You can’t get into China without a visa.
Sure, I had a signed contract and plenty of emails zipping back and forth between here and Hunan to give the new job a semblance of reality, but …
you can’t get into China without a visa.
So when the visa documents came in the mail last Thursday, the China sojourn finally moved from the nebulous to the definite. Only one more hoop remains to jump through — get the bloody thing pasted into the passport.
Taking a job overseas requires a few extra steps than just moving across these United States.
To teach in China, you need (a) a job offer (duh!), (b) an invitation letter from the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs, (c) an invitation letter from the local Chinese Public Security Bureau, and (d) the aforementioned visa. The Chinese employer generally takes care of (b) and (c), since they must originate from local government offices, once you provide the necessary documents (photos, medical examination forms, copies of passports and credentials). This process takes a couple of months. Without (b) and (c), you can’t get a Z-visa (for “foreign experts”), so I was on pins and needles until the all-important invitation letters came via China Post and USPS last Thursday.
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