Full Guide to get Work Visa to Teach in China-TeachDiscoverChina

Full Guide to get Work Visa to Teach in China

01 Apr 2024

So you’ve just aced your interview with a school and secured your dream English Teaching position in China. Now it’s time to start the visa process, we know this can be laborious and tedious, so we’ve written this definitive guide, so you know just exactly what materials you need and what to do, step by step.

Let’s first clarify the terminology, what do you need to legally teach English in China?

*Work Visa – This only grants the foreign teacher the right to enter China for work and stay up to 30 days

*Work Permit – This legally allows you to work in China at your school or organization

*(Work-type) Residence Permit – This allows you to live in China beyond the 30 days and for the remainder of your teaching contract

PART 1:

To successfully get your work visa, you will need a work permit notification letter. Your school or agent will help you apply for this. The work permit notification letter notices that you have been permitted to work in China and that you will receive a work permit. To get the notification letter you will need to provide the following documents, materials and information.

1. Your resume/CV

2. Passport （Clear scanned copy）：Make sure your contract period is within the period of validity of your passport

★3. Degree certificate（Original and Apostilled copy）

★4. TEFL certificate（Original and Apostilled copy）

Note: The duration of the certificate must be 120 hours or more. If your degree major is in a relevant field such as English, TEFL or Education then TEFL is not compulsory.

5. Recommendation letter（Original and Color scanned copy）→ Don’t need to be notarized and apostilled.

Note: Letters of recommendation must be for more than two years and may consist of two or more letters. The position on your recommendation letter should be consistent with the position you are applying for. The letter should include the title and contact details of the referrer or the official seal of your previous work place (if possible). If you do not have a TEFL Certificate or your degree is not in a relevant field, you must provide a recommendation letter.

★5. Clean criminal background check

Below are the viable criminal background checks for each country.

UK: ACRO Police Certificate（Original and Apostilled copy）

US: FBI background check, State or local police City background check

CA: Royal Canadian Mounted Police Criminal Records Check

AU: National Police Certificate from the Australian Federal Police (AFP)

NZ: Criminal Record Check from the New Zealand Ministry of Justice

SA: Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)

IRE: Garda Police Certificate

*Note: Must be issued within 6 months of your work permit application

6. Physical examination Report（Color scanned copy）→ You can download the physical examination form template from the websites of the Chinese Embassy/Consulate/Visa Center or we can give that to you.

*Note: This also has to be issued within 6 months of your work permit application.

7. 2-inch size passport photos on white background, digital and physical copies (x6)

8. If you have worked in China before, please provide copies of all residence permit pages.

9. Tell us which Chinese Embassy/Consulate/Visa Centre in your country you will submit your visa application?

*Note: In some countries you must apply for the visa at the consulate or embassy of your residence/area’s jurisdiction. Please confirm before letting us know. Once confirmed, it cannot be modified.

10.Supplementary materials maybe required depending on circumstances of which you will be made aware of.

★Apostille

Degree and TEFL certificates need to be notarized by a notary public/solicitor in the country they were issued.

Degree certificates, TEFL certificates and criminal background checks need to be apostilled in the country they were issued. *In the UK by the Legalization Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). *In the US by the secretary of state of your region or the department of state, depending on where you are located. *In South Africa by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). *In Canada by Global Affairs Canada or the competent provincial authority depending on the location where your documents were issued and notarized. *In Australia by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) at the Australian Passport Offices of Capital Cities

*For Degree and TEFL certificate, please notarize the original or the true copy of the original

*How long it takes for the documents to be apostilled differs between countries. It maybe fast and be ready within weeks or a month, it may be slow and take two or three months, so it is recommended to start the process as soon as possible.

Once you have prepared and gathered all these documents, your school or agent will process this for you by submitting it to the service system for foreigners working in China, in order to get the work permit notification letter. This should take about 2-3 weeks.

PART 2:

Once your work permit notification letter has been granted, your school or agent will send this to you. There are two copies one in English and one in Chinese. You then need to book an appointment with the Chinese embassy/consulate/visa center in you region and apply for your work (z) visa. Please bring the notification letters and all other relevant materials/documents with you.

Checklist of Documents for Visa
• Original Passport with at least six months of validity and blank visa pages
• Colour Photocopy of the bio data page of your passport
• Visa application form and photo *Can find this on the website of the Chinese embassy/consulate/visa center
• Work Permit Notification Letters

When it’s been approved, you should receive you work visa within 5 working days. You can then book your flight tickets to China.

