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China Working Visa Notes for ESL Teachers
Written by Robert Vance on July 3, 2008 – 5:47 pm*** A Special Update from Robert Vance about Visas for ESL Teachers in China on TeachAbroadChina.com. Please click here for MORE information and discussion about work visas in China.
My passport was finally returned to me this week by my school. I was very happy and relieved to open the passport and find a residence permit affixed to one of the pages. The school was able to obtain the Chinese work visa for me. However, I talked to my manager who told me that obtaining the visa was no easy task. According to him, the school used some ‘friends’ in the government who were able to get me the visa for a ‘large’ bribe. I was surprised because my manager actually used the word bribe. He told me that at the moment it is very difficult for even Americans, such as myself, to obtain working visas in China. It is much more difficult for citizens of these 33 countries to obtain working visas; they are being sent home by their schools to reapply in their home countries.
So if your school is telling you that they are unable to obtain a working visa for you (even if you are from the US, Britian, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada) they are probably telling the truth. The Chinese government has really tightened their policies as the 2008 Olympics fast approach.
If you have any information or stories to share with us, please leave us a comment below. We want to hear from you.
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Just put up an article on my website about the whole China visa situation too.
http://blog.esldaily.org/2008/07/02/china-tightens-the-restrictions-on-foreign-teachers.aspx
I am looking for a teacher who may be able to give me a story or two about the whole situation. Perhaps someone knows a person at Chinese immigration that could give further information? You can contact me either through leaving a comment on the above link or you can email me at jim at esldaily.org
I’m in Xiamen and I just got a new visa without any extra drama, and I haven’t heard any horror stories from my foreign friends here. Maybe it’s only in the really big cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, etc) that the visa nightmare is prominent. I could be wrong though.