Hi guys,
I'd really appreciate your opinions on how to proceed. I was in China 2016 to 2018, and really loved it. However, I forgot to get a cert. of no criminal record done for my China time, before I left. I've been back in the UK since, and am now enrolled on a course to get UK QTS (similar to a Teacher License) at a UK school, fully funded by a bursary. It's a good opportunity, but they require a cert. of no criminal record to cover time abroad in last 10 years.
The school has no ability to do anything official regarding chasing this up - it's up to me to use a 3rd party set up to get this done (my best Chinese contact seems too busy these days to do this for me). I have found and made contact with the guy (P e t e, without the spaces) at Z h a o Z h a o . co. His testimonials seem legit, and an internet trawl has uncovered posts on Reddit naming his as a good business to use. Nevertheless, going down this route will involve sending scans of all my personal identity information, as well as current UK address.
My long-term goal has always been to return to China. Honestly speaking, there's a good chance I won't be able to survive this QTS course (I flunked a PGCE course attempt badly in 2015, couldn't keep up with the pace). My back-up plan would be to go straight into into China job application mode, in that case.
I'm worried about the idea of identity-theft from this police check application causing an issue down the line, screwing up a work permit / visa application for CN. It's all about weighing up the good opportunity of doing this QTS course, vs. that....
Thing is, I really know nothing about the risk of identity theft from such a venture as this. Do you guys think I'm being too cautious, or is getting a retrospective police check done by a 3rd party something you'd go along with, given the circumstances and opportunities?
Many many thanks for your input