How to Get a Work Visa for EFL Teacher Jobs in China

EFL teacher jobs are very popular in China. To teach in China, you will need a legal work visa. However, a lot of foreigners don’t know how to get it and how long it will take. Now I will tell you what I know from my experience.
To work in China as a TEFL teacher legally, you will need a Foreign Expert Certificate and a resident permit that is valid for a year. Here are the steps to get the two documents.

You sign a contract with EFL teacher jobs, then start collecting documents for z visa. The documents required are usually a bachelor’s degree and transcripts, a TEFL certificate, a cv, a passport copy, a reference letter, a recent photo, medical check, police background check and an authenticated degree. I believe these are all the documents that schools need. Some schools don’t require an authenticated degree or a police background check. Some schools will require some original documents and most schools don’t require.

The school or employer applies for a work permit and invitation letter online first, which will require them to fill out some forms. Your personalinformation will be needed at this moment. After a week or so, there will be a result saying the online application passes or not.

The school or employer will submit all the documents you sent(if the online application passes) and then wait for the work permit and invitation letterissued by the foreign expert bureau, which will take 2-4 weeks to get.

The school or employer will post the work permit and invitation letter to you, you go to the Chinese Embassy to apply for a work visa. Some foreigners just need scan copies of the two documents. Z visa will take around one week to get.

After you come to China on the z visa, the school or employer will go to apply for a Foreign Expert Certificate and resident permit for you. Finally youcan stay in China for a year.

Hope these information help you understand better about the z visa process.