Job Discussion Forums

missdeanna · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

My fiancee and I are looking to teach abroad (likely in Asia due to low requirements) as of...next year, we're thinking. I've already taught in China and got completely screwed by contract violations, but that's pretty common and I'm still willing to go back, just....elsewhere.

Anyway, I have a degree/certification question. I myself have a four year degree and so I know I could pretty much teach where ever I please. However, my fiancee will have an Associate's degree (a 2 year degree for you non-Americans) and is willing to get whatever sort of certification is deemed best for the position we choose (CELTA, TEFL, etc). I realize some of you like to troll and say things like, "Why don't you get a four year degree?" and to be quite honest, I'd like to not see that in this thread as it's a completely irrelevant question. It's not going to happen, period. There are good reasons for this, the most important being that his position here in the states requires nothing more and he's not really into being on the student side of the classroom. Whatever, different strokes for different folks.

My question here is: are there parts of China that are accepting of an AA degree + certification? Which parts in particular, if so? Are the requirements and such changing?

And on the other side of things, if I obtained a position that made enough money for the both of us (I was accustomed to making 5000 RMB/mo and I felt as if I was rolling in cash while still being able to see what I wanted to see...if I made, say, 12000 or something I feel I could support us both), would they allow me to bring him along? And would he perhaps be able to obtain one of those silly and shady kindergarten teaching positions on the side while I teach where ever I'm placed?

Thank you for any insight you're able to provide. To give some perspective, I was at one point in the Jiangsu province and I've no desire whatsoever to return there in particular.

gene · Joined: 03 Mar 2010 Posts: 187

cormac · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 768 Location: Xi'an (XTU)

missdeanna · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

thessy · Joined: 09 Nov 2008 Posts: 111 Location: Xi'an

You absolutely can get a legal, legitimate job with an AA, but it's only legal to do so in some locations. Usually those positions are not very highly sought after and as you would need to be there also it would greatly limit your employment options.

As a fiancee I don't think you could "bring him with you" like you could if you were married. He would need to come on his own visa, leaving three real options...

Find him a teaching job and have him come on a legal Z-visa. This would be on the up-and-up, but finding a job without a BA is painstaking at best. Also as mentioned above it would very much limit your employment options.

Have him come on a one-year multi entry tourist visa. This would be a pain in the rump due to the maximum length of stay. He also could not "legally" work while here on that, but that's not to say someone who wanted to find part-time or private gigs would not be able to successfully do so.

Find someone who could sponsor an F/Business Visa for him. Usually the maximum duration of stay is longer and depending on how the various wordings of various things played out, he could potentially perform specific duties and end up getting money for said duties - it just can't be classified as "teaching English for a salary". This, while not terribly uncommon, is also illegal for the most part, though arguably less risky (but more complicated) than a tourist visa. Also while illegal, a person could in theory likely find part-time or private work if they chose to do so.

powerrose · Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 119 Location: Shenzhen, China

Hm, I wish I could be the person to say 'yes, I know exactly the place in China that has good jobs for people with an associates degree!' As I think that's the answer you're hoping for....

Can we ask why you two don't get married early for convenience sake? I know plenty of people, myself included, who got their legal marriage certificate far in advance of a ceremony for legal reasons such as these. Just wondering!

missdeanna · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

We do plan to get married prior to going to China. I apologize for not specifying that earlier! We're engaged now but would marry before we go Razz

.

Thessy, do you happen to know which parts he could get a job at? I know when I came over, I was on an F visa and didn't get my hands chopped off or anything so I feel comfortable doing so again.

cormac · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 768 Location: Xi'an (XTU)

gene · Joined: 03 Mar 2010 Posts: 187

powerrose · Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 119 Location: Shenzhen, China

A'Moo · Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 3:33 pm Post subject:

cormac · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 768 Location: Xi'an (XTU)

The school i worked in first had 4 teachers when I arrived. Two Australians and two Canadians. All were under 21. Two of them had been in China a year already and had signed up for their second year. None of them had been to university or had any qualifications beyond their Tefl Cert.

Trinley · Joined: 29 Apr 2010 Posts: 144

Surely he can get a teaching job with a 2 year degree. I had an AA when I first came, and I easily got a full time job in a college and part time work in a language school. I had co-workers at both schools who had no degree at all. I believe they had TESL certificates though. If you have one or the other, degree or TEFL, I think it will be easy to find work anywhere. On the shady side, I believe the school would have to forge a 4 year degree in order to get your foreign expert's certificate approved by the government. That may or may not bother you.