or Consulate, if the proper documentation is presented by you and, on your behalf, by your school.

You said your school wants you to go: did they offer to pay your way, and your expenses while there, as well as the official fees involved, to obtain this visa? If they offered to front the money, that would be a pretty strong indicator that they think you would be successful.

Latefordinner, it seems a little early to jump to conclusions about her school. The administration there may have been able to get this done in the past and are surprised to find that the rules of the game have changed (as of January 1, this year). I think we're going to have to wait to hear a little more from the OP.

[gulam2]

I have recently been involved in this with a terrible company called My English World Club - Tongliao
I am now working for a good school (legal school) in Innner Mongolia.
In Innner Mongolia it is not possible as yet to convert L visa to Z visa.
There is a PSB convention in June when this matter is going to be discussed. It maybe that the policy will change back to conversions.

[Meggles5]

My school in Shanxi was able to convert a visa last year but was told the rules changed this year. Last year was the first time they have done this. After a few discussions I have gotten them to agree to pay for the travel fees and visa fees. They will not front me all the money as they fear I will not return. The previous foreign teacher was their first of five to ever complete his contract so they have been burned before. They will reimburse me in bonuses and I do believe they will do what they say. I have the privelige of getting to know the school through the eyes of the foreign teacher who is leaving. The school provided what was promised in his contract.

Does anyone know how much a work visa costs??? ANd how long it takes to process this???

Megan

[deezy]

An update on the situation in Shandong. Don't expect to be able to change your L or F to a Z unless you have HUGE guanxi with the PSB.

The teacher I wrote about earlier, it wasn't his fault but his agents, that he arrived on the wrong visa. We were advised to be upfront with the PSB and tell them exactly what happened. Which we did. There was a huge amount of extra paperwork, and it took three days for one of our staff to get everything sorted out, but the PSB eventually changed the visa to a Z. But told us this was a 'one-off' and would not be possible in the future.

[deezy]

Ok. another update. Spoke to the guy who did the work on changing the F to Z visa for our teacher. Seems it was 'no problem' and the PSB said that at the moment you can change them, with lots of paperwork, but they can't forcaste what the situation will be in the future. Cost was 400 rmb.

So you can put Shandong as a tentative 'yes' to being able to change visas.