Can my wife work?

[Stevemiddie]

Hi everyone.

Noob here with his first post.

I am shortly to take up a position at an International School in Tianjin and my Thai wife and son are joining me.

I have emailed this question to the school but they are now on 1 weeks holiday so I hope you can help me out.

My wife has a good command of English and by occupation she is a hair stylist. ( Ex L`Oreal )

As the spouse of a legal teacher, can my wife obtain work ? Or is she pretty much going to be a homestay?

Thanks for any help.

[cdn_in_bj]

As the spouse of a legal teacher, can my wife obtain work ? Or is she pretty much going to be a homestay?

If she's coming over on an L visa, then she cannot legally work.

However, there's nothing really stopping her from taking up some private English tutoring work. Don't bother trying to get her a job as a hair stylist here.

[roddy]

I don't know - if she can get a chair at a salon in an international hotel, build up a reputation among the expat community for being able to handle foreign hair (assuming she can) and be able to understand exactly what is required in English, she may well do ok. She'd need to be a bit entrepreneurial about it though, the work won't just find her.

[AxelManbow]

Agree with cdn_in_bj on visa. It's pretty clear-cut, Z visa can work, L visa cannot.

Disagree with the hair styling part. Working in a normal salon could not pay the taxi to work but legally registering and running an up-class service business here is not expensive. Market it really up-class (abuse the 'international'ness of it, your own backgrounds, L'Oreal, whatever) it could be a very pretty business. I think Tianjin could be a city it could work in, keep your cards close to your chest about plans though, only with those you trust until all is set up properly.

[cdn_in_bj]

That's true, there probably is a good amount of demand for stylists with experience styling "foreign hair". But something with this amount of exposure will require a work permit.

[liuzhou]

Given that 99% of Chinese "hairdressing" shops are actually brothels and the only ones which have scissors are the BDSM places, I wouldn't be pushing my wife in that direction,

And no she can't work legally.

[Stevemiddie]

Many thanks for all the replies.

[teaforme]

This reply is a little late, but I agree with roddy and some of the others. If your wife can get the proper visa & permits, she should definitely try her luck with hairstyling.

It is so, so very hard to find a good stylist in China who understands foreign hair and foreign hair styles/trends. And I know that lots of laowai ladies would be willing to fork out just a little extra (Western prices, even!) if it means getting perfect hair. I've had too many hair-disasters to count, and I would gladly pay to go to someone like her. Good luck!

[lilongyue]

I am shortly to take up a position at an International School in Tianjin and my Thai wife and son are joining me.

Is this school in Tianjin itself? I'm about to take a position in a town outside of Tianjin. Don't know anyone there, so it'd be nice to have a friend! Can you PM yet? Sometimes people with new accounts can't. Let me know if you can or can't, and we can exchange email addresses.