martin hainan
- 2015-07-30
The regulation will be interpreted by the provincial police and communicated to your school in regard to the school's Z visa invitation letter if the school bothers to ask them.
The Chinese embassy in your home country will once again interpret the regulation when they place the Z visa in your passport.
The regulation will again be interpreted when your school applies for your FEC.
Finally, when you sit in the provincial PSB office in China, the regulation will be once again interpreted.
Given that flying to China to be rejected for a residency permit is a nightmare and does happen, the answer to your question will vary depending on the province or autonomous region that you apply.
My recommendation is to only trust information provided by provincial university FAOs that have several foreign teachers. They have experience with the process AND they have no motivation to mislead you. Private schools that are hungry for foreign faces will take the risk of you being rejected after you fly to China.
I'm asking about 'Z' Visa requirements for China:
“The autumn 2014 regulations break down as follows: Language teachers must have a bachelor’s degree AND at least two years’ relevant work experience.”
It reads to me that the requirements for language teachers are: ‘a AND b’, but they are not sequential ‘a THEN b’.
I didn’t believe that the sequence mattered, but a recruiter – posing as a government vocational school’s in-house human resources recruiter – claimed recently that I can’t work in China on a Z visa because my experience in ESL experience is not post-degree. Context: I suspect that he was a bit upset, as I had just asked him why he didn't use his e-mail address/account on the school's servers, but instead some "Luke@yeah.net" e-mail account.
Is this true? It doesn’t sound plausible, but he may be right. Must at least two years’ experience be post-degree?
Are some authorities in China interpreting this rule as: ‘Degree FOLLOWED BY two years of teaching experience? [a THEN b]??
---> All of my four years’ ESL teaching was actually done BEFORE I obtained my degree.
What do you say? Am I eligible for a Z Visa, or not? Any advice or informed opinions would be greatly appreciated!