JM_PDX Posted January 10, 2017 at 06:54 PM Report Posted January 10, 2017 at 06:54 PM Hi there, I have a bit of a tricky one that I was hoping to get some advise on. I am an Australian working in the US on an E3 visa. My company want to send me on a secondment to Shanghai for 5 months. My girlfriend is American and wants to come with me and find a job in China. We have been together just over a year and are not married but live together. My company is willing to consider a partner visa for her but from what I've searched online you pretty much need to be married or have a baby together to get the visa. Can anyone advise on what if any options we have. Worst case scenario would be she comes over on a tourist visa and gets to vacation as I work but ideally we'd like it so we can both work for the 5 months my job will send me. We have immigration lawyers who will also help investigate but wanted to know if anyone has first hand experience on a similar situation. Thanks! Quote
roddy Posted January 10, 2017 at 09:34 PM Report Posted January 10, 2017 at 09:34 PM Even on a partner visa she couldn't legally work, and it's unlikely anyone's going to go through the proper work visa formalities for five months - less, if she only starts looking on arrival. Quote
JM_PDX Posted January 11, 2017 at 12:46 AM Author Report Posted January 11, 2017 at 12:46 AM Thanks. Are you Roddy Lang by any chance? If so, small world. Do you know the likelihood of her finding some short term work in advance or is it really unlikely for a 5 month stint? Quote
roddy Posted January 11, 2017 at 09:22 AM Report Posted January 11, 2017 at 09:22 AM No, but I can pretend for $150 an hour. I don't know - probably depends what kind of work she wants, how qualified she is, how suitable that field is to short term stints. But if a foreign friend of yours was telling you of her plans to come to your country and find someone willing to do lots of paperwork to employ her for five months, what would you think? There's always the option of just quietly working on whatever visa she gets. The risks / rewards of that would be her call. Quote
ZhangKaiRong Posted January 11, 2017 at 01:55 PM Report Posted January 11, 2017 at 01:55 PM @JM_PDX Can I ask you what kind of visa are you going to get in China? Is it Z or simple business visa? My company also wants to send me on a secondment, with a short notice, and I don't know how feasible it is on the visa side. Thanks! Quote
mackie1402 Posted January 12, 2017 at 05:57 AM Report Posted January 12, 2017 at 05:57 AM Companies face a pretty big application fee for foreign working visas. A lot of companies want a year commitment to make good value of the visa. I doubt companies would apply for just a 5 month commitment. And like mentioned above, that's if you've found the job before arriving. The application process takes a while, too. If it's just a bit of extra money to fund living expenses and the trip, then a lot of people do some part time teaching at schools. There are 2 problems with this: - A lot of language schools are evening/weekend gigs. I'm guessing you'd be working a 9-5 kind of job. You'd have no time together. - More importantly working on a tourist visa is illegal. There are risks doing this. Like Roddy said, it's the risk/reward you have to think about. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.