alwaysstriving Posted February 8, 2015 at 01:20 PM Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 at 01:20 PM I'm currently staying in Bangkok. I plan to head to mainland China soon to teach English. Of course I have a degree, TESOL cert, clean criminal record check etc... I have also taught in South Korea for a few years. Anyway....... Unless things have recently changed, it is possible for me to get my Z visa done at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok (so long as Bangkok and not a Canadian city is written on the invitation letter). I have friends that have done that and I have read blogs of people who have done that. HOWEVER the regulations can change at anytime. I have e-mailed the Chinese embassy in Bangkok to ask them (maybe they will reply maybe they won't) but in the meantime can anyone shed any light on this? I have had a couple of job interviews on Skype with Chinese recruiters and they seemed to think that I need to go to Canada. They are of course simply doing what is easiest for them and taking the route that they know will not give them any hassles. When I e-mail recruiters abut this they either don't reply or they suggest to talk on Skype about it. Some recruiters have hinted (via e-mail) that it may be okay. It seems that it's considered a tad dodgy and a recruiter doesn't want to have a paper trail of them saying that it's okay. As an aside, I'm teaching during the evenings at a private language school in Bangkok. My job is okay but I can make much more money in China and I want to learn Mandarin language. Since I teach at a private language school I don't feel that bad about breaking my contract (If I were at a public school and they were loosing their home room teacher during the year I may feel guilty about it). I will give the school notice before I head to China. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted February 9, 2015 at 11:06 AM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 11:06 AM Putting together the documents for you to apply takes a bit of time and money on their end, so they're going to be a bit wary of anything unusual. They also need to get hold of an invitation letter specifying somewhere you aren't from, which might (I have no idea) not be possible in some parts of China. What might help is if you're able to provide some proof of legal stay in Thailand - a copy of your working visa, perhaps. I'd just send the recruiters links to the same blogs you read, and maybe tell them that other recruiters say it'll be fine. May also be worth suggesting Hong Kong - that's a situation they're more likely to have dealt with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maomao2014 Posted February 9, 2015 at 04:04 PM Report Share Posted February 9, 2015 at 04:04 PM It is a torture to deal with Chinese government especially local government. If it is easier to apply for Z visa in Canada, then go back to Canada to apply for it. It happened on my husband two years ago. He went to China with tourist visa with several entries. Once he arrives in China, we started to look for a job. A private college which had qualification for recruiting foreigners offered him a job. We started to apply for the visa. We thought we could apply in HK, but the local department did not allow us to apply in HK and asked my husband to go back to the UK to apply for Z visa. Luckily I had a friend who was working in the government helped us to apply for the Z visa. The procedure was very complicated. First we needed to fill a form asking for the permission to apply visa in HK, then the form would be sent to Guangzhou foreign issue department, they approved it then sent the form back to my local foreign issue department. With the form, then we went to HK to apply for the Z visa. Normally the local government won't let you apply for Z visa in HK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysstriving Posted February 10, 2015 at 05:54 PM Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 at 05:54 PM A reputable visa agency in Vancouver sent me a detailed e-mail and they can do my Z working visa for China while I am in Thailand. I will have to pay them of course, but it will still be much less money than flying AND I will not have to deal with the Chinese embassy in Bangkok. Their official policy is not to issue Z visas to non Thai nationals unless they have a Thai work permit/work visa which I do not have. Strage that you need to have that and that a tourist visa is not acceptable (never expect logic). The way I see it: If I try to get a v visa from the Chinese embassy in Bangkok I'm just some random bozo. If I pay an agency they know how China works and they obviously have Chinese connections of some kind. I don't say that necessarily in a cynical way, but China is China and anyone who has a basic knowledge of the place knows that nothing is written in stone in that place. It will take them a hundred years to catch up to Canada/America with regards to getting their bureaucracy organized (not that Canada's/America's bureacucracy is anything to brag about). Anyway......... Anyone ever used an agency? Any insight/advice? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted February 10, 2015 at 06:27 PM Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 at 06:27 PM Merged. There's only so many visa topics you can start in one week before it starts to get a bit dull... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members muhlner Posted February 12, 2015 at 04:48 AM New Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 at 04:48 AM Good luck applying in Bangkok. My personal experience tells me that Thai xenophobia has finally reached the China embassy: the visa officers are Thai! My girlfriend and I applied for visas with identical invitation letters from China. My girlfriend (Thai, no savings, credit card debts, no real intention to do business in China) got 6 months, while I (job offer, savings, "real" reason to do business in China, EU passport) got 1 month only. Go figure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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