Re: Paying for your own visa?

to the local authorities and quite a few employers, many of us are "overstays" in china. the more we know about this country, it seems that the more dangerous we are to them. just have a look at the local "little" employees and see how far the abuse goes around. locals increasingly get tired of seeing us getting more out of it than they do and contributing much less than they do in a sense of a real effort at work. how long do you think the locals will look at us getting more? it is a view of quite a few long time fts on mainland as well as mine that our times are gone and we're soon out of the country if we want it or not. only the ones that are willing to take the abuse will stay on longer.

on topic of paying for our own work visas, it's ironic that such chinese work permits are, to my knowledge, tied only to one employer. just imagine, either you get caught working for another employer, or you quit or get fired in the middle of your gig. your work permit you have paid for might come questioned. remember that your employer technically "owns" your work permit, even though you own that visa in your passport. if you leave your employer prematurely, he/she might file a legal action against you in a chinese court and your work permit may as well get cancelled even without your knowledge. consequently, you may end up getting well screwed later on and stuck with some really hefty fine as well. never mind you have paid for your visa.

the quote below seems to be rather misleading

They need us but necessarily we do not need them; the kind of jobs they offer can be found
more or less anywhere.

in china, i would've agreed with that 8 years ago. today, however, china is quite different. a new foundation to the country has been laid and foreigners do not mean as much to the locals as they meant then. it's about creating opportunities for locals, not for foreigners and it's about the control. we've come as, to them, a rather expensive "attraction" which doesn't "turn on" anymore. SO, ON THE CONTRARY, I STILL NEED THEM, ALTHOUGH THEY DO NOT NEED ME. I'VE GOT OLDER. I'VE GOT MORE "BAGGAGE". I AM LESS FLEXIBLE. AND, I KNOW THEM BETTER THAN BEFORE. WORSE THAN THAT, I CAN EVEN UNDERSTAND THEM BETTER THAN BEFORE. THEY ARE SCARED. THE KIND OF JOBS THEY OFFER SADLY ENOUGH SEEM TO BE THE ONLY KIND OF JOBS THAT THEY OFFER AROUND THE 5,000 YEARS OLD COUNTRY.

cheers and beers to all of our views on