Posted by
ebrenchley
19 yrs ago
If you're interesting in teaching in Shanghai, then I would have to advise you to find a job before you leave the UK.
For most jobs teaching english in Shanghai, there are two basic requirements in order to get a Z visa: a degree and a TESOL equiv. certificate. If you have both before you come, you shoud have no trouble finding a job in Shanghai that will arrange a visa for yuo before you arrive.
Of course, the above outlines an ideal situation. You probably can rent a house with an L visa, but it is technically quite illegal. There some complicated permit laws for teaching privately, but I've never met anyone who went through the bother to get them. It would be a rediculous hassle trying to apply for them.
I hope that sheds a little bit of light on the current situation here.
P.S - Don't hand your passport over to your employer. Ever. hahahahaha.
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TC
19 yrs ago
I don't want to dampen your obvious enthusiasm, but don't think that coming to Shanghai first and 'checking out the employers' will necessarily stop you from being conned. I'm sure there are many very happy British (as well as other nationalities) teachers in Shanghai, but from reading posts on this site over the last 5 years or so suggests that a lot of people get 'mistreated' by their employers too. And incidentally (and I'm not being rascist here, in case anyone is thinking of accusing me of such) I hope for your sake that the first 4 letters of your ID do not indicate you are coloured - because if you are then you'll probably face the issue that on the mainland even the best English-speaking coloured person will have a very hard time getting a job teaching English. Good luck.
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Lots of people come here before having a job in hand so I wouldn't worry about that. From what I have seen with buddies that are teachers, there is more than enough work in Shanghai.
You most certainly can rent a house while holding an "L" tourist visa. The rule is, if you have the cash, you can rent the house. You'll probably have to sign a rental contract for a year and provide a security deposit.
There is no mechanism for obtaining a work visa based on a series of part-time jobs or teaching on a private basis. In fact, even if you do have a work visa, teaching on the side is technically illegal though I understand the vast majority of teachers do it.
In Shanghai they are trying to enforce rules that require a degree before you can obtain a work permit / visa. What some people do is get a job in a place outside of Shanghai where a degree may not be a necessity and suffer the long commute for the sake of obtaining a visa. Then you can get part-time jobs in your free time.
Or you can do what probably the majority of teachers are doing and seldom seem to get caught: work illegally for a year or so on a "F" business visa.
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Oh, and TC is absolutely correct. If you are not causcasian, expect serious discrimination and far, far fewer -- and lower quality -- job opportunities.
It's not right, but it is reality.
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I don't think the peeople on this forum are being fair to you, mate.
China is changing, and Shanghai city is on the front line. It's becoming increasingly difficult for foreigners to work as teachers here without some kind of formal education. Standardized aptitude testing for foreign teachers is being put into place at all public schools in Shanghai next term, and private english teaching companys will soon follow.
From my experiance, most training centres prize TESOL certificates before degrees, so as long as you're willing to work on an F visa and you have a TESOL, you should have a much easier time of it. Shanghai is NOT the place I would want to be coming to fresh into the country with no certification.
A TESOL certificate can be done online in as little as one month and for as cheap as 200 US dollars.
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A retarded monkey can pass the aptitude tests when, and if, they ever get put into place. The fact is that schools of all types hire anybody they can because the demand for teachers far outstrips the supply except at some major public universities. If you have a white face and can walk & chew gum at the same time, you're in.
Most of the major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing are requiring actual degrees or, in lieu of a degree, teaching experience in order to be able to obtain a work permit. Working on an "F" visa eliminates this issue even though there are numerous ways around the degree / experience requirements.
People tend to come to Shanghai first and work before other major cities. If only people with certification made Shanghai their first stop, Shanghai would have virtually no foreign teachers.
I come into contact with teachers from all cities on a regular basis and none of them will honestly tell you the pickings aren't easy.
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That's a great attitude you have about the future of China's ESL industry. I'm sorry for trying to take the high road and give some advise that might minimize the smudge of underqualification and naivety that exists in most of China's markets.
Although I don't dispute the realism in your arguement, I feel you're putting absolutely the worst face on an already tainted industry that can and will get better.
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Of course, you need a Z visa to teach or work in China. If you are looking for a job, you can start with a F or L visa.
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Shanghai also has sweeps.
Basically speaking, you cannot work on anything but a "Z" work visa notwithstanding the fact that the vast majority of teachers do work on an "F" or an "L" visa.
Statistically speaking, you need to be very unlucky to get caught in a visa sweep. If you are that unlucky, though, you are not automatically deported. It's the employer who faces most of the consequences. The illegal worker is usually given a certain amount of time to get their documentation in order to obtain the correct visa. If you cannot obtain a work visa, they warn you about working illegally again -- a slap on the wrists.
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True. Unless one is the decision maker of the company, an employee very seldom got the blame for not applying for a z-visa.
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