Visa troubles

Visa troubles
Jan 21, 2008 22:42
guestBen Pickering	Hello all, I am a British Citizen and in a very difficult and confusing situation. In 2005 I went to China and really enjoyed my stay, so once graduating university in 2006, I returned to China to teach English. After teaching English for one year, I decided it was necessary to study Chinese. So in September 2007 I came to Beijing on a student visa which is due to expire at the end of the month. Whilst in Beijing a Chinese company became interested in me and have offered me a job, however, I have been having problems attaining a visa. I cannot receive a (Z) work visa, because I only have 1 year work experience since graduating university and apparently 2 years is required. The company is a very large company so has suggested offering me a contract from another office based in ShenZhen, where perhaps visa regulations are less strict. It also has offices in London and Hong Kong, so I thought perhaps I could be offered a contract from one of these offices and then could be invited to China on a (F) business visa. I will be traveling to England on 26/01/08 and hope to return to China as soon as possible. Both I and the company are very inexperienced in the visa application process so if you could provide any advice or guidance it would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance, Ben Pickering

Jan 21, 2008 22:42

guestBen Pickering

Hello all,

I am a British Citizen and in a very difficult and confusing situation. In 2005 I went to China and really enjoyed my stay, so once graduating university in 2006, I returned to China to teach English. After teaching English for one year, I decided it was necessary to study Chinese. So in September 2007 I came to Beijing on a student visa which is due to expire at the end of the month. Whilst in Beijing a Chinese company became interested in me and have offered me a job, however, I have been having problems attaining a visa.

I cannot receive a (Z) work visa, because I only have 1 year work experience since graduating university and apparently 2 years is required.

The company is a very large company so has suggested offering me a contract from another office based in ShenZhen, where perhaps visa regulations are less strict. It also has offices in London and Hong Kong, so I thought perhaps I could be offered a contract from one of these offices and then could be invited to China on a (F) business visa.

I will be traveling to England on 26/01/08 and hope to return to China as soon as possible.

Both I and the company are very inexperienced in the visa application process so if you could provide any advice or guidance it would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Ben Pickering

Jan 22, 2008 09:52

APAULT
Points:
Join Date: Mar 11, 2006
Status: Offline

For teaching, 2 years experience is not a requirement. I can understand that for other jobs 2 years expereince is a logical prerequisite to being a 'Foreign Expert', but I have not heard that is actually a rule. There is an office called the Foreign Experts Bureau (or something similar) which is administered by each province so minimum requirements may vary. So contacting Shenzhen is indeed a possibility.

You said that your potential employer is inexperienced in these matters. This begs the question whether they have the permit to hire foreigners. If not, the employer should look for an agency that will employ you and then contract you back to them. I am currently employed this way.

Ifthe employer does have the permit to hire foreigners, I suggest the employer contacts a professional visa agency to seek their help. It is easier to use their contacts rather than try to build your own relationships.

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