Lost my job because of Covid, now I think I might be blacklisted?

Dear Everybody Loves...

Okay there are details that would need to be known and a public forum isn't the place.  If you wish to PM me then I can tell you more once I have some other details.

I am a foreign teacher manager for a large private employer in North-east China.  I hire people all the time.  I have done this job for 5 years but I have been teaching in China for 13.  Please PM (private message) me and then I would be most happy to see what advice I may be able to give. 

Don't try to sue...waste of time and energy.  You can't get back to China right now, no one who is NOT Chinese can.  I have good friends who own a place in Guangdong Province and they have been stuck in Hong Kong for the last 4 months living in a hotel.  They just want to go home but the doors to mainland China are not open yet and it may be a lot longer than people think before they do open again. 

I have teachers who work for me who really want to go home, three of my teachers have lost parents in the last 8 months, one very recently to COVID and yet they know while they can leave China they can't return.  It's been difficult and it's not over by a long shot yet.

If we can survive I will need teachers and I am looking for them now.  Don't be upset but you need to do some things to protect yourself and I may be able to give you that advice.

Hi Irai,

Are you still looking for English language teachers for China ?

I am a well qualified teacher .. currntly living in Warsaw.
Feel free to contact me

Best regards,
John

Hi thanks for your reply. I have tried starting a chat with you but I'm quite new to this website and can't find a means to send you a private message... Perhaps you can send me one and I can reply to you. Thanks