After you’ve aced your interview and been offered a position at a school of your choosing, you will move through the following steps to obtain the proper paperwork to teach legally in China.

While you are in your home country, you’ll need:

•  A valid passport with at least 12 months on it from the date of expiration

•  A formal letter of invite from your school, otherwise known as a Foreign Expert Invitation (Note that this documentation is not provided by your school. They have to apply for your ID, and they have no control over how quickly your paperwork is processed. Some bureaus process paperwork quickly while others don’t. The waiting period is typically two to six weeks.

•   A Foreign Expert ID (Your school will send this to you by post.)

•  YOU visit the nearest Chinese Consulate in your area to apply for a Z visa (work visa) – Don’t forget to bring your letter of invite!

•  A Z visa (Employment visa) – Although this can take a few months to get, it is by far the safest and easiest way to go to China. We don’t recommend that teachers go to China to teach on a tourist visa or another kind of visa unless they really want to arrive quickly and they are prepared to make extra trips to complete their document work for their Z visa. If you go to China on anything other than a Z visa, you must be prepared to do a visa run on your own.

•  A health check in your home country

Once you are in China:

•   You’ll need to do a full health check

•   You’ll register with the local police station so they know where you’re living. Your school will help you do this.

•  Your school will help you get your Residence Permit