Don't listen to laofengzi, he sounds like a Trump supporter! I have had colleagues working on student visas or tourist visas for a month or two before they got a work visa, or move on if they were unable to get a work visa. Thousands are doing this right now, all over China. Mostly these 'illegal' workers cover the gaps left when workers quit suddenly or are fired.
Migrant school
This is China, so it could easily have moved or closed by now.
Your GF sounds like a nice person but the bottom line is @laofengzi is totally right, whether others or doing it right now and getting away it, is that is illegal to work as a teacher in China on anything other than a Z visa (PT or moonlighting or whatever) and since the coming of the new administration in Beijing with its purge China of unwanted elements policies the results, if caught, are severe. A lot of people seem to dismiss what is happening or feel it is a roll of the dice that favors them, and that may be so. The worst part after the arrest, jail sentence, large fine (bye bye good ol' days of 5000 rmb), deportation at your expense and travel ban to China for 3 to 10 years is an undesirable immigration status on your passport records. It is permanent and she would not be ale to travel to any other country (including friendlies like Britain or France or Greece)) for the rest of her life. All this for what? The illusion of teaching English to some scatter brained KM kids. Not worth the risk. If her Mandarin is good she may be able to find volunteer work. Mine is bad (real bad) but I had some volunteer work helping a dog shelter but that fell through this season for some reason I am not clear on. The whole operation stopped. May start up a again. I tried a local Buddhist temple but my Chinese was too bad to get anything going at all. The volunteering to help kids at a training center is a risky option since people who get busted there use that as their first excuse.
Some foreigners envision China as "the wild west" and anything goes. But they do not follow what is happening currently. Things are changing rapidly. and also the old wild west had laws. and when they were enforced they were severe. Not worth the hassle if caught my friend.
This is a good place to start if one does not know what is up:
As far as immigration law goes, there is absolutely no difference between full-time professional employment and short-term summer vacancy.
The law against illegal employment applies exactly the same for both scenarios.
However, some cities have recently loosened visa policies for students. Foreign students may be able to get legal part-time employment, if they get permission from their school and then apply with that from entry & exit administration
But I'm fairly sure that this only applies in the local area, ie. she could not get the permission in Harbin and then come to Kunming to work.
Of course you are right, that people do it all the time, but in the past more than now. Do you and/or your girlfriend want to risk it?
if you wanna do some work like this have you think about neighbor countries like lao vietnam etc. ?
I just read the 4 notes at the bottom of - Registration Form of Residence For Visitors From Overseas - The registration form we all receive when we check in with our local police station.
Note #2 reads -Foreigners without residence permit or on a study program shall not take a post or be employed in China without permission from the competent authorities of Chinese government.
Getting a work visa, for the first time, can take 65 working days. Even a renewal can take more than 40 working days.
It is getting harder to work here legally. More strict attempts to make everyone legal seem to be having the opposite affect, as it is getting harder to be here legally, and harder for schools to recruit and process visas for the staff they need.
I am beginning to believe that the authorities no long care that much for foreign teachers.
You are just beginning to believe that? The process of obtaining a work visa has gotten more complicated with more requirements nearly regularly over the past few years. The authorities don't care about foreigners.
The university authorities, at least, do or they wouldn't continue to hire them.
They do continue to care about foreign investment though - that's why the minimum initial capital investment requirements for new company registrations have come down from millions to zero in many cities. In percentages that's quite a big invitation.
