In response to Re: Tianshou / Jilin Foreign Exchange Service Centre (Turino)

Why did the teachers surrender their passports?

Most teachers get here as newbies, so they trust the company and give their passports to get their visas issued.
The rest of the teachers that get here are either retarded or desperate for a visa. I got there with an already expired visa, a few handshakes and the fee to pay was much lower. These guys have lots of connections, which is good in a way, but they change more than half their staff at least twice a year. Nobody wants to stay there, even as a favor for helping them with the visas.
By the way, the visa you get is an F visa, and extensions. That is one of the reasons they don't give your visa back, or you would know you are working illegally. The other reason is so that you don't run away.

Did they get receipts for them?

No. The only sort of receipt you get is when for some reason you do keep your passport and then ask for a loan to the company.

Have they asked and been told why their passports haven't been returned yet?

The answer is usually that the police have them. You ask the police and they don't have a shit. Then somebody else "just got it", because you asked for it, but that person is out of town, or that sort of shit... until you call your embassy.

How do you know said recruiter doesn't have a legitimate licence to employ FT's?

I would like to know how this guy knows this...

Can you explain about the stamps in more detail?You see,maybe there is more than one agency involved.
In the contract there are 3 names. Long ago this company was a school. They they became an agency, with a completely different name and the school part got separated and is managed by other people, now with no links whatsoever to this place. Then another "school" came, inside the company's office, and it has another name too. Besides the name and phone number on the contract are those of a school that's not even in the same city, and when you call them they give another name and claim to know nothing about this tianshuo.

What makes you think FT's have been moved to avoid the police?

I support this. Last year, many of the teachers were moved many times because they witnessed how they got into a British guys apt and got out with some of his stuff. This guy was already staying somewhere else because he had sued them due to bad use of his passport( they buy cars "under" the foreigners name and get it into China), and was being hunted.

How do you know that the Jilin Education Department has been bribed?

Id like to know this too... What I do know is that one of the heads of the school studied with half the current police department (the one that issues visas, forgot the name), and the president "secretly" dates a police boss. Well, that can't tell much, for they are not necessarily related to the company practices.