How to transfer your Z visa to another school?
This question could very well arise given a number of different situations. Maybe you want to quit your job or maybe you got a yearlong visa in the middle of the semester. Either way, you need to transfer your visa to whatever school hires you next. You simply can’t just start working at a new school with a visa issued by your old school. For starters, the old school likely already cancelled your visa. If something bad happens to you or you break the law the school that issued your visa could potentially get in trouble, especially if you are not currently working there.
F visas are back!
This past week I received a number of emails from Hong Kong visa agencies saying in so many words, “We can do F visas again!”
Over the Olympics the Chinese government made it basically impossible to get your hands on any kind of business “F” visa. Before the Olympics, an F visa was the visa of choice for expats living in China who where either working on their own or otherwise freelancing. So it seems that all the rumors of being able to get an F visa again after the Olympics end are true. Read more
Can your school cancel your visa?
A true story…
Teacher X (Tom) had his Z, foreign expert visa revoked without knowing about it.
Tom was working as an ESL teacher for a school in China. His school provided him with a Z, foreign teaching expert visa as many schools do for their foreign teachers. His Z visa was valid for one year so Tom sat back and relaxed, thinking his visa situation was taken care of for the next year.
A few months later, Tom began having a number of misunderstandings with his school and within a few weeks the headache was more than he could handle. Tom quit his position at the school without a guilty conscience. “They broke the contract in so many ways” he thought. “I don’t feel badly about not holding up my end.”
The paperworks
Start investigating the paperwork required to teach in China, and you’ll quickly find yourself paddling in an Alphabet Soup of bureacracy. Should your visa be X, F, Z or L? Do you need your FEC before or after getting your visa? At what point do you encounter the PSB?
In theory, the procedure is this:
- Get a job. Ask your employers to send you a job offer - this is the “invitation letter”.
- Use that to get your Z, or working, visa from your friendly local Chinese embassy. Yes, the one that never answers the phone.
- Get your visa. Go to China. Impart knowledge.