So you want to come to China?
But you don't really know what you need in order to get the process started for your visas and all that other kind of stuff
Well, let's talk about that. If you're gonna be working in China,
Most likely you will get a Z visa. This is the common work visa in China. There are lots of other types of Visas
I'm not gonna talk about but I'll leave some stuff in the description about that
So what do you need for a z visa here in China?
well the process has become a lot more difficult than it used to be. It used to be pretty much if you were white, if
You went to college for any amount of time, and
You spoke English, you could pretty much get a job here
Especially a teaching job. now things are changing. you need a lot more
I was hoping to beat the rain. it's started to rain now. So yeah, let's go inside. Sorry about that
So what do you need to work in China? Well? Let's talk about that. First of course you're gonna need a passport
That's a no-brainer, and you're also going to need things like
You're gonna also need to have the application form which is up here. There's a bunch of pages to it
I'll link to it in the description below. You'll have to fill all that information out and then
Things get a little complicated. This all depends on what industry you're gonna work in, but let's try and keep it in general
You're gonna need to have at least a bachelor's degree.
it doesn't really matter what field it's in as long as you have a bachelor's degree and
Generally speaking, you're going to want to have two years of work experience in Whatever field
You're gonna be working in. Now this particularly applies to teaching although there are several caveats to the two-year
Teaching experience rule: things like I having a TEFL / TESOL certificate, being certified to teach in your mother country and blah blah blah
things like that. You are also Gonna have to have a medical check before you come here and
After you come here in order to get your residence permit when you get your ZVisa
It'll say good for zero days you have to register for that residence permit within 30 days of entering China and part of that
Registration process is getting a medical exam. You are also going to have to have a background check.
Now, don't get an FBI background check if you're American
I'm gonna talk to the Americans for a bit. statewide or Countywide is good enough,
And then you have to go through a few different processes in order to get it verified. You know, finished
I'll put all that down in the description below. Also, you're gonna have to bring your degree, like, your physical degree, your original
Degree with you to China, because they have started to
Verify degrees and even before you bring that to china, you have to get that notarized
You have to get your degree notarized back home
And then when you come to China you have to have your degree translated into Chinese
And then you have to send off your degree and the translation and the notarization to the PSB
You are also gonna
Have to submit your resume or CV in English, and then have it translated into Chinese and send that off as well
So there's a lot of documents involved and then once you get all of these documents
Gathered, you can send them off to the government, and they will start applying
for all of your different documents. China actually has two systems in place
For getting foreigners work permits and working visas in China
And it's transitioning into a new system
Under the old system there were a whole bunch of papers that you needed to keep track of. Your school would keep some
and you would keep some, and it was a hassle, but there is a new system where all they do is
They basically give foreigners a little card
It looks like a little driver's license. They give them the foreigners this little card and that is your work permit
Everything in one little card. You can supposedly use that to like buy train tickets and do other things here in China
But I don't have that card cuz I was under the old system. And under the new system
You'll be given a ranking: you will be either an "A, B," or "C" foreigner depending on your skills
And how much money you make. Pretty much everyone is a B
Everyone's a B unless they are some kind of like big shot at like a giant company that makes tons of money here in China
Nobody's an A. There is a scale that lists out all these different criteria
for foreigners in China
And if you meet certain Criteria you get a certain amount of points and if you get over this amount of points
You're considered an a or a b worker or C worker and if you don't get above like
65 or 60 something in that ranking, you are considered a C- class foreigner
And you will be denied. You won't be allowed to come to China
It's not a blanket statement, but China is generally speaking trying to severely limit
Those unskilled workers coming to China. If you don't fulfill every single one of those requirements
You're not sure if you're gonna be able to come to China or not....Well, you're not totally out of luck, because
different provinces really have a lot of flexibility with these rules because of
some stuff within the Chinese law. Depending on the supply and demand of things like English teachers or Businessmen or
Whatever in China, provinces are kind of allowed to do as they see fit
So some places are more strict than others when it comes to the law
Chengdu, for example, is pretty strict about a lot of stuff here
But maybe places like Xinjiang, or Ningxia, or Gansu - places up in the northwest
where there's not a lot of supply and a lot of demand. They won't be so, you know, nit picky
We've talked about things that you need like your qualifications, the different kinds of paperwork,
Exception to the Rules, the old system / new system rankings, and things like that
But even if you get all of that kind of stuff done
It's gonna take a little while for all your paperwork to process.
Here's how it works: you get your z Visa. You come to China, and then once you're in China
You have to register for your residence permit. And before you register for that residence permit, you have to actually get another medical check done
Yay! Okay...
So you have to get that other medical check done, then register for your residence permit, submit all that paperwork again....
And then you have to just wait, and it will take anywhere between four to six weeks
And then you'll actually get your residence permit in your passport
I've heard the new system is supposed to be faster
But, you know, according to some of my friends who have that new card. It's not any faster
I think that's about it for the z visa in China, now of course, there's stuff that I didn't cover
This is just an overview, and I'm not like a visa officer
I'm not like.....I don't have any legal authority here
but I will leave a few sites down below for you to check out, some resources for you to check out, and
Hopefully, you'll be able to get everything done. No problem. So good luck and welcome to China