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Q: What can I do if my school never cancelled my previous Foreign Expert Certificate?
After my fifth year teaching in China, I was told I needed to spend a year outside of China for a year before I could continue working here. I was unaware that my school needed my Foreign Expert Certificate so that they could cancel it, so I thought I should take it back with me in case I needed it in the future. They contacted me a couple of weeks after I returned home (USA) and told me to mail it to them. I did but they never received it. I returned to the same school after one year and I have taught here for this school year. I was given a Foreign Expert Certificate for this year, but that seems to be because the school's representative went to process the paperwork on a busy day and they didn't check it carefully. When reapplying last week for the next school year, I was told that they wouldn't give me a new Foreign Expert Certificate because I have been in the country seven consecutive years. They are counting the year I spent in America because the certificate wasn't canceled. My school has no idea how to handle this. Any advice?
EDIT: I am currently teaching at a private university near Chengdu, Sichuan. The support for the foreign teachers was pretty good when I first came here, but frequent personnel changes over the past three years have left the school unable to accomplish even basic tasks. The guy in charge now seems to know even less than the person who made this mistake in the first place. I am currently at the same school that I was at before I spent the year in America but I am looking to change to a new school (for obvious reasons).
Thanks a lot for the help so far!
7 years 50 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
The local Public Security Office where you got your previous FEC should have a record of your previous FEC application, especially if you are returning to the same one with the same school.
My understanding is that you returned to the same school after a year of being at home.
So, if your school has regular contact with this office due to other FT's being employed by them, there should be a degree of familiarity between them and the local officers.
You don't say where you are located, so it is impossible to know how many FT's they will be dealing with regularly.
This problem arose due to sloppiness on the part of your school.
Ignorance on correct procedure of a departing FT on their part is a lame excuse, especially as you can not have been the first FT to leave and need a cancelled FEC.
I have found that something being 'lost in the post' is usually an excuse for unwillingness to do a proper job or laziness.
I suggest that your school use their relationship with the PSB to find a legal solution.
ironman510:
The PSB can't help him, only the FEC office can hanlde this matter, the PSB just interviews, prints out a resident permit sticker after the FEC officer approves the expat to be a worker in China. Good question is this the same school?
Only SAFEA, issuer of FEC can make a decision about re-issuing of new FEC, so direct the School to ask for advice there.
It is Chinese matter, but you can dial Provincial SAFEA and seek an advice there.
Enter 'safea' in search above for address and contact no. in your Province.
On a slightly different tack!.. Can an FEC be cancelled before the end of the contract.. I ask as I have found new employment and they( my new employer) are asking for my current employer to cancel the FEC now so they can do there thing, it is early BUT is there any reason why it couldnt be done, thanks in advance and sorry to JS for hijacking your post 
icnif77:
Yes, it can or FEC must be canceled before your new employer can get new one with FEC Cancel Cert. from the previous employer. I just did that a month ago.
Something fishy about this, because the FEC office can clearly see that your passport was stamped from the time you left and came back, thus proving you've been gone over a year. Can we ask which city you are in? The 5 year rule doesn't count for ESL teachers, only for engineers and jobs related to this area. Been at Wall Street for 8 years, never had a problem, yettttttt!!!
JSHunter:
Same school. I added a little information to the original question. You can check the edit. Thanks a lot for responding.
Hotwater:
The 5-year rule applies for Engineers does it? Not that I've heard and I've now had a workm permit as an Engineer for 5 years. Though I've changed jobs/companies in that time.
Englteachted:
Depends on the the city but yes this sounds fishy. Add to it the FEC expires yearly and needs to be renewed so they could clearly see that it wasn't renewed
Ok, yes Sichuan has the 5 year rule. I talked about it in a separate post a year ago. PM me if you need a legal job, I know some school bosses in Shenzhen that can get you setup with a job and a Z visa in HK.
