Teach English Overseas | ESL Teaching Jobs Abroad

Teaching Visas in China - Z Visas and F Visas

ADVISORY - To assure the success of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as well as the safety of life and property of visitors from overseas, and to meet the demand of numerous visa applicants during this period, according to the Chinese relevant laws and regulations, the Chinese Consulate has modified and reconfirmed the regulations of visa application as follows:

Relevant documents for Tourist "L" visa: A valid passport; A recent photo; Completed visa application form; Proof of hotel reservation(s) in China; Original Round-trip air tickets.

I have also been informed that the Chinese government has put in place restrictions in China and will not allow foreigners to do visa runs to Hong Kong anymore, effective immediately.

This will mean that ALL teachers going to teach must be issued work visas(Z) prior to arrival.

Things may change again after the Olympics but this is the current situation we are faced with.

I am working with various clients at the moment in hopes that they understand the requirement and can issue work permits to our teachers. This will also mean that teachers will have to do a medical in their home country and in China.

Bennett Ho - China Placement Coordinator

Getting your visa to teach in China differs in terms of cost, process, jurisdiction and processing time. These differences could be because of the country where your are applying or even the city where you are applying. Strange but true.

In most cases you or someone on behalf of you, has to take the official Chinese visa application in to the Chinese Consulate in-person and someone has to go and pick it up in-person. This explains partly why there are ALWAYS line ups.

As mentioned each country has different processes and slightly different China Visa Application forms. Please review the instructions to get a Visa for China by following the link that associates with your nationality. Please read this WHOLE page before you click the link to Get your Chinese Visa.

WE'RE NOT DONE - KEEP READING THIS PAGE PLEASE

When you go to the Chinese Consulate that has jurisdiction over your particular area, bring a good book. Our experience tells us that the early bird is not necessarily the smartest. I have waited in lineups at 8am - hoping to be the first in line so that I can get it done first when the consulate opens at 9:00am... Even though I was an hour early, I was not first in line. The line up at the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver for example, goes down the hall around the corner down the stairs and then out a door into the alley. No joking. It is like this EVERY DAY. My advice, go around 11am. Most people are gone and you only have to wait about 10-30 minutes. You're welcome for that advice.

If you need same day processing that's a different story. This is not available for all nationalities, Australians for example can only "officially" get next day service in SOME consulates. Those of you who can get SAME DAY service, your application MUST be in before 11:00am in some Consulates and 9:30am in others or they won't do same day. Unfortunately for safety sake I would recommend getting there very early or, better yet, try calling the Consulate and check in with them about an appropriate time to start queuing. If you're there around opening time expect at least a half hour or two or three of waiting.

As for the type of visa required to teach in China, there are two types currently being issued. The most common one is the Z-visa. This is the Chinese Employment or Work Visa. Some schools have elected to bring teachers in on F visas which are business visas. This could be as a result of their licensing in China. Be aware what you are applying for and be sure you know why you are applying for anything other than a Z-visa.

Type of Visas in China

Z-Visas for China (Working/Teaching Visas)

is issued to an alien (foreigner) who comes to China for employment, and his/her accompanying family members.
a Z-visa is valid for one entry for three months after it is issued (meaning you have 90 days to enter China once a visa is stamped in your passport).
the holder of the Z-visa will go through residential formalities by the local public security department within thirty days of entry into China. Make sure this happens with your school - sometimes they forget about this formality.
Required Documents:
1. The "Alien Employment License" issued by the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources. This must be the original that is issued by the Public Security Bureau in China. OR
  The "Foreign Expert Work Permit" issued by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs. This must also be the original.
2. A "Visa Notice" or "Visa Notification Letter" or "Invitation Letter" from an "authorized department in China.
3. Passport with at least 6 months validity
4. Passport must have at least two completely empty pages
5. China Visa Application Form (specific to countries)
6. Color Passport sized picture attached to application form
7. Appropriate or Application Visa Fee (depends on nationality)

STILL NOT DONE - If Z-Visa is all you needed skip below the F-Visa and L-Visa information and KEEP READING THIS PAGE PLEASE

F-Visas for China (Business Visas)

This visa is issued to an alien (foreigner) who comes to China for business, and his/her accompanying family members.
Required Documents:
1. The "Official Invitation Letter" issued by a Chinese government agency. This must also be the original.
2. Passport with at least 6 months validity
3. Passport must have at least one completely empty page
4. F Visa Application Form
5. Passport sized picture attached to application form
6. Appropriate or Application Visa Fee (depends on nationality)

L-Visas for China (Tourist Visas)

All people that visit you in China will need this visa
On occasion schools have urgent teaching vacancies and will ask teachers to come to China on a tourist visa, prior to having a Z-teaching visa.
- In this case, schools will ask teachers to either send their documents and have the teacher come to China prior to obtaining a Visa Confirmation Letter,
- Or the school will ask the teacher to hand carry the documents necessary to process their Z-visa with them to China.
- In the past some teachers have entered China on a tourist visa and changed their status while they are in China but the Public Security Bureau (the PSB) has tightened up on things. If you are entering on a tourist visa (L-Visa), be sure to check with one of our representatives to ensure the school has the ability to change the status of your visa once you arrive. Often their ability to change the status while you are in country is determined by how well connected the school is.
- If entering on this visa it is very important not to mention you are going to work in China. I have a no lying policy always but there are ways that you can work around this. "Hoping to work", "See about making work arragements when you get there", "Checking China out for an undetermined time"...
- If you have to leave the country, many schools will send you to Hong Kong to change the status of your visa. This is actually quite a common thing, especially for teachers working in the southern regions of China.
Required Documents:
1. Evidence that you have a ROUND-TRIP ticket *
2. Potential requirement of a hotel reservation *
3. Passport with at least 6 months validity
4. Passport must have at least one completely empty page
5. L Visa Application Form
6. Passport sized picture attached to application form
7. Appropriate or Application Visa Fee (depends on nationality)
* neither of these has been a specific requirement at the time of application. If the person at the consulate required it, we were told to bring it when we came back to pick up the visa. If you are asked, please request this situation and then make a couple bookings.

Information Discussed Further on This Page

Important Note - If you are entering China on a tourist visa, you must have a round trip ticket. You will not be allowed to board the plane to China, or enter the country, if you do not have a round trip ticket.

Important Note - If you are entering China on a tourist visa, do not tell Chinese immigration officials that you plan to teach English. Tell them that you plan to tour China (this is true --- I hope).

critical information about booking your plane ticket

be prepared for medical "checkup" when you arrive in China

Any person suffering from a mental disorder, leprosy, AIDS, venereal diseases, contagious tuberculosis or other such infectious diseases shall not be permitted to enter China.

Getting a "Residence Permit" after you arrive in China.

Visas for Spouses or Dependants

Foreign Expert Cards - save money in China

Booking your Plane Ticket

Book your plane ticket to China here

Already booked your ticket? We're still NOT DONE - PLEASE READ BELOW Booking Your Plane Ticket and the information For HEALTH CERTIFICATE

While your paperwork is being shuttled back and forth to process your Z Visa, you will be asked to make arrangements for your transportation to China. Methods of purchasing your ticket vary slightly from school to school, but in most cases the school will reimburse you for your flight to and from your home country, assuming you don’t plan to fly to China by way of Thailand or Antarctica.

In all cases, you will be asked to pay for your ticket up front, and will be reimbursed for this within two weeks of your arrival.

If you purchase an e-ticket, it means the travel agency will send you your itinerary and a password. You need to print this and bring it with you to the airport on your day of departure, along with two forms of picture identification in order to pick up your tickets at the airport.
If you have a one-way ticket AND a legal WORKING VISA you are eligible to enter China. If you do not have a WORKING VISA you are required to have a round-trip ticket or onward itinerary. If you encounter problems we highly recommend going to Cathay Pacific and getting a fully refundable electronic ticket to Thailand or Hong Kong and then go back to check in again. Once you get to China, cancel that ticket.
If you encounter problems even though you have WORKING VISA for CHINA, ask CALMLY to speak with a supervisor. Ask them to review their information. Explain that it makes no sense that someone who was legally entitled to work in China would be required to have a return ticket. At this point you are not sure how long you'll be working in China and when you'll be coming home, it could be 3 years. If they still present issues, I hope you booked with our preferred travel agent and if so, get to a pay phone and call the worldwide toll free number and speak to them. They may make a call to the airport or they will book you the onward ticket and provide you with an e-ticket reference number and itinerary. They may require a fax number for the ticket agent area so that you can "prove" you have onward itinerary. Then, ten minutes into your flight, they will cancel the ticket and you'll never have to worry about it. WHEW. Disaster averted.
If you're not a Footprints teacher already, isn't it starting to make sense that you should only go with Footprints.
The most common method schools use to bring their teachers to China is to have Footprints Recruiting assist with booking your ticket to China. In this case we will reserve your ticket from the nearest international airport to China after consulting with both you and the school. As the school is typically covering the cost of your airfare, Footprints will seek authorization by the school prior to confirmation of a ticket.
If your flight is a one way flight, and the cost of a round-trip ticket is provisioned in your contract, the school will reimburse you for the full cost of your original one-way ticket within two weeks of your arrival and then at the end of your contract they will work with you to book your return leg. If your ticket is a round trip ticket the school will reimburse you for half the cost of your ticket when you arrive, and reimburse you for the other half of the ticket at the end of your one year contract.

Footprints teachers book their plane tickets through our preferred agent. This saves an INCREDIBLE amount of problems as our agent has been processing plane tickets for our teachers since 2002.

Book your plane ticket to China here

NOTE - If you are entering China on a Z visa, you have the option of buying a one way or round trip ticket to China. If you know that you are going to be returning to your home country after one year then a round trip ticket is often the cheapest option in the long run. However, the airlines will not be able to book you a return ticket a year in advance. You will have to select an arbitrary return date and change it at a later date (be sure to ask for a ticket that allows changes for no fees).
NOTE - Footprints Recruiting Incorporated strongly suggests that if you are buying your own ticket to China, buy a one way ticket. The reasoning behind this is the majority of teachers who go abroad to teach English decide to stay abroad for longer than a year or travel to a third country before returning home. In this case your return ticket is useless, and due to heightened airline security cannot be sold to another person. If you purchase a one way ticket to China, your school will reimburse you shortly after your arrival for the cost of this ticket and buy you a one way ticket home at the end of your contract.

Health Certificates in China

The Public Security Bureau requires health certificates for foreign nationals seeking residency in China. To obtain one, you need to have a complete physical examination which shows you are in good health and free of any communicable diseases (including an HIV test, Hepatitis B and Syphilis test and sometimes a chest x-ray and ECG). This test will be done IN CHINA.

Health Examination forms are used by local Chinese Public Security Bureaus to issue residency permits for foreign nationals living within their jurisdiction. You must have this residency permit to remain in China as an employed teacher. After you arrive at your place of employment you will be requested to submit your passport and your health form to someone of the school where you are employed. This person will take the health form to a local health office, which will enter the form for submission to the local Public Security Bureau.

Once approved, the health form and the passport are forwarded to the local Public Security Bureau, which then issues the applicant a residency permit. The health examination form remains on file with the local Chinese Public Security Bureau. Passports are returned to you with your residency permit. This procedure should be started immediately after arrival, and in any case, needs to be carried out within the first month of your stay to comply with visa requirements.

Here is the link of China Physical Examination Form:

CLICK HERE

Your concerns about the Health Examination in China

The Chinese hospitals and clinics designated to provide health examination services for foreign teachers are wholly qualified and equipped to conduct all aspects of the "health examination" with a level of safety commensurate with that provided in hospitals and clinics in your home country.

X-Ray machines may be older, and more frequently used, than similar equipment at home, but they are adequately maintained, and operated by trained professionals.

All Chinese hospitals and clinics use single-use, disposable needles. If you have any issue with this you are most welcome to bring in your own needles. Pack several into your first aid kit that you bring along with you and bring it to the examination with you.

Residence Permit

After receiving your health certificate, it should be submitted along with your passport to the local health office for approval, after which the health office will enter the form for submission to the local Public Security Bureau. The local Public Security Bureau then issues the residency permit.

Visas For Dependents or Spouses

If you will be accompanied by a spouse who will not be teaching English, or by your children, they will need to get a Z visa in order to accompany you to China. When you apply for your Z visa, you can apply for your spouse or child’s Z visa at the same time. You will need to provide the Chinese embassy or consulate with your dependent’s passport and official documentation certifying your relationship, such as a Birth Certificate or Marriage Certificate.

Each candidate will also be required to have a China Visa Application form. If your child is too young to sign the legal guardian can sign their own name on behalf of the child.

Standard visa fees apply to each application form as do applicable fees if you wish to expedite your visa application.

Foreign Expert Status and Foreign Expert Cards in China

If ever you wished you were an expert, this might well be your best chance at legally being called one. This is a certificate given to most foreigners who are working as teacher in the PRC (Foreign expert or not). This can give you discounts on hotels and entrance fees to tourist attractions. The idea is that you pay the same price as Chinese people.

Note: Not all hotels give discounts for the foreign expert’s card, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

get an introduction letter from you school nominating you as a foreign expert.
a copy of your contract
a copy of your Z-Visa found in your passport
2 personal photos.

Submit this to the local PSB (Public Security Bureau) and they will issue you a certificate. This certificate is valid for one year at most. If you change places of work you will need to change your Foreign Expert Card.