Process to get a Chinese z visa for teaching English?

Generally the whole process takes 1 to 2 months. (The fastest was about 2 weeks, but generally it takes longer)

Check the other posts for more details on these steps and how to get the documents for different nationalities, but here we will outline the process.

Teachers must have their Z-Visa before they go to China (it is not possible to go on a tourist visa and change over and doing a “visa run” is hit and miss and generally not straight forward and not advised).

The school/we help you to get the Z-Visa. The costs for processing the work permit documents inside China, will be covered by the school (basically they need to do paperwork on their side once you give the documents and after you arrive). Teachers need to pay the fees for getting documents notarized/authenticated, passport photos, and the fee charged by the Chinese visa processing office in their country when they put the visa in your passport.

First, you will sign a contract for the position.

Next, we will send you the details for applying for your work permit (some areas have special requirements but here are the basic documents needed):

• Copy of bachelor’s degree diploma (any field) (Authenticated by the Chinese Embassy)
• Clear criminal record’s check (Authenticated by the Chinese Embassy)
• Application form
• A declaration of clear health (some areas will need you to do a physical)
• Resume
• Clear copy of passport photo page and any past Chinese Visas
• Some areas require a TEFL certificate (Authenticated by the Chinese Embassy)

Copies of these are sent to us by e-mail. (Original documents need to be shown once you arrive in China)

The Work Permit will then be processed in China. (This generally takes a couple weeks)
As this is immigration, police and government, they are always able to request more documents during the process and this can delay the processing time.

Once the work permit documents is ready, we will send it to you by email. Now it has a scan-able bar code so it can be printed out and scanned by the Chinese visa office in your country.

Once you receive these, you will visit your nearest China Visa processing office in your country. Most can process the visa as quickly as 24 hours if needed, but the general process is 3-or-4 business days.

The visa processing office will give you a temporary visa (usually it is good for the first month you are inside China). Once you get to China, you will visit the hospital for any further testing needed, and we will bring you to the different government offices in order to apply for the residency permit. The residency permit is good for usually the period of the contract and has multiple entries (you can leave and go back into China during that period).