I am moving schools within Kunming, although the head office of my new school is in another province. My new school asked for confirmation of cancellation of my FEC, so they could apply for a new one as part of my Z visa transfer. My old school didn't include this with the leaving documnts they gave me and said they have never heard of such a thing in Yunnan, and it's all getting a bit close to the wire timewise.

Is the new school asking for unnecessary documentation? Do Yunnan schools not need this document when transferring Foreign teachers? Or was my old school just unaware of the requirement?

Any information at all would be enlightening!

Thanks in advance.

.public schools only for FES

I had the same problem when I moved to Kunming from the north of China. I had my FEC with me from my previous employer and there was a little bit of discussion about why it wasn't cancelled. In the end it was OK. The release note from my previous employer was the most important thing to have.

@Dazzer

What's an FES? Is it the same as an FEC? Elsewhere on the web it says you must have an FEC to teach anywhere, as is necessary for any school, public or private, to sponsor you for a visa.

@Yuantongsi
I'm not moving province or anything, but the new school seem adamant that without this cancellation the wheels within Chinese bureaucratic wheels stop turning!

Thanks to both of you.

@amjec, the short answer, if you are simply moving to a different school within Kunming, is NO.

You don't need this letter of cancellation. Tell your new school to submit all other paperwork to the Foreign Expert Bureau and it'll be fine. If they don't believe it, have them call the FEB in your presence to confirm that this is the case.

The bureaucratic procedure is that each foreigner is certified to work for the sponsor. When you decide to leave the job, the FEB would cancel your FEC so that you are free to work for another company. Normally the FEB will issue a letter stating that they have de-certified you so that you can be registered in another province's FEB.

Because you are simply changing schools within Kunming, it would be akin to the Yunnan FEB writing a letter to themselves to say that you are eligible to be certified.

A redundant process to be sure and utterly necessary. The YFEB can go into their own system to see that you were in fact, de-certified from your previous employer.

I've had the same situation happen to me as well. Insist on your new employer's HR department to stop following outdated manual and call the FEB directly.

@Tonyaod - Thanks for that marvellous response. I am cutting and pasting it to send to the new school.

I can't have them call the FEB in my presence unfortunately as they are Sichuan based (perhaps that's the issue) but yes it does seem a little strange to need a document to say one computer record has just changed a field on their database!

Again, many thanks for all the help from Dazzer, Yuantongsi and Tonyaod

A quick update: After talking to the new school apparently the Sichuan location of the office is the issue. My FEC would have to come from their experts bureau, so it's a not an internal Yunnan process. I guess my old school never had anyone transfer to another province before. We learn a new thing every day!

Wheels within wheels.