Raoul's China Saloon (V5.0) Beta

The Bar Room => The Legalities Board: Visas, Permits, Taxes, and More! (ON-TOPIC) => Topic started by: Kryten on October 31, 2014, 07:43:38 PM

Title: F Visas tied to the school/company/province as paperwork used to apply?
Post by: Kryten on October 31, 2014, 07:43:38 PM
Hey there,

Have an F Visa conundrum and a little help from the saloonies would be much appreciated  bjbjbjbjbj

So a few months ago (in August) whilst living in Thailand I applied for and got offered a job teaching at a school in Chengdu. I accepted the offer and was planning to come in on a 90 day F Visa, then deal with the Z Visa later on - the position was for immediate start and paid double what I was getting in Thailand, I also trusted the school, hence not worrying about the Z Visa.
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So I got the F Visa here in Thailand, using documents provided to me by the school stating that I would be coming to China to do some lectures/teacher training. However, before flying to China I ended up having to cancel/not go through with the contract and ended up staying in Thailand. I contacted the school and apologized. They seemed a bit miffed but I didn't have a choice at the time.

So right now I'm again applying for jobs in China from Thailand for an immediate start (November) and I'm wondering whether there could be any problems. My 90 day F Visa is still unused and in my passport and valid until the end of November. So if anybody could hazard a guess as to:

1) Can the school cancel the visa?

2) If they can't cancel the visa and I get offered another job somewhere else should I still try to fly in on that visa?

3) I should only really be flying in on a Z-Visa anyway right? How common/dangerous is it to come in on an F Visa and then convert due to short notice starts?

4) If they did/could cancel the visa, will there be any problems when I go back to the embassy to get a new visa for whatever position I end up taking?

5) Is an F visa tied at all to the company/school that issued it or is it just a general visa but you need special documents to get it?
 
6) Anything else I should be worried about?  :wtf:

Many thanks in advance
Title: Re: Can a school/company cancel an F Visa or cause problems for future visas
Post by: Just Like Mr Benn on October 31, 2014, 10:33:07 PM
Basic answer. The school can't do anything to the visa, but you shouldn't enter on it anyway.

If you enter with an F visa, you face having to leave the country again once you get a job; quite possibly having to return to your home country in order to do it.

Working (full-time) on an F visa is illegal, and I think there's a consensus on this forum which tends to be summed up as 'be legal or don't come'. I appreciate all the reasons for coming on an F visa, (scouting local employers, keeping options open, starting work quickly) and they're all invalid because of
-danger of being exploited by employers
-being fined, jailed and deported
-the aforementioned of potentially having to go back to your home country to change the visa

I think using the F visa for purposes other than what it was meant to be used for (given that you were going to do that anyway) could very well cause problems with future visas, but it wouldn't be the school causing them.
Title: Re: Can a school/company cancel an F Visa or cause problems for future visas
Post by: eggcluck on November 01, 2014, 04:00:00 AM
I am going to concurr with Just like Mr.Ben. 

Don't bother entering. If the job is at least legit they can get you a z visa. The F visa is useless so just let it go. My previous employer tried to screw me over with visas by not providing a release letter and not cancelling the current visa.

The visa in the homeland cancelled the visa for me and as I had returned to the homeland as part of a job ending there was no need for a release letter as I had started the process all over again.

People do get caught with dodgy visas, some former colleagues of mine are included in that statement.