I am writing to let others know about some of the problems involved in teaching in China, specifically for Linguaphone in Shenzhen. I had been working for Linguaphone SZ for the past 9 months. When I began there, I gave the HR Dept. my university diploma, went and had my hospital check-up, and went 3 times to the govt. office for interviews with the police. Linguaphone's HR manager and the CEO assured me that my "residence permit" and "foreign expert certificate" were being processed. I waited patiently, asked again several times and got the same response. Last week the Shenzhen police came in, rounded up us 5 foreign teachers and brought us to the police station to sign statements that we had broken the law. We were also fingerprinted. We were told, if we cooperated, there would be no problem. Our boss assured us that he had paid a big bribe to the superintendent of police. Subsequently, the police cancelled our visas and we were all given an exit visa to leave China. Once in Hong Kong, we were told by the Chinese Consulate and various travel agencies, that we could not get a new visa for China unless we returned to our home countries. They also said we must wait 6 months because of the Olympics. Further stipulations at the moment include evidence of hotel bookings, a return flight and a maximum of 2 thirty day stays. No "longer visas" are available at the moment. Anyone who says the Olympics is not political, hasn't experienced this problem. I lost 5 days holiday pay, had to stay in HK for a week at my own expense and lost the life I had with my Chinese and Western friends in China. Both my former CEO and Linguaphone China's Service Manager refused to pay my flight home until I threatened them with telling all my former students and the Shenzhen police. They had told me previously, that Linguaphone had a duty to pay my trip home. The problem now is for me to get back to China and my life there. I have worked for 2 other companies in Shenzhen and twice held "resident permits" and corresponding "foreign expert certificates." My girlfriend of 4 years is in China and I own an apartment there. I consider China my home. I'm not sure of my next move, but I wanted to warn other foreigners to be careful. Don't work for a company in China (especially Linguaphone) until you have the actual resident permit in your passport and the foreign expert certificate in hand. I learned the hard way not to trust employers or the police. Any suggestions?