Job Discussion Forums

[7969]

two months into my job, my college has still to tell me:

a. that i need to go to hong kong to get m Z visa;
b. they will be able to convert my L visa into a Z here in henan; or
c. failing the above, i've asked them to try to extend my L visa until the end of january so that i can finish the term and then make my way to hong kong from where i'll proceed on holiday and can get a Z visa there on my return in february.

my L visa expires on december 30th. i've emailed our liaison officer at the school and informed her that if i dont have an answer on either a, b or c above by the third week of december that i'll take it upon myself to purchase a ticket to hong kong and leave zhengzhou as i wont risk being stuck in china with an expired visa. i intentionally didnt specify in my email whether i intended to leave and come back..... or leave and not come back.

in standard fashion, i have no idea what's really going on with this visa situation. is this my only option? to tell them if they cant get it sorted out that i'm going to leave? my previous two jobs took some time to get a Z visa but not two months.

warmest regards ~ 7969

[Roger]

You have my sympathy, but I would like to draw your attention to the fact that your employer has the longer arm.
Putting before them an ultimatum very likely results in you being snubbed, then dropped like a hot potato.
They might now be watching for weaknesses they can exploit in any which way to put pressure on you to accept worse working conditions or to bail out.

It would be preferable to have a direct dialogue followed by a written acknowledgement of said dialoge.
By the way, the third week into December as a deadline is way too tight for you - remember your pay day! They can conveniently short-change you!
And maybe that's what they have been wanting to do all the way: to make you leave in haste and be unable to collect your airfare and other dues.

[7969]

hi roger, thanks for the post. i dont see it that i gave them an ultimatum (however rereading my post it sounds like that). i merely wanted to outline the three avenues open to me/them/us, their choice as to which path to go down. really, i need to make it known to them that i cant hang around with promises of getting this or that until the last minute.

as for trying to meet face to face with this woman, that's difficult. when i try to call to set up a meeting of any sort, she's often busy, or going to some sort of meeting (and i live a 40 minute bus ride from the school, not worth it to show up on my time off if i cant be assured of seeing someone). i decided to stop wasting my mobile money to sort things out and do it by email. that way there's less chance of miscommunication (reading is easier than listening to me try to explain something). i agree with you that meeting face to face is important, but we've talked about getting my visa several times already and how they're trying to sort it out with the foreign affairs bureau (greasing someone's palm as we all know). however, i will make another effort to discuss this with her again.

you're right too, in that i will have to prepare for an exit sooner rather than later. fortunately my payday comes before i might have to think of leaving.