Assuming you've read 'The Way to China' page, this page is for those of you who have gone through the steps of picking a place in China to live and work, you've looked into positions, gotten your TEFL certificate somewhat figured out, you've negotiated your contract with the school, made sure they are legitimately allowed to hire you and get you a work visa, and are pretty much lined up. Here are the details you need to know as far as paperwork.
TO WORK IN CHINA LEGALLY, YOU NEED A WORK Z-VISA.
Any place that is legitimate and serious about their teachers and students will require that you have a Z visa. To get a Z Visa, you need a few things.
* A foreign expert's license (at least for teaching you need this, business professionals, I'm not sure about)
* A valid passport with more than 6 months left before expiration
* A clean bill of health as determined by a medical physical
* An invitation letter from the school or training center saying you have signed a contract with them
* 6 passport sized photos
* About $130 dollars.
THE FOREIGN EXPERT'S LICENSE:
What I Did
My first school had me come over to China on an L Tourist Visa, which is good for a maximum of 60 days. After this, I had to leave the country (I went to Hong Kong) and apply for a Z visa with the correct documents at the Chinese Consulate there. This can be sidestepped, however. Read on.
What You Can Do
I only had to do this extra trip to Hong Kong because I didn't have a TEFL, and thus could not get a Foreign Expert's License yet. I am almost 100% positive that if you have a TEFL course of some sort under your belt, the school will be able to apply for a Foreign Expert's License for you from afar. They can then send you a scan of their invitation letter and of your Expert's License that you can hand over to the Chinese Consulate when you apply for your visa. They will need passport photos from you for everything. Have many, many on hand. To get this license, you'll also need to scan your BA diploma, and passport to send to the school, but that's easy. If you are going to be doing the TEFL in China course like I did, you will need to leave the country again like me. And if you are doing this, then I HIGHLY recommend getting your medical physical done in China.
THE MEDICAL PHYSICAL:
The physical required by the Chinese government to obtain a Foreign Expert's License is ridiculous. It is your run of the mill physical (do you have all your parts?!), plus an X-ray of your lungs to rule out tuberculosis, plus blood work for STDs and HIV, plus an EKG to determine that you are fit to work and live in China. I have gotten these physicals in Beijing and Chengdu both. In Beijing, they have a hospital in town devoted to doing this physical for foreigners, but both in both cities the check-ups I've gotten are straightforward. Though the doctors generally speak no English, it is usually very simple and VERY inexpensive. My boyfriend would have had to pay close to 1,000 US Dollars on the physical exams the Chinese government wants if he hadn't had insurance. I waited until I got to China, and paid only 600 RMB, about 75 US Dollars, for sanitary, fast, efficient testing of the same caliber with all the Chinese stamps, seals, bells and whistles to insure that I was A-OK. If you are very ill in China, I would recommend a Western hospital, as communication is very useful in these situations, but for this check-up, Chinese hospitals are just fine.
The above two things are seriously the hardest part. After you have your Foreign Expert's License (which the school will file for you) and your clean bill of health through the physical, all that needs to happen is the school needs to e-mail or fax you a copy of their invitation of work to you. They will also give you a checklist of things you'll need and should provide you with fast answers to any questions you have, if they're worth their salt. After you get this, take all of these things, and your passport to the Chinese consulate in your area, answer their questions politely and you should be on your way!
Now, buy your plane ticket because you're outta here! If you have any questions about packing and the like, or about living in Beijing or Chengdu, or how to make a Visa run to Hong Kong, please e-mail me. I'm happy to help!
