Job Discussion Forums

[Confuciused]

Greetings all,

I have been working in Shanghai since 2004 (although in Uk at mo to recover) and was planning to head back for the summer rush although issues about changing visas has complicated my plan. In the previous period i was working using a HK-issued F visa at 2 major schools and one smaller specialised nursing college as a part time teacher. Last month, one of the schools send a circular to all teachers saying that we had to sign contracts now and organise either a Z visa or a Shanghai-issued F visa (HK ones were no longer acceptable) however my second school said that there were no changes in their procedure and i could come back and continue as before. To say i am frustrated and confused is an understatement, not least because the last 2 summers have been highly profitable there.

Now, since i do work on other businesses the rest of the year it is hard for me to get a legal Z visa and indeed salaries of 10-12,000/mth are less than a third than was possible before (is actually lower than many of my Chinese friends too with similar educational level) and now they want tax too !!! Not good. Since i dont fancy deportation im not sure what else to do for now.

One idea was to look at Taiwan for the summer rush and see if can do some business or IELTS courses out there as i usually do in Shanghai as well as keep up my mandarin. Obviously, the visa issue is a problem again but i have been told many people work under such conditions over there too so am considering it for now.

Does anyone have any idea or info of either the impact of the new visa rules or of teaching in Taiwan ?

All info is much appreciated

[clark.w.griswald]

It is illegal to work in China and earn a salary locally on anything less than a Z visa. Perhaps the school that you refer to there is trying to ensure that their staff are legally employed (a good thing) although their distinction between a Hong Kong issued F visa and a Shanghai issued F visa has me confused - an F visa is a visa type and does not make you legal regardless of where you obtain it. I don't think that any of this is new as far as regulations, I believe that the governments in some areas such as Shanghai as just enforcing the existing regulations more carefully.

You mention that you don't want to get deported but that you also cannot obtain a Z visa for business reasons.

Should you come to Taiwan to work and assuming that you want to avoid deportation here then you will need to obtain a work permit and resident visa (which are equivalent to the China Z visa and resident permit).

So it seems to me that to work in either country and avoid deportation you need to be working legally. You could find legal work that lasts for less than a year if that helps you with your other business, and although you will be paying taxes you will also be getting the benefits of legal employment.