Good to be proved right. And given that Beijing is the capital, they will have no truck with fake degrees there, that would definitely fit. So that is one smug middle aged brit with a fake degree in a poorer district of Beijing who clung to it like a barnacle well and truly up shit creek without a paddle, and back to HK broke, or to his mum and dads in the UK.....China will let an FT down no matter how long they stay, how hard they work, each and every time, and that is ones with genuine degrees....so god knows what leniency those with fake docs will get, well we know the answer to that one, probably much worse than those with genuine ones, possibly even a blacklist.

All those fake degreed teachers must be crapping themselves. No genuine degree=no authentication?

You can add Shanxi to the list too. I am in Taiyuan, this morning we received an email from our FAO.

"We have receive notice from the Foreign Experts Office that degree and criminal records authentications are now required for all new and existing foreign teachers. This also applies to those of you have resident permits due to be renewed. Please can you make sure that you have obtained the authentications and hand them into our office by 15th September at the latest. We will not be able to process any paperwork without this.

At this point we are not clear as to the process and I will be making attempts to clarify it and will call a meeting shortly once I have further information.

This new rule has come from the Headquarters and therefore cannot be avoided. Thank you for your understanding"

No mention of reimbursement and all very random. I did call the FAO but he said at this time he know no more than his email but it has to be done.

If I find out more I will post it here.

We have been given three weeks to get our degrees and criminal record check authenticated.

Three weeks is also time enough to get a new job in a province/autonomous region/SAR that has chosen not to follow the new guidelines.

What would be interesting to know is if there are any places in China where FTs can teach legally with fewer hoops to jump through!

I'm certain that several clever (I deleted "unscrupulous" as being redundant) Chinese recruiters have recognized that a 'degree apostillzation website' is a goldmine for identity theft and 'stranded in China' FT contacts.

Apostille any apostillization website before sending your personal date.

This appears to be true.

I work at an international school in Ningbo. All the foreign teachers were called into a meeting yesterday afternoon and what has been said by Paul and Simon was echoed.

We have been given three weeks to get our degrees and criminal record check authenticated. Luckily our school saw the potential difficulties and has agreed to cover the costs but have said it must be done so get on with the process now so to speak. It will be required for two stages, not just the initial z visa but for the PSB for resident permits and any subsequent renewal, Two of the ten foreign teachers we have already has it, the rest including me haven't. The problem is there seems to be no clear procedure for this in any country which is causing the headaches.

I have managed to find a company in England, http://www.apostille.org.uk who very quickly replied to my emails, the cost is £66 per document. I will be sending my documents to them later today. This may help those in England who have to do this. What worries me is after this if the Chinese authorities say it is insufficient or some other reason.

We initially thought it was something to do with G20 in Hangzhou but having read the other posts it appears to being gradually rolled out elsewhere.

Whatever the intentions of this I think it is going to cause an exodus of foreign teachers as even those who are bona fide are going to get fed up with this especially where schools are not wanting to pay for it.

As Paul said, watch out and be ready. Changes are definitely in the pipeline!

Bloody mad....and is there a concrete guarantee of the visa at the end of all that?

A lot of people are going to become a cropper, IMHO, some through their own childish mistakes (having no genuine degree, and using a fake degree smugly) which will now no longer be tolerated. Obviously, there will be NO University that can authenticate a fake, so therefore, no work visa. For those who have the genuine docs but are being arsed about by the Chinese, then that is just plain BS. A lot of countries complete all the visa stuff IN country, the PSB could do a background check,COULD take your fingerprints, and so on. In the UAE after being fingerprinted, any debts are then on you and you cannot leave the country. Surely some measures could be carried out in China, so that an FT would not have to return home, and if they break any laws, then they cannot leave China. By jove, there is an idea that won't enter into the skulls of the morons in Entry-Exit administration.

380 yuan to send his docs home plus a further 700 Canadian dollars to get them authenticated. This is what he's paid....

EMS letter to Blighty from China takes 3 days to get there, but costs about 250 RMB!
Air mail 1 X A4 foolscap costs 7 RMB or so, but takes between 7 and 10 days!

My better half and I visited a Chinese post office the other day to purchase small air mail envelopes, the size which one would normally use to fold an A4 page of foolscap twice before inserting it rather easily into the envelope. The post office was quite small, but by no means the smallest I have ever visited in China.
Guess what, that PO was sold out of those envelopes! I cursed out loud, which led to a verbal reprimand from my better half!

Another problem worth mentioning - my wife had arranged a telegraphic transfer for 5,000 GBP from her Isle OF Man bond to her BOC account. Unbeknown to her at that time, it had been blocked at this end, and what's worse, her branch had denied all knowledge of any such proposed transfer. Subsequently, she obtained an e-mail of the transfer document from the Isle Of Man, after telephoning there. She then re-visited her BOC branch with a photocopy of that e-mail. The branch then admitted they had had knowledge of that proposed transfer since the 5th of August! She was told it had been blocked by a watchdog body that oversees all proposed foreign currency transfers from abroad to Chinese citizens. After photocopying her bond certificates, the BOC clerk presented them to the watchdog body. It was quickly unblocked thereafter.

She had also got information from the SPD Bank, where she has no account. Seemingly, there is an annual ceiling of 50,000 USD, or its equivalent value in other currencies for transfers to Chinese citizens. And the aforementioned watchdog body does exist! So much bureaucracy here!

PSB in Xi'an are insisting on authenticated documents even for RP renewal. FT just got caught out after returning from his home country. After arriving back in China his school called him and told him he needs to get his docs authenticated, or no renewal. Needless to say that contacting him whilst he was at home would have been "too easy". Now he must do everything by mail. Another FT in the same city was told he couldn't board the plane he had booked because the PSB now need passports for 2 whole weeks. He got the message from his school whilst on his way to the airport. The time between his scheduled return to China and expiration of his existing RP is 8 days, which apparently is now not enough. Be warned....they walk amongst us !

EMS letter to Blighty from China takes 3 days to get there, but costs about 250 RMB!
Air mail 1 X A4 foolscap costs 7 RMB or so, but takes between 7 and 10 days!