Ask Headmaster Ken

Dear Ken,

I want to work for a new school in a hybrid type position which will involve some teaching and other managerial tasks. This is a start-up company and the owner honestly doesn't know how to do get me a Z-visa and residency permit. He isn't dumb, just inexperienced. Can you point us in the right direction? I know I need a letter of release and recommendation letter from my current employer. No problem. But what does the new owner need to do? Thanks.

Hello,

A new, start up school cannot hire a foreigner. Hiring a foreigner requires a SAFEA license. A school cannot APPLY for a SAFEA license until they have been operating for more than one year.

Next, it will take almost a year or more, at best, to actually complete the SAFEA process.

Your friend will need to get his school licensed as a school at the local level and then seek a formal affiliation with a local governmental agency that is SAFEA licensed and have visas issued through them.

Have the owner meet with the Provincial PSB and they will explain the process.

I wish you and the owner well. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Another possibility would be to apply for an alien work permit. Conduct a search on the forum for alien + work and you'll find a couple of threads that delve into this.

My prospective boss says his company can't hire foreigners, according to someone at FESCO. After some research, I found several companies who say they can extend my Z visa for about 6,500 RMB first year; 1,200 in subsequent years. I only see them once a year to renew (or so I hope ).

I talked to guys who have done this and they have encountered no serious problems. I met with the company and I give them half the money up front and half when I get my passport and visa back. I have always had more guts than brains, so I suppose I am going to do this. It would seem to be the perfect solution. I really don't like the release letter concept, where schools have so much power over my future.

My first University job has frightened me into the potential for the abuse of the release letter. There was an angry old woman here that I dared to say no to. She wasn't my boss, but had been here since the Jurassic period and had decided she was in charge, although I technically reported to the Dean. Well, she has done everything possible to make my life difficult since I stood up to her. If it were up to her, I'd never work in China again.

I want my own visa, and some semblance of independence.

I've know of a few companies (less so recently) that promised L visas. That's fine as long as you plan on being a tourist, but not really suitable for working.

The release letter and letter of reference are not the Satan's tools as some paint them to be.

First off, it is mandatory that your school provide the letters, regardless of how they choose to characterize your service with them. Sure, some schools may threaten to withhold them. Usually a single visit to the PSB by the Foreign Teacher corrects that misunderstanding on their part.

Secondly, even if they wrote that you were the worst teacher in all the recorded history of teaching, so what? Neither SAFEA or the PSB will disallow a school from hiring you with such a reference. At most, they will point it out and ask, "You sure about this? O.K. then."

Trust me, the people who do hiring know exactly the lay of the land here and the kind of shenanigans that bad apple employers use to keep teachers "in line". Explain your case and play it where it lies. You don't need James Bond subterfuges to shake the dust of a bad employer from you feet.

The problem with these "workarounds" is they they work great - until they don't.

Some find they get a one year visa alright, but it has a 30 day re-entry requirement. The visa holder has to exit China every 30 days. Not very convenient.

Secondly, if you are in an accident, conflict (a bar fight, for example), a dispute with a neighbor, girlfriend, or the guy who stole your camera, your status can come into play. Since you are a transient "tourist" expect to surrender your passport until the issue is resolved.

As a "tourist", you will be expected to be able to produce receipts that prove you have been staying in a foreign approved hotel or living situation. You may also be required to show a bank account with X dollars per week of your "planned travel" in China.

Jealous competitors and even coworkers can easily report you. An employer can end any dispute with you by washing his hands of you and calling the PSB to report you.

You can meet the girl of your dreams, and suddenly find yourself deported and disallowed re-entry into China because you were blindsided by some accidental and arbitrary circumstance you never dreamed possible.

So, if that life is the life of "Independence" I fail to see it.

It isn't a tourist visa. It is an extension of my Z-visa and residence permit. If it is a disaster, I am man enough to post on here and say you were right. But I know 2 guys who have done this and they have no complaints. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.