Online Diploma Verification for Work Permit/Z Visa

[shortcutz-china]

Dear Forum Community,

courtesy of Forum admin, I would like to take the opportunity to once again raise the topic of diploma verification for the work permit/Z Visa application.

Some of you may have already heard that it is now possible to get your university diploma verified by the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE). The MOE rolled out an online verification system in January of 2018. The applicant needs to provide a colour scan of his or her highest diploma plus additional supporting documentation/personal information. The system was originally designed for Chinese students who needed to get their diplomas from overseas universities verified upon their return. Therefore, the system is designed for Chinese users living in China: the interface is only available in Chinese and the applicant needs to have an address, phone number and bank account in the PRC.

That being said, the system is open to foreign applicants as well! According to the MOE, about 20% of verification requests they currently handle are from foreign applicants planning to work in China. So, if you need to verify your university diploma for a work permit/Z visa, you should consider this option.

The advantages are obvious:

• ·        Depending on the country from which you received your degree, the authentication will take 5 to 20 working days.

• ·        No need to worry about your original diploma getting lost in the mail, getting stapled or stamped on.

• ·        The authentication by the Ministry of Education is issued in Chinese and universally accepted by all Chinese authorities and government institutions. No need to further translate your diploma into Chinese.

If you need help handling the application or have questions about the process, feel free to contact us or check out our homepage.

We are happy to help!

info@shortcutz-china.com

www.shortcutz-china.com

[mungouk]

Hi @shortcutz-china — what is the actual use-case for this for a Z-visa?

 

Given that it's not only necessary to authenticate and legalise (a) criminal background check, and (b) health check, as well as (c) diploma/degree certificate before applying for the Z-visa (before entering PRC), how does your service help applicants?

[shortcutz-china]

Dear mungouk,

The authentication process for the highest university diploma is the most complicated and time-consuming part when preparing for a Z Visa application. The first step is usually to request a notarized copy of your original diploma from your university. Then—depending on your home country—you will need another two or three government departments/offices to verify and stamp your document before handing it to the Chinese Embassy.

In comparison, criminal background and health checks are relatively easy to obtain and authenticate in most countries.

A university diploma is an important document that most people are reluctant to send out by post. In some countries, universities will be hesitant to work with agencies unless you personally and specifically authorize the university employees to post the original document to a third party. Let`s just say there are all kinds of bureaucratic hassle that can potentially slow down the process.

I will give you a few examples, where customers have found our service useful:

• A lecturer under pressure to arrive in China in time for the new university term to begin— verification with the MOE was significantly faster than paper verification in Germany

• A foreign intern who received a job offer in China with no time to fly back home and take care of the authentication process—health check was done in China; no criminal record was done via online application (this may or may not apply for your country)

• A foreign employee living in China who needed to reapply for a work permit under the new rules—client had all his original documents with him in China and did not want to post them back home

• Client with nationality of country A who received her highest diploma from country B—while health check and no criminal record can be done in country A, diploma authentication would need to be done in B,

Whether diploma verification with the Chinese Ministry of Education makes sense depends on your personal situation.

Hope this answers your question.

[Brian US]

4 hours ago, mungouk said:

Given that it's not only necessary to authenticate and legalise (a) criminal background check, and (b) health check, as well as (c) diploma/degree certificate before applying for the Z-visa (before entering PRC), how does your service help applicants?

 

You listed diploma/degree certification as a required document, so isn't that the point of this service? I assume this service helps those that would have trouble navigating the process in Chinese.

 

Before, I or someone on my behalf would have to show up in person to my old university to obtain a certified diploma. A lot of job background checks also requested original diplomas, which I was able to get around, but it was still a headache.

[mungouk]

My point was that I've just had to go through exactly the same process of copy-certification (solicitor), apostille (Foreign Office/FCO) and then legalisation (Chinese Consulate) for those 3 documents I mentioned, so how does it save time/trouble doing it separately for the diploma/degree certificate?

 

I and my highest degree are from the UK.  AFAIK there isn't a process for verifying your degree here (where "university" is a strongly-protected title, unlike the US for example)... when I showed the original to the solicitor for authenticating the copy and sent it to FCO for verification, that would have been enough?

[Brian US]

18 hours ago, mungouk said:

for those 3 documents I mentioned, so how does it save time/trouble doing it separately for the diploma/degree certificate?

 

Ah, that makes sense now, I just assumed this service was just getting a Chinese diploma. I agree at least from the US perspective, those 3 documents aren't too hard to obtain (if you are in the US). 

 

While in China for my US background check, I was told by my agent the closest office to have my fingerprints taken is in Shanghai. I just got it done in the US on a short trip back, but I can see some issues trying to do all this from China. 

[Zaheeda]

Hello.

All my documents for work permit had been authenticated in my country and i have a z.visa.

I recently moved from one province to another but now my employer says they need to send my application to MOE.

 

Why would they send it if all documents have already been authenticsted?