Resident Visa's, what is the dealio?

I am moving from an private English language school to a university in Nanning.

My current school is cancelling my resident permit on friday. The university has asked to take over the visa. My school said no.

I have a flight out of China on the 2nd of August (to go to Thailand).

How screwed am I? Am I technically over staying my visa?

Oh and I completed a 6 month contract but instead of stating 'completed contract' on my confirmation certificate the school has ticked 'leaving for health or family reasons'. Am I in my rights to kick up a stink about this? I was taught not to lie on a legal document ever.

Slightly worried 

So your visa expires on Friday but you can't leave until next Tuesday, right? You need to go down to the PSB before your visa expires, take your passport and explain the situation. Chances are they'll give you a temporary "exit" visa that is good for a few days. The PSB actually does not like to see people overstay and they will usually help you out especially if you're not a repeat offender. I had a similar situation once many many years ago (except it was a uni that was being dickish about the visa) and the PSB gave me an emergency extension on my visa so that I wouldn't overstay.

You'll have to get a new Z visa from scratch in Thailand but hopefully that won't pose too big of a problem.

Good luck!

What LD said. The PSB is pretty helpful when it comes to short term extensions...but downright fire and brimstone if you overstay. You don't want to go there. Get that stuff taking care of ASAP. Your confirmation certificate shouldn't be a big deal, since you'll be starting the whole visa application process from scratch in Thailand.

My Resident Permit is being cancelled by my school, its not expiring. Does this make a difference? I was told I had 5 days before the paperwork was processed, but then yesterday my school turned around and so "oh no actually it's straight away".

They are pretty angry that I am leaving for another school, losing face and all that. It's been a relatively good experience up until now... Dammit! They are even threatening not to pay my bonus and the last weeks pay if I don't hand my passport over. Considering the university has it so they can do their paperwork this is just a really cheap shot.

Ah sigh, thanks guys.

Oh and I have confirmation letter, they've just filled in information incorrectly - like why I'm leaving. I also have a copy of my foreign expert certificate.

Does any of this make a difference?

A school can't cancel your Permit unless they have your passport in their hands. Don't give it to them.

Theoretically, they have to give you a release letter. And while I'm not sure it will really matter in the long run, it's not unreasonable to expect its contents to be accurate.

The PSB advice above is good. In addition, make a lot of noise. Get what you have earned...


Have you seen our resource on apostrophe use?

I would strongly suggest you not hand over your passport to the school if you are leaving. Go to the Psb with them and have them cancel it with you.
I have gone through this a few times, schools are never happy when you leave them so they try to make things difficult. The last school I worked for where I was at for four and a half years refused to give me a letter of release becuase they claimed I lide about them on the internet.
I went to the PSB myself and tried to deal with it myself, they make you jump through hoops but it is better than relying on a school that already has a problem with you.

I would say never if you can give your passport to anyone and if you do it with the school pester them till you get it back.
I have a few times gotten a one month extension on my visa after showing that I had 20 grand in the bank. This is in fuzhou though so I do not kknow what it is like in other cities/provinces.

The hope here is that Mkate won't have her Residence Permit (It's not a visa...) cancelled at all, but can instead transfer it to her new school. This saves a lot of money and hassle for all concerned. The PSB in your outgoing city can't help with your new Permit (that's for the PSB at your destination city), but they can keep you in a temporary Permit that will let you re-enter the country and go on with the transfer.

There's no need for Mkate to cancel her Permit in any way other than transferring it, where the old one will go away and the new one gets started.
Her outgoing school is just being shitty.

A school can't cancel your Permit unless they have your passport in their hands. Don't give it to them.

That may once have been the case. It may still be the case in some provinces. It's not true country-wide.

The school can cancel your permit without having your passport.  It's done on the PSB computer. You won't know until you leave the country, and you won't easily be able to get back in again.  It happened to 2 colleagues of mine, husband and wife, who'd had enough of a shi**y job and did a runner.

If your school is cancelling your resident permit before it expires, the PSB will give you a 30-day exit visa. As for obtaining a new resident permit, I have no idea what the rules are anymore. You will definitely have to get a new FEC no matter what happens.

Has your new employer contacted your current one? They may be able to work something out.

Quote from: Raoul F. Duke on July 29, 2011, 03:07:15 PM

A school can't cancel your Permit unless they have your passport in their hands. Don't give it to them.

That may once have been the case. It may still be the case in some provinces. It's not true country-wide.

The school can cancel your permit without having your passport.  It's done on the PSB computer. You won't know until you leave the country, and you won't easily be able to get back in again.  It happened to 2 colleagues of mine, husband and wife, who'd had enough of a shi**y job and did a runner.

Yeah, this is what I thought. The visa system is computerized now, all linked up, so they can cancel your visa without actually physically having your visa. It happened with a friend of mine (but with a student visa -- he stopped going to class, they cancelled his visa) and he didn't know until he exited the country and got slapped with a fine. It might not be possible deep in the provinces but I wouldn't count on it.

I would still take my passport, go down to the PSB, and explain the situation. They will be able to tell you if your visa is in fact cancelled or not, and will help you to find a solution if at all possible.

Thanks guys.

I'm going on Monday with my school to cancel it. One of my friends is coming with me to ask for, at the very least, a letter requesting 24 hours to leave the country.

There is a lot of conflicting information.

Absolutely.  But that's usually because people have had different experiences in different schools, provinces, etc.  It's never black and white - always shades of gray.

I've no direct experience of this but have had numerous colleagues or friends in a similar situation.  Last guy this happened to got no fine. He got a 3 day extension to get out.

No-one is infallible at Raoul's - if you want infallible guidelines you need the other site, ha ha - but everyone is benevolent. Most'ly.