Before entering China, please bring your Original and Apostilled documents as follows:

• Original passport. (If you get a new one, you still must bring the previous one.)
• Original and Apostilled degree certificate
• Original Apostilled ACRO Police Certificate
• Original and Apostilled TEFL Certificate (If any)
• Recommendation letter (If any)
• Physical examination report
• Six white background passport photos (2-inch size) *if you don’t have any, you can take the pictures in China for around 30 RMB price)
• Supplementary materials if any

PART 3:

Congratulations! You’ve made it to China! After arrival in China your school should pick you up from the airport and you will proceed to the next steps.

For the continuance of your work permit and residence permit applications please do the following:

• The school will also send you to have a physical examination at the China Inspection and Quarantine (C.I.Q.).Please go to do the physical examination as soon as you arrive in China and send us a clear scanned copy of photo of the results when you receive it.
• The school will also send you to get your Residence Registration Form at the local police station within 24 hours of your arrival in China, please keep it as it’ll be necessary for applying for your residence permit.
• On arrival in China, please take a clear picture/scan of your Entry Stamp and Visa Page and send to you school or agent for further processing of your Work Permit.
• Once your work permit has been granted you’ll be taken to collect it
• You need to then use you work permit, residence registration and all you other documents to apply for your residence permit.

Attention:
• Z visa is valid within 30 days based on the date of your Entry Stamp, during which you school or agent will assist you with the application of Work Permit and the Residence Permit to legally work in China.
• In case of any trouble it may cause, please make sure you have brought all the documents and its originals mentioned above with you when coming into China.
• Policies vary slightly from place to place, if you have any questions, please consult with you school or agent.

Once you’ve collected your residence permit then voila! Now it’s time to enjoy your experience teaching wherever you are in China. We just know it’ll definitely have been worth all that time and effort.

If you have any questions about the visa process, feel free to get in touch at [email protected]

Once our TEFL teachers have settled in nicely in China and Sichuan with their schools, it’s time to have some fun and they’ll be invited to one of our mid-semester weekend social activities. This year we were delighted to see many of our teachers in Sichuan, from Chengdu to as far as Dazhou, join us on a beautiful spring day for a special visit to, of course, the Chengdu Panda Base. A must-visit attraction in the city known as the hometown of these beloved national treasures. Read on to see if we caught a glimpse of these bamboo-loving xiongmao (i.e. Chinese for the word panda). Situated in the northeast suburb of Chengdu, the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (to give its official name) was opened to the public in 1988. Today it houses a research center, research laboratories, veterinary hospital and an enclosure and playground for the Giant pandas. The base’s tireless dedication towards the protection and conservation of Giant Pandas, makes it the most important panda sanctuary in the world. Enhancing the eco-friendliness and the visiting experience for tourists, the base was expanded in 2022, more than trebling in size from 69 hectares to a massive 238 hectares. Now with more space for the pandas and room for beautiful pavilions and gardens. The nature and wildlife park is open from 07:30am till 18:00pm each day and it’ll take the whole day to fully tour the area and to see all the scenery. However, it’s recommended to spend at least 3 or 4 hours for an enjoyable visit. One tip is to get there early, the earlier the better, before 09:00am is best, this will give you the best opportunity to see and take snaps of the pandas. Our meeting point was at the south gate of the panda base at 08:30am. Some of our teachers stayed overnight at a nearby hotel, a designated member of our team met them at the lobby and arranged taxis over. And the rest of us arrived directly at the gate. The excitement was buzzing. For many this was also the first time they had met other foreign TEFL teachers, this was a great opportunity for them to make friends and share their experiences with each other, one of the main reasons why we host these events. Once everyone was accounted for, it was time to take the customary smiling group photo. Say cheese everyone! Then we all headed into the panda base with our pre-paid tickets (58 RMB per adult), which we’d cover the cost of. We spent the whole morning there and were lucky enough to get a sight of the pandas. Around 12:00pm we took a coach into the city center of Chengdu and ate some delicious Sichuan cuisine at a popular local restaurant. After our bellies were full and we were singing the culinary praises of the chefs, we took a short walk to another of the popular must-see tourist hotspots of the city – the Wide and Narrow Alleys (Kuanzhai Xiangzi). The Wide and Narrow Alleys refers to three parallel ancient city alleys which date back to the Qing dynasty, a key historical and cultural heritage site of the city which has many well-preserved buildings from ancient times. It is now a popular and vibrant entertainment and nightlife spot featuring opera performances, arts and crafts, and café and bars. It’s easy to get there via metro, just take line 4 to the station named after the place itself - Kuanzhai Xiangzi. After a couple of hours browsing around the Wide and Narrow Alleys our social activity ended and our TEFL teachers were left to their own devices to explore Chengdu even more of their own accord or head back to their homes. It was a truly fantastic day and we want to thank our amazing teachers for joining us. If you’d like to teach in China and join our next social activity, find out more about our 1-semester TEFL Internships and 1-year TEFL job programs by emailing [email protected]

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