...Damnit, L, what the hell is that title.
So I figured, partly as result of Julie's comment, that I'd delve a bit into the visa process for TEFL in China. There's a whole flood of information out there, but it's hard to research because it's all over the place, and many sites just link back to the Chinese Embassy site which isn't always clear either.
A bit of background: in years past, shortly after the online TEFL certificate came into existence, there was a lot of controversy around them. They were unregulated, cheap, and often had no actual interaction with a tutor or feedback from educators themselves; instead, they'd have a list of multiple choice questions or something similar, no in-class live interaction, and boom. Certificate granted. Worse, these certificates were awfully easy to produce at home, and a decent photoshop familiarity could make a believable document. This led to a wave of awful teachers.
Combine this history with the developing political situation in China, and you have a much stricter visa process now. Perhaps too strict.
There are three core documents required for any reputable company in China: a Bachelor's degree (in anything), a TEFL certificate (online is fine for visa purposes, though those with in-class experience will look better on resumes), and a criminal background check (state or federal level, either is acceptable). Once you have these, you can start applying for jobs. When a school wants to hire you, you scan your documents and send them over, along with a medical exam form that shows you're healthy and not bringing any diseases into the country. The school will send all that in to obtain a work permit. If that gets approved, they'll mail it to you, and then you take that to the consulate in your jurisdiction, along with all those documents, passport, etc. They'll dilly dally over it for a bit, and if all is approved, give you your Z Visa.
Simple enough, right? Ish?
Well here's the fun part. Thanks to all those sketchtacular individuals who forged documents for so long, the process has become a bit tedious. First, you have to take your certificate, diploma, and background check to a notary in the jurisdiction where they were issued. Then, you have to take that to an apostille, which is basically someone who says "yep, this is a notary." Then you take that to the consulate where they say "yep, these steps were taken." My TEFL was issued in the UK, so I had to pay a company to do that part for me and mail me the stuff. My diploma and background check were both from CO so I got off light on that...but the nearest consulate is in Chicago. So I wound up having to hire a visa agent to do all that on my behalf. I perhaps could have handled it myself by mail but this is the kinda thing I *REALLY* don't want to mess up. So it's worth it to dump a bit extra.
I've gotten back everything the visa agent sent away. My medical exam is almost done, just waiting on some bloodwork. Soon as I get those back, I can send the school my work permit stuffs. A few days to a few weeks' processing there, and they'll mail it to me. Then it's back to the visa agent to have him handle the Z Visa application, since the process often takes several days minimum and I'd have to be in Chicago that whole time. How about nope.
Soon as I get my Z Visa, I can head over. Gave my landlord notice, I've been keeping my work updated frequently on the status and can basically give them an end date whenever. If all goes well, I'm slated for a mid-October start at the latest, with a late September start even possible.
...now to face the mountain of shit I have to get rid of before then.
As an aside; I realized a couple days ago that I mis-typed the URL for this blog, so rather than being the 'everydayimteflin' that I intended, it just says 'everdayimteflin' which was...not intended. And may make my blog harder to find in future times when someone wants to find it. Whoops.
Til next time!
-L
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