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Posts: 12

Governor

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Q: Z Visa Related Question, Leaving an Employer

Hello, I have already made one post related to this topic, and I want to thank echinacities posters for being way more educated on this matter than I am, and for sharing their knowledge with me. As my name indicates, I need knowledge. To say a few things about my current situation,  I wear the dunce cap because I actually let myself work for English First in spite of its heinous reputation. I know. All I can say to explain my stupidity is that I assumed all the horror stories related to this organization came from the franchise schools run by shady Chinese managers, and that the centralized organization sitting at the heart of it all like a fat spider in its web was relatively ok. Also, EF promised to better itself after CCTV exposed how it steals from students last year. I never claimed my reasoning was sound. Anyhow, I have quit the company after it arranged for me to pay a substantial amount of money to do business for it, and then made it impossible for me to get reimbursement for that money (before this, it was lying to me about my paycheck and guaranteeing that I would have to commit fraud to receive 4000RMB/month promised to me, forcing me to live in a disgusting apartment in Shanghai for over a month with two men I had never met before, sending my visa documents to the wrong address, and so much else). I do have a new employer lined up to sponsor a new residency permit. My understanding of how this works is that EF sends the release forms to this new employer (a university, as the one good thing EF has done for me is to turn me off of training schools forever), and the new employer transfers the residency permit over to them. Easy, legit, and costs EF nothing. EF, on the other hand, wants me to take my passport, put it in the mail, ship it to Shanghai where their headquarters are, allow their 'visa officer', Elyn Chen, who is so marvelously stupid I don't know how she even manages to find her way to work every day, to outright cancel my permit and convert it to a tourist visa, which my new employer would , have to convert to a work visa from scratch...the whole process taking about two months. The university that hired me cannot do this, as they want to me to work for them in less than two months, so this is costing me a damn good job. Is there any reason for EF to have such an assinine policy, or is this just another example of EF going out of its way to behave like a cartoon villain to those stupid enough to have signed a contract with it?

10 years 10 weeks ago in  Visa & Legalities - China

 
Answers (7)
Comments (4)
Posts: 3837

Emperor

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i am sure others will be able to give other advice in more detail

my first reaction is as follows:

Go to your local SEFA office with any and all documentation relating to your problem

make sure you have everything outlined as clearly as possible for them:

documents and any back-up emails

do NOT, and i repeat DO NOT hand over your passport to EF for ANY reason

 

do this asap 

 

i am  sure others will be able to give more precise advice

 

good luck

DunceCap:

Thank you so much for replying. You pretty much said what I thought I should do. Unfortunately, my local SAFEA office is not the same one where I am registered, because the lovely LIARS in EF let me believe that I would be registered in the city where I would work (as makes sense), until I came to Shanghai, where I was pretty much given the choice of allowing them to register me there, find a new employer on the fly, or fly back home. So, I spent 5 weeks living in a squalid apartment with two men I had never met before while the fantastically brain-dead Elyn Chen registered me in Shanghai. Does anyone know if this complicates my SAFEA options?

10 years 10 weeks ago
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10 years 10 weeks ago
 
Posts: 879

Emperor

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Don't feel bad. English Language schools are all dishonest, and the established ones like English First are experts at deception, manipulation and extortion. They know the visa process --- and foreign teachers' vulnerabilities --- inside out.

 

Here are the important things you need to know:

 

1. Sending your passport to an English First office in Shanghai isn't a "policy". It's a trap. There is NO reason for an employer you are leaving to require your passport. They are simply trying to keep you tied up until your other job offer falls through.

 

2. The process of changing employers is as follows: Your old employer gives you (in person) a release letter.* You should already have your old expert certificate and health check (the health check isn't really important).** You then go to your new employer with these documents and begin the application / visa / residence permit process. You will probably have to exit mainland China (HK is usually fine) for a short time during the process.

 

* A release letter takes about 1 minute to produce and does not require any bureaucratic procedures. If your school doesn't produce one immediately, they are cheating you.

 

** These are little books which belong to you.

 

3. In the very likely scenario that English First continues dicking you around, contact SAFEA (hopefully EF gives in immediately and gives you an exit letter). If that doesn't resolve your problems, it may be possible for the university to process you as a new employee. The release letter problem is a fairly common one, so you should ask them about this.

 

All the best!

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10 years 10 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4421

Emperor

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The release letter and canceled FEC should be in your hands, not sent to a new employer.. And if you're not in Shanghai then there's no reason to ship your passport there, that working permit should be canceled in the city you work in...If the RP is from Shanghai, then you're working illegally.

They are fooling with your mind...

DunceCap:

Ugh, fortunately for me, I was actually living and working from a squalid apartment in Shanghai for longer than I have been in the city where I currently am. The residency permit was actually part of the reason I quit, because I never believed that they would update the permit to my current city, and I was tired of the lying. So, I can say that I was traveling for business or something. I may wire my money out of China before consulting the authorities though. 

10 years 10 weeks ago
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Posts: 2

General

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what does FEC stands for ? I am thinking about leaving my employer too but i couldnt find another job for now and its been more than a month looking jobs online and tried walk-ins for interview but failed.

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10 years 10 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2

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what does FEC stands for ? I am thinking about leaving my employer too but i couldnt find another job for now and its been more than a month looking jobs online and tried walk-ins for interview but failed.

Samsara:

FEC = Foreign Expert Certificate

10 years 10 weeks ago
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Posts: 827

Shifu

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I concur: DO NOT give them your passport. Get back all your original documentation. I doubt you will be able to secure a release letter, let alone a good recommendation letter.

Your RP is good for the province you are in. EF will cancel your FEC. (They will do this because they are not going to want to explain to SAFEA why they haven't) These schools and recruiters don't like to waste resources doing paperwork. Your FEC is good at the school/company you work at.

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10 years 10 weeks ago
 
Posts: 162

Governor

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"no why" no

ilcornalito:

They are just being jerks. Maybe you should give a call to the number in the echinacities front page add (it always shows on the right), they might be able to help. Good luck and let us know how did it turn out. 

9 years 27 weeks ago
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9 years 27 weeks ago
 
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