Job Discussion Forums

[Matthew H]

So this morning I was very pleased to see that my contract had returned safely to China after signing it. I will be starting work at a university and my contract starts on September 1st which is great.

However my contact at the university has said that he won't apply for my documents (work permit and visa application) until August because "the foreign expert bureau will not take the application too early"

So my question is how long will this take? If I am expected to arrive at the university before September 1st so that I can settle in and sort myself out then how long will it take to do these documents. I am currently living in England so any documents will need to be sent to me here before my departure and I assume taken to a Chinese embassy too.

Also I don't want to book my plane ticket until I am absolutely sure that I am going and everything is sorted but that would mean I was booking it only a few days before departure.

Any advice on what will happen and what I should/could do?

Thanks

[7969]

[xjgirl]

this is highly suspicious,

why would the foreign experts bureau not accept your documents
to be processed for an invitation letter now?
Thats outrageous.
Either your FAO is lying to you, or the school isn't licensed to hire foreigners

you did the right thing posting here asking for advice

tread carefully here, if i were u, i would start applying for other jobs or get back in contact with schools you didnt wanna work for

or apply pressure on this FAO to get it done
get it done fast, without the invitation letter in your pocket, u'd be f'ing mad to buy a plane ticket

[TexasHighway]

If the FAO can't (or won't) process your paperwork until August, he probably means late August. Some schools close down for summer vacation. At that time, he will probably tell you that it is too late to process your paperwork and suggest you arrive on a tourist visa and then go through the hassle of changing it after you arrive. I agree this is highly suspicious and completely unacceptable.

[sui jin]

If you are dealing with a public uni, I wouldn't worry - they know the local rules and timescales, and they are used to getting visas for FTs. But I would explain to the FAO that you need to book your flight early and you would like the invitation letter as soon as possible - I am sure they could give you a date in August when it will be sent out.

If it's a private or 'joint-venture' college/uni, or a teachers' or technical college in a remote part of China with few or no other foreign teachers, then I would be worried.

[xjgirl]

i would have it written into the contract that the more expensive air ticket
be covered by the school, as it's clearly incompetent at getting things done.

Out of interest, who'll be paying for the visa, u or the school?

[GuestBob]

I have known it to take a fortnight for both the invitation and the permit to be processed. As far as I know there shouldn't be a "delay" in processing the form based on when the FAO will take it now that you have less than three months to go until you start. They are a government office, it's not like they keep academic terms. I am not sure if you should be concerned about this, it depends on other factors to do with how solid you think the administration at the Uni. is.

Post from China shouldn't take more than a week/10 days at the absolute max to get to the UK.

I take it the school has scanned images of medical forms, degree certs. and passport from you, yes? If they haven't asked for these things then you might want to raise an eyebrow.

Visas in the UK are now handled by the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre:

http://www.visaforchina.org/LON_EN/

They accept postal applications.

Normal timescale for applications is 4 days plus two rounds of first class postage. So you can add another week or so really.

Here's another link:

http://www.visaforchina.org/LON_EN/visainstruction/250047.shtml

[edit] I found some cheap ass flights from the UK (LHR) to Shanghai with Aeroflot by the way, two hundred and fifty EUR if you book midweek in economy class.

[Matthew H]

First of all thanks to everyone for all their replies. I have been waiting for my contact to get back to the email I sent him asking him about this stuff.

First of all he has said that he will try and get my form sorted earlier. There are several other FT's at this university and he was going to try and sort out all the papers at the same time. But he has realized that because I�m not in China mine need more time. So that�s good.

On the bad he has said that it will be ok to arrive on the first week of September (term start sept 1st) which is an odd as if I have classes and things what�s going to happen with me not there. This is a uni job so I don't know if there are a couple of weeks at the start of term were things are relaxed so it�s ok or if I should be worried.

To answer peoples questions. I will have to pay for the visa that I get here in the U.K. but all the stuff being sorted out in China is paid for by them. Also in the contract I get 14000rmb for my flight allowance at the end of the year, but if it all goes *beep* up then promised money means nothing.

I dunno. This late in the year I think it will be impossible to get a position at a university so I am still thinking I should risk it. Thoughts

Thanks again everyone.

[xjgirl]

you're waiting?

sounds like this guy is using u as a backup plan

u should call him and make sure u're really wanted

don't book your ticket until u get your invitation letter