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 your are applying from or even the city you are applying from. It's strange but true.

In most cases you, or someone on your behalf, have 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.

Please review the instructions to get a Visa for China by following the link that associates with your nationality.

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 joke. 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 Chinese consulates. Those of you who can get same-day service, your application must be in before 11:00am in some Consulates or before 9:30am in others or they won't do same-day processing. Unfortunately, if you're looking for same-day service, for safety's sake I would recommend getting there very early or, better yet, try calling the Chinese 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 to 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 of what you are applying for; if you are applying for anything other than a Z-visa be sure you know why.