via WikipediaWe had the stories on the F, L and X (student) visas, but now also the workpermits or Z-visas have become under more stringent scrutiny, at least in Beijing, writes the Canadian paper Globe and Mail. Daniel Yeung is still trying to understand how it happened. After eight years of steady employment, the Canadian recruitment consultant is being kicked out of China, forced to join an exodus of foreigners streaming out of the host country ahead of the Beijing Olympics.Mr. Yeung is one of thousands of Canadians and other foreign citizens who are being forced to leave China this month because of tougher visa rules.
Yeung has to leave because his educational background is considered by the Chinese authorities not to be enough to be eligible for a Z-visa.
When he tried to renew his work visa this spring, the Chinese authorities rejected his application. They said his educational qualifications, a diploma in physiotherapy, were inadequate for his job and he must have a bachelor's degree if he wanted to work as a consultant in China. It didn't matter that his employers were happy with his work, or that he was performing a useful service.
"All sorts of people are being refused visas for the silliest of reasons," Mr. Yeung said in an interview.
Again: it is not yet right away clear whether these ludicrious measures do apply also outside Beijing. It is not uncommon for the relevant authorities to come to their senses, although it might take a while and damage might have been done by then.
Update: The work permit, leading to the Z-visa, is issued by the labor bureau; they decided whether to accept your diploma, no public security. See also the comment section.
3 comments:
Yes, I am having an identical nightmare in a south China city. This problem comes not from the PSB visa office but from the local Labor Bureau, which must provide the work permit for foreigners in order to get a residence permit for purposes of employment. (Technically this is not a visa.) I've already had two residence permits using my just my bachelor's degree without any problem. Now, and I don't think it matters that this is a new job, the labor bureau has demanded a "skills certificate" that shows I have some special training for the job (which is just English training and miscellaneous work for a company). They wanted it translated into Chinese and notarized by the American government!
My new Chinese manager told me directly that it probably doesn't matter what we give them, they can demand anything or reject whatever you give them. So we're trying again in case they're in a better mood the day they look at it again. They say it's clearing out foreigners in advance of the Olympics, and they've been told everything should go back to normal. Supposedly.
Actually, by the best of my knowledge a Bachelor degree has always been required to apply a 'Foreign expert certificate'. I don't think this is such a weird rule (though work experience should also be taken into account). Probably just another case of existing rules being enforced now. The comment from chinamike does scare me a bit though!
Unfortunately, this requirement is easily subverted by many foreigners who merely download a degree and manipulate it with photoshop.
I don't think the PSB takes the time to actually verify with the degree's institution.
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