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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: How to get around the exit letter from previous employer?
11 years 19 weeks ago in Visa & Legalities - China
These days in the PRC the process of skirting the Release Letter as it is called at least for foreign teachers is more and more fraught with difficulties. You could do the Hong Kong run if you are from one of the scheduled countries that are still allowed to secure visas in Hong Kong (or in Macau for that matter). You could try to negotiate for one, unless you have pulled a runner and burnt all the bridges and or you could hope that your new school/employer has sufficient good relations with the local FEB to overcome this difficulty. In my years in China I have seen all of the above happen.
I did, let's see. It wasn't exactly a mutual decision to leave.... anticipating the worst case scenario
These days in the PRC the process of skirting the Release Letter as it is called at least for foreign teachers is more and more fraught with difficulties. You could do the Hong Kong run if you are from one of the scheduled countries that are still allowed to secure visas in Hong Kong (or in Macau for that matter). You could try to negotiate for one, unless you have pulled a runner and burnt all the bridges and or you could hope that your new school/employer has sufficient good relations with the local FEB to overcome this difficulty. In my years in China I have seen all of the above happen.
That is interesting. How would one find a list of the "scheduled" countries? Thing is that the school is a virgin, hahahaha. Their relationship with the authorities here are non existent! They have never hired a foreigner before, and i am the one doing all the research! Talk about "blind leading the blind" Any help would be most appreciated from all you "professionals" It would be great if i could have a agency(reputable) contact details. There are so many, but with my luck, i would probably go through a dodgy one and find myself packing my bags....time is running out...
The "scheduled countries" for ESL teachers in China according to current guidelines are the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. Ireland and South Africa are not on the scheduled list and visas for South Africans can be tricky these days.
If your school has never hired a foreign teacher before, then good luck at best. There is an entire set of guidelines in place as to how and when they can and will be permitted to hire a foreigner and very often it is difficult to skirt around these guidelines.
Flemingo:
are these countries able to secure working visas for non teachers? what is your source of these scheduled countries?
981977405:
Flemingo, perhaps you did not understand my answer. The "scheduled" countries are those countries that have been defined by SAFEA as the approved English-language-speaking countries for which FEC's can be issued for teaching purposes. I did not deal in my answer with other professions.
I think, ability to secure Z visa in Hong Kong lies entirely in Province applicant (School) is located, and 'guanxi' School has. It doesn't have much to do with origin of the teacher.
My last School is located in Zhejiang, and I got Z this September in HK in less than two weeks.
I am non - native English teacher with EU passport. Tianjin, Beijing, Guangdong PSB require Z pick-up only in country of origin.
School from Dalian, Liaoning had application for Working permit and HK run this June denied. Reason given was 'I am non - native teacher'.
I also heard, if School has a lot of teachers complains, PSB will deny visa process in HK.
I am not really sure, what Chinese rule or Law is applied to grant or deny HK visa pick-up, but Liaoning and Sichuan are two provinces in China, which require English teacher must be Native, to be able to obtain Working permit.
Same rule (5 English speaking countries) apply in Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and some EU countries.
icnif77, I have to correct you here on several things that you have written. Please forgive me.
First, the securing of a Z visa does indeed, particularly with the new rules now effect, depend upon the nationality of the applicant. Applicants for Z visas who carry passports from the Big 5 countries and who meet the minimum requirements are generally processed almost automatically.
Your own particular situation was highly irregular. You obtained a working visa residence permit for Zhejiang Province and then you used it to work in Liaoning Province. In the old days, there would have been no problem with this. However, the Liaoning PSB's, just in the last several weeks, have been instructed to pick up and detain foreign nationals who are working on Z visa issued in another province. It is, actually, against the law. I personally know of one person in a city near Shenyang who was picked up and then deported for this infraction. Caution please.
No, Liaoning Province absolutely does not 100% require one to be a native speaker to obtain a work authorization or a FEC. There are specific exceptions and this province still does allow the employ of nationals of the Phillipines, while, on the other hand, Guangdong Province generally does not. Liaoning takes citizens of the EU on a case-by-case basis, generally when if there is near native fluency and an English-language education history.