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[Pashley]

I have a friend with a problem. I'm not sure to what extent he recognises the problem, and that's another problem. He's over 60 and does not have a university degree, so getting a residence permit and working here legally seems out of the question. Working illegally is possible, but not a good idea and very risky.

His plan is to open a Western restaurant and let that company get his visas, but that deal is not coming together. He needs Chinese partners and, so far, has not found them. At one point, he had some capital to put into it, but living expenses and travel for visas have eaten that. As I see it, he's obviously well on his way to disaster. He's borrowed money from several of his friends to cover expenses, and is not doing well at paying it back; the disaster is already having side effects.

He still thinks the restaurant is possible; I really doubt that. I've been telling him for a year or more he needs to work on Plan B. He hasn't, and as far as I know does not currently have a Plan B.

My question here is: What is Plan B? He wants to stay in China, but short of marriage I see no likely method for that.

Elsewhere in Asia? Not Korea; they want a degree, and they ask for transcripts. Not China, because of the age restriction. Where? Would Taiwan or Thailand work? Cambodia, ...?

He is an intelligent fellow and an experienced teacher. He has some sort of TEFL cert, an online one that one employer wanted everyone to get. Does anyone know where he can get legal work?

[jpd01]

Taiwan is stricter about degrees than mainland China, Thailand actually can and pretty much does check each applicants details, Japan requires a degree to teach.
Hmm well it's a bad situation I think, being over 60 and having no degree is a poor position to be in China and asia in general.
I don't really want to endorse this but you might have to tell you friend to get a properly forged degree (maybe a masters of PHD) because really no one is checking up on degrees (and in all likely hood the psb doesn't have the capability)
It's the only thing I can think of that might get him over the line and it might not get him over the line because of the over 60 thing.

[ericthered]

It does sound as if your friend has several things going against him. One is age, which he can do nothing about, the second is the lack of degree, which he can do something about either by getting one or forging one, thirdly, running a restaurant is hard, hard, hard work, it is expensive, takes a starting capital and, to put it frankly, is a young man's game, add to that the lack of Chinese business partners and it spells trouble. I don't mean to be the man to rain on your friend's parade but it sounds to me as if your friend need to take a slight reality check. He has no capital, is in debt, wants to open a restaurant and teach at the same time despite not having the necessary qualifications...I mean, aside from forging a degree and working for a non-too-strict-about-rules private training center/school, I would hazard the disappointing suggestion that his best bet for getting a legal job would be to seek employment in the West.

[James the Brit]

no one is checking up on degrees (and in all likely hood the psb doesn't have the capability)

I wouldn't underestimate them...

[Pashley]

I don't mean to be the man to rain on your friend's parade but it sounds to me as if your friend need to take a slight reality check.

I agree wholeheartedly.

He has no capital, is in debt, wants to open a restaurant and teach at the same time despite not having the necessary qualifications...

No, if he could get the restaurant going, he might not need to teach.

Arguably, he has some qualifications, too. He is an experienced teacher and he's run a restaurant before. He definitely comes across as an educated & literate person, moreso than some degree holders I have met. There are teaching posts I would happily hire him for. On the other hand, he does not have the formal qualifications. neither the degree for teaching nor the lump of capital to start a company and get a visa that way.

I mean, aside from forging a degree and working for a non-too-strict-about-rules private training center/school, I would hazard the disappointing suggestion that his best bet for getting a legal job would be to seek employment in the West.

You may be right.

[jpd01]

no one is checking up on degrees (and in all likely hood the psb doesn't have the capability)

I wouldn't underestimate them...

I'm not, simply put one of my friends does the applications for visas in the psb in my city. She says that currently they don't have a the capacity to do it on a Chinese language software and the only other way is to do a manual search (too time consuming) or have a staff member trained in how to use the English software to to a faster search (time consuming and no one will put their hand up to do it) Basically she says everyone there is lazier than her and no one wnats to put the offort into doing it.
She said the most that someone usually does it look at the digital copy (she rarely gets a physical one) and if it doesn't look fake then after that she might search the name of the university if she doesn't know it. The only thing I can say is don't get one of those "life experience degrees" even the laziest psb worker can usually read the home page well enough to understand what ｂｕｙ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｄｅｇｒｅｅ　ｎｏｗ　ｍｅａｎｓ，　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｉｓ　ｕｓｕａｌｌｙ　ｓｐｌａｓｈｅｄ　ａｃｒｏｓｓ　ｍｏｓｔ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｏｓｅ　ｈｏｍｅ　ｐａｇｅｓ．Ｓｏｒｒｙ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｗｅｉｒｄ　ｔｙｐｉｎｇ　ｍｙ　ｋｅｙｂｏａｒｄ　ｓｅｅｍｓ　ｔｏ　ｈａｖｅ　ｈａｄ　ａ　ｆｉｔ

[solongtinik]

have an expat friend here in the philippines and she is over 60 but still she got employed to an english academy

if ur friend is interested in the islands of the philippines then it's a good place

[Day Dreamer]

In Changchun, there are lots of folks over 60. Not sure who does or doesn't have a degree amongst them. But I do know many teachers are working here with grade 3 edu-ma-cation

[Raoul F. Duke]

There are a lot of local variations fer sure, but unfortunately, Pash, I think your friend is pretty much boned.

It's gotten about impossible to get a residence permit without a college degree.
Many if not all provinces won't give a permit to people over 60.
Starting a restaurant takes a LONG time and vast piles of money and a constant struggle to find staff to cook and serve Western food.

The Philippines might be looking good. I'd like to try it myself, but not sure I could take the steam heat...

[Pashley]

There are a lot of local variations fer sure, but unfortunately, Pash, I think your friend is pretty much boned.

Yes.

It's gotten about impossible to get a residence permit without a college degree.
Many if not all provinces won't give a permit to people over 60.
Starting a restaurant takes a LONG time and vast piles of money and a constant struggle to find staff to cook and serve Western food.

Yeah, there are serious problems for anything he might do in China. I do not think chances of getting the restaurant off the ground are quite zero, but for this discussion they can be considered negligible.

The Philippines might be looking good. I'd like to try it myself, but not sure I could take the steam heat...

They look good to me, though I have not been there yet. I was planning to go this summer, but I had to renew both passport & visa. Idiocy from Chinese and especially Canadian bureaucrats has delayed me, so I may not get there until Spring Festival.

I'm not so young myself & am looking for a place to retire in a few years. Stuff I've written on that is at: http://wikitravel.org/en/Retiring_abroad  Based on web research, the Philippines are a top candidate, especially the island of Palawan. Lowest seismic risk in the country, out of the main typhoon zone, not overly dense population, lots of diving, and cashews are a major crop. What more could you ask?

[piglet]

Do they have chocolate?

[Pashley]

have an expat friend here in the philippines and she is over 60 but still she got employed to an english academy

Great. But is this something like some of the Chinese "academies" that will employ anyone with a pulse and encourage them to work illegally on a tourist visa? Or a real legal job?

[jpd01]

I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago that the Philippines doesn't really have much of an ESL sector with not that much demand for native speakers. 
English is taught as a core element of the curriculum, I remember one of my philipino friends back home telling me that in school a large portion of her classes were taught in English.

[Pashley]

Anyone know about regulations elsewhere in Asia? Cambodia? Vietnam? Laos? ...?

[James the Brit]

I can;t imagine Cambodia or Laos having much in the way of any sort of regulations.