China Travel Forum

[kotman]

Hi,
I am a US passport holder, about to go to China. I was curious if it's possible to get a visa in person at any of the consulates, or if you must apply for the Chinese visa at the consulate which holds jurisdiction over your area of residence. For example, I am an L.A. resident, so it will be no problem for me to just walk in the office. My friend who is traveling with me is a resident of Tennessee, but will be in Los Angeles about a week prior to the trip. (We will fly from L.A to Shanghai). Will she have to send off to get her visa in Washington D.C. by mail since she is not legally a Southern California resident, or can we just both go in person in L.A. to get the visas (rush expedited)? I checked out the Chinese Consulate L.A. website but I'm not exactly finding this situation.

I am hopefully going to be teaching English, but I don't have a definite position yet, so I will enter China on a tourist visa. Is it common for people to do this, and once securing a job and getting the right documentation, switching over to a work visa?
Also, is it possible to get a tourist visa with a one way ticket, or must you show proof of return flights?

Thanks for your help,

[aynor]

You both should be able to walk into the LA Consulate and get visas. It's common for people to enter China on tourist visas and then land jobs. However, not all employers have the right/ability to employ foreigners on proper work visas, so they will want you to work on a tourist visa or a business visa. Both illegal. Others with direct experience can tell you the pros and cons of doing this. Some do find employers that will get them work visa/residence permit, not sure if you would have to leave the country (i.e. to Hong Kong) and then re-enter as part of this processing. But very few employers would consider going through the hoops of getting you a work permit if you have a less than 1 year contract.
Chinese normally don't care about your air ticket status, either when applying for visa or at immigration when you enter the country. But the airline might not let you board the plane with only a one-way ticket...flights originating in North America are notorious for this. This is a common subject on TT, do a search and see what others have found.

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china tour

[kotman]

I plan on at least signing a one year contract, and I have been communicating with several possible future employers letting them know this. most of the employers I have been in contact with have indicated that they would reimburse for round trip air fare, along with providing other benefits, with a one year contract.... it seems the best way to go, really. Besides, I would love to live abroad for at least one year, this gives me the ability to travel to several nearby countries while I am living in China. At this point one year is the minimum I plan on staying in China. I have found a really good air fare through flychina.com (on airchina) which sells one way tickets, I am thinking if they offer this, and it is a Chinese air line, should it be that much of a problem? I am just concerned about all the red tape, and don't want to get unneccesarily delayed if I can avoid it at all with prior knowledge... thanks for your response!! appreciate it!

[kammal]

It would have been better to select one of the places and had them get you a Z visa for work. However, it is still possible to find work while in the country and then get them to change the tourist visa to a Z visa. The current policy by the Chinese government is to require you to get the Z visa while you are in your home country. Some schools and provinces are sticking with this policy and some are making an exception. It isn't general knowledge which provinces will be exceptions so you will be taking a chance.
It is probably risky to work on a tourist visa partially because the school has nothing to lose if they don't like you and decide to dump you at any time, even with a signed contract. Since you are working illegally they really wouldn't expect you to challenge this move in a court. Besides the Chinese court system really isn't the same as in the States and if the school has good connections, they wouldn't have a problem getting the court to see things in their way. Best to try to get everything legal as quickly as possible.
Try going to the teflchina dot org list for more information. You can ask questions about jobs and may also see additional leads for things in China.
Some airlines will sell a round trip ticket with the return date left open. The round trip ticket can often be much less expensive. Since you live in LA, check the newspapers on Sunday travel section for travel discounters. They will very often be able to get the best fares for your trip.
When you select to travel out of China you will need to get a reentry visa in order to return. You can do that while in China through the police department and your school can assist you in the process.

[leshan]

I can suggest you to go to Daves ESL Cafe and go to the International Job Forums and Choose China Job Forum. There you will find an incredible amount of information on getting work teaching English in China and a million questions like the one you asked here. They have many posts and threads on the Z visa, entering on a tourist visa, etc. Also, you may be able to make some contacts with people already in China. Be careful of entering on a tourist visa, not all schools are able to get it changed to a residence visa, depends on the school and the province. You may have to fly to Hong Kong in order to change the visa.
I am going over to teach English too. I'm leaving in three weeks!
Best of Luck!!