Need work advice.

[DaWildOne000]

I am working with a school to get my visa, they are stating that I have to arrive on an F (business) Visa and they will get my Foreign Expert Certificate within the first 1-2 months as this is a very busy time of the year right now. Are there any teachers on here that can give me some advice?

[ChTTay]

Don't do it. Insist on them giving you the proper Z visa and, if they treat this as unreasonable, walk away from the job offer and find something else. Definitely, 100% don't come to China and start working on the incorrect visa.

 

It could be that the school can't even hire foreigners and, after you arrive, will just keep stringing you along with promises of a visa. Meanwhile, if you get caught working illegally, you're the one that will take the brunt of the punishment. Not having the right visa leaves you open to mistreatment from the school also without much you can do about it.

 

Definitely not worth the risk.

 

It will also depend on if you meet all the requirements for a visa (over 25, two years experience, native speaker, tefl cert). If you don't meet the requirements OR aren't even close to meeting them, you may struggle to find legitimate employment.

[vellocet]

No way, forget it, they're a dodgy school.  "Very busy time of the year right now" is an outright lie.  If they lie about this, then they'll lie about everything else. 

[DaWildOne000]

thanks guys, i told the school that I won't work at the school without getting my Foreign Expert Cert. first. Doing business with these recruitment agents is a pain. I'm considering to get a tourist visa to go to china and talk to schools directly (sometime in the next couple of weeks before schools start teaching.)

[ChTTay]

You aren't waiting for a foreign expert cert. - you're waiting for them to send you the documents you need to apply for a Z visa in your home country.

I'm fairly sure that you don't start the expert cert until you actually get to China.

Coming to China won't necessariy help you as you could , potentially, have to leave again to get your visa. Maybe to HK, maybe somewhere can "transfer it" but then again, maybe they can't and you've got to go home.

Also, how will you find these schools? Just rock up? You'd still probably rely on the Internet or recruiters to find leads.

I'd just pick a decent recruiter from home and try contact schools. If you meet the requirements you can check out larger schools like EF, Aston, etc. some schools also post directly on Angela's ESL and Daves ESL. I know our school gets teachers from a company called "teachers for Asia". Can't vouch for them personally though...

[DaWildOne000]

There's atleast 3 weeks before their school starts and they're making it seem like there's not enough time. I guess I need to keep looking for a job till i find something descent. ChTTay yes I qualify for everything, i just don't like jumping ship everytime something goes wrong, especially when I have already signed a contract.

[ChTTay]

I wouldn't qualify them not giving you the right visa / employing you illegally as "something" going wrong. I'd say that's a deal breaker. I'm just saying, in my experience, you want to Avoid getting into this situation.

Of course, keep going with this if you think it's worth trying to get them to send you the right paperwork. But find other options at the same time.