Visa requirements. Do it right!

To go to China you MUST have a visa, and you must keep to the rules.  There are two main ways of getting a visa.


1.  The proper way is to apply for a job, and the school will send you all the paper work for you to get the Z Visa, (the only teaching visa) in your home country before you leave.


However, this doesn't seem to happen all the time.  Often the process is rushed at the end and they don't have time to get you the paperwork before you leave.  The other way is...


2.  Enter China on a visitors visa, and once you have signed the contract with the school, you start teaching and they arrange the Z visa then.  You get the visitors visa from your home country, these are mostly a 30 day entry only.  You are not allowed to work on a visitors visa, but this does seem to happen sometimes for the first week or so while the Z visa application is being arranged.


There is quite a bit of red tape involved, and there is no way of getting round this, you just need to go with the flow.  Sometimes the schools can be quite slow getting this done.  If you are in a big school with a Foreign Teaching Department, they usually have it all sorted.  If it is a very small school, it may take a while.  I think it is wise for you to make this your priority, it is your responsibility to make sure your visa is correct.  It is possible that you can be sent home for working on a visitors visa.  I have always found the PBS (Police) to be reasonable and helpful.  


Who can help you?

1.  The school you are dealing with prior to your departure.


2.  The Chinese embassy in your city.


3.  Check visa websites etc.


4.  Travel agencies have some  knowledge of visas, but not always very extensive.


5.  Try this Hong Kong email address, I emailed them and got satisfactory replies within 2 working days.   ............fmcovisa_hk@mfa.gov.cn




6. If you go to Hong Kong, (often no visa required) agents there at  travel agencies can do this for you, but they usually charge an arm and a leg.


7. It is possible to enter on a business visa, but this is not a teaching visa and is a 'back door'.


8. If you have the proper paper work you can go to the Immigration Department in Wan Chau on Hong Kong Island.  If you are there before 10 am you can usually get your visa after 3pm the same day.  The cost is about 400- 500 RMB, not expensive. This is an official visa, and you can enter China with no worries.  Here is the address:


HK Immigration Department at Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong (Tel (852)28246111, Fax (852) 28777711)

You need to go to the 7th floor.  It is a busy place and you must have all your paperwork with you.  You need several copies of your passport photo, (get about a dozen, you need them all the time) information about your school and job, official invitation from the school, there are several things you must have.  Your school will get you this paperwork.


9.  There are visa agents in several cities in China.  You can google this information.  Their charges are very high, and again, it is sometimes a back door entry. 


My advice is to do it correctly, and then you won't have any worries at all.  Anything connected with government red tape, do it right.


One last thing, the visas take up one page of your passport.  If you are going for a year or so, make sure your passport has plenty of spare pages.  If you travel in and out or if you need to get other visa's during your stay, you can use quite a few pages.  If you run out of pages, you need to get another passport, a time consuming and sometimes frustrating business. 

China Chris.