Job Discussion Forums

[anjinholuis]

DEAL ALL

I leave for China/Beijing tomorrow. Got the Z-Visa, got scans of the Invitation Letter + Work Permit.

The originals of these documents haven't arrived in the post.

AM I GONNA BE ASKED FOR THE ORIGINALS AT IMMIGRATION

If I am, I am truly in the shoot

PLEASE HELP.

CHEERS.

[happigur1]

Is the z-visa in your passport (a huge sticker that takes up one page)? If so, you're set. When you get to China, this is all they are looking for. The invitation letter and work permit was so that you can obtain the z-visa through the Chinese Consulate. Some consulate require the original documents in order to get the z-visa (like in Los Angeles). Seems like you got your z-visa without the originals.

[brsmith15]

You're all set. When the flight attendants give you the medical form to complete DO NOT check off "Yes" for any of the diseases/conditions. Also be certain you don't have a temperature above 37C (98.6F) or you'll be shuffled off to a cold room with coughing people that will only make you sick if you're not already.

You should pass thru the various arrival checkpoints with no hassle. Oh, and when you exit the airport be sure to find the line/gate marked "Nothing to Declare."

[anjinholuis]

THANKS HAPPIGUR AND BRSMITH 15!

I'll be wearing clean pants and making sure I don't go haywire about declaring my genious.

Of course YOU good people have helped tremendously.

CHEERS.

[struelle]

By now you've probably landed, and if you read this again, well then welcome to the People's Republic!

As for customs advice, the above makes a lot of good sense. In general, I always try to make my story line up with my documents.

After passing customs, the next things to happen are getting set up with the employer and being given housing (usually provided on campus), going through the medical checkup, and then applying for the resident permit.

Make sure your employer guides you through both the health check and the procedures to change your Z visa into an official residence permit from the local PSB! That must be done within 30 days, and the actual procedures vary from location to location.

The last I heard in Wuhan, they wanted to conduct "police interviews" with us to get the res permits, but since we had such a big group of people, they skipped it. They also asked for our religious beliefs on the official paperwork, something I've never seen before in other cities.

As you'll no doubt discover, the rules are different in China depending on where you are and who you talk to, so take it as a learning experience. If the paperwork doesn't work out perfectly, no need to sweat it, as this is hardly a country where they do things by the book (though it may certainly appear like they do)

Steve

[Jayray]

[Ariadne]

One year when the school was renewing residence permits for the FTs the PSB came to the FAO and all the foreign teachers were paraded through. They looked at us and compared us to the photos in our passports. No interview, but they did look at us.

.

[Chris_Crossley]

[jeahbaby]