Job Discussion Forums

[tide]

Is it okay for a school to provide your work visa after you arrive? Is that shady? This school requires you to purchase a tourist visa to enter the country then they will supply your work visa. They state that a medical and HIV test are required for your work visa.

Does that sound sketchy? It kind of does to me because that its my first time coming across it.

All comments welcome, even those about how I haven't done enough research and how much of an idiot I am.

Thank You,
Tide

[Scribble]

Im being hit by exactly the same situation and would likewise be very curious to hear responces.

[Super Mario]

It used to be that you had to be issued your Z visa outside China, usually by the Chinese Embassy in your home country.
Now it is quite common for them to be arranged in-country. My last one [Shanghai 2002] was done this way. Maybe they want to have a look at you first.
The medical is compulsory.
If things fall through, there's no shortage of other jobs.

[WordUp]

No, in fact it is almost impossible to convert tourist visas or business visas to Z visas these days.. Especially in some of the more developed provinces. Get a Z-visa BEFORE you come to China unless you have enough money to make a hong kong run or two.

There's sample documents and invitation letters at this web page with some interesting information about working visas for China

http://ChinaVisaService.org

[englishgibson]

WordUp, you are so right. Things are changing in many parts of China. At the same time, some parts still don't even entertain any work visa applications....teachers just work on F visas there (we know F's for businessmen, but hell we are in China).

OP, it'd be helpful if you menionted the province, better the city of your destination.
If a school had invited me to come over to China, I'd've probably gone with that L and their suggested process 4-5 years ago.
If you are keen on that job there, you might want to research their intentions further. Ask'em whether they have permission from their local government to hire foreign teachers (they need to have a licence)...not that that will clear the air, I am sorry.
A letter of invitation to hire you is a good start there....make sure their stamp, contact numbers/email, signatures etc are included there. Now, I may be off (sorry), but with a letter of invitation to hire you and some might have said this before...you may be able to obtain an F visa before your arrival. F's easier to convert in China.
By the way, medical is mandatory and if you get that F prior to your arrival, then it's better to have that medical exam done in China.

Having said all this, the correct process of hiring foreign teachers to China (from abroad) is that the foreign teachers get their documantation for China ready in their home countries and at the Chinese consulates.

Peace
And
Cheers and beers

_____________________________________________________________
Double Standards in Chinese Bureaucracy?

[Roger]

Clarification is needed:
Does your employer want you to be working on a work visa, or does your employer want you to obtain a residence permit sticker?

The latter can only be obtained inside China; you will have to come here either on a work visa valid for 30 days (after which it automatically expires!) or an 'F' visa.

Most public schools provide you with a rewsidence permit in your passport, but some still abide by rules not generally followed any more, i.e. you have to get a one-year work visa. These are issued by the PSB, not by any consulate.

[Scribble]

In my case, the city is Changchun, Jilin province. The DoS has requested that I fly over on a tourist Visa and complete the contract in Changchun where he will assist with converting the Visa and securing 'relevant permits'.

Obviously I would regard this as unacceptable in the UK, but as this would be my first time working in China and the school is a franchise of a reputable company (EF) I'm prepared to accept it if advised to do so.

Your help is enormously appreciated, many thanks.

[KES]

The Jilin Province PSB will not convert L Visas to Z Visas.

If you have an F Visa, plan on a Hong Kong Visa run every six months.

Changchun PSB (which controls Jilin Province Visas) has recently really tightened the screws on visas.

Personally, I think you are putting yourself in potential hot water here.

Just insist on a Z visa first, certianly a reputable, big-chain school can swing that.

Good Luck.

[Chris_Crossley]

When I first came over to Wuhan to work for EF in October 2001, I was sent the relevant documentation by fax and I duly went along to the Chinese Embassy in London where I had a "Z" visa put in my passport.

The second time I came over in December 2003 (after an eight week break following two years of service to EF), I came on an "L" visa, which had been, again, put into my passport by the Chinese Embassy in London, since I had been advised to apply for one. It had a 30-day validity.

I originally went to Shanghai, but, within half a month, I was back in Wuhan, where I was issued with a 90-day "L" visa by the local PSB, followed by a "Z" visa (by the same PSB) once I had got a job, plus the now-abolished green book that served as a resident permit.

Now you get a visa-like sticker in your passport, and I have had two of them stuck into my passport, since I have been in China for more than two years continuously since my last entry from the UK.

Hence, I have entered China on both "Z" and "L" visas, and I have had no problems whatsoever, even with an "L" visa, despite the fact that, officially, you are not allowed to work in China if you have such a document in your passport, though you are allowed to conduct business there on behalf of a foreign company with a Chinese company.

[mike3478]

So is it ok or not to enter on an F visa? This school is telling me to enter on a F visa so I can get their quicker, then they will get me a Z visa.

I thought the F visa was only good for 60 days? Is it really good for 6 months?

[mike3478]

I don't mind a HK run every six months, but is it legal to work on an F visa?

[kev7161]

No advice we give you is going to be 100% and we've had discussions about visas before . . . about once a month. There's even a sticky at the top of this page you should check out. IN GENERAL . . . schools don't get you Z visas anymore after you arrive in China. They get you a Residence Permit that looks and smells like a Z visa, but it's not quite the same thing. If you arrive with a Z visa, it will expire after "X" amount of time. The RP will take the place of your Z visa. What a RP does do is allow you to leave China and come back at any time until it expires (much like a multi-entry visa would do). It allows you to live legally in China. Most schools should get you this Residence Permit (affixed to a page in your passport, like a visa) and your Foreign Experts Certificate (a little red booklet that says you are here teaching legally in China and which you will also need to help you in the exchange of money) once you arrive. If the school is legit, they can most often get this done in the span of a few days . . . but it could take them up to a month or more if they are not so well-versed in what they are doing.

But like I said, nothing seems to be absolute in China, so it wouldn't hurt asking your prospective employee about Residence Permits and Foreign Expert Certificates . . . see what they have up their sleeves.

[mike3478]

Cool!! Thanks kevin!!

[stil]

Be aware that sometimes the schools don't know that the procedures have changed. If they haven't needed to hire a foreign teacher from outside the country for a few years the foreign affairs department might assume that it still ok for them to issue a 'Z' from an 'L' visa. It might not be shady but that wouldn't help you.

[Calories]

I came in an an L visa and got a residence permit.