Job Discussion Forums

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I work in Korla, Xinjiang... well I did until I suddenly lost my job last week.

The police in Xinjiang have been cracking down on foreign teachers. Apparently several teachers were caught preaching to their students and the police are now suspicious of every foreigner. They've been raiding local schools and asking to meet with any foreigner working there. Anyone in Korla with the wrong visa, a visa issued in the wrong place, or even the slightest detail wrong somewhere is being told they can no longer teach. I had thought I was fine until I discovered my foreign expert certificate issued in Guangdong was no good in Xinjiang and my boss hadn't bothered updating it. My school finally simply asked all the teachers not to come teach anymore so they wouldn't risk being fined (happily they reimbursed us for the lost classes).

This is quite a change from the attitude of the police just a couple months before. I'd met with them back in March and they had smiled, told me to contact them if I had any problems, and hadn't even bothered checking my passport or visa.

The rules for getting a work visa in this province have now been changed. My school tells us that even after a letter of invitation is extended to us and the government of Xinjiang checks and approves only the embassy in our own home country would be able to issue us with the visa. So either we'd all have to travel back home, or we'd have to sit in Korla, unable to travel for at least a month, while our passports were mailed to Washington DC, Ottawa, or wherever for approval. The government of Xinjiang is now especially strict with teachers working in the Middle and Primary Schools. Needless to say every foreign teacher I know in Korla has left or is leaving.

So anyone Xinjiang bound next term, make sure your school is square with the local police and there will be absolutely no issues with your visa or you could find yourself leaving after only a short stay!

And everyone else... don't pretend to be a teacher if you're really here to preach!!! You just get the rest of us in trouble!

[tw]

[KES]

Things are changing.

These days I'd advise anyone looking to work in China to have a Z Visa before coming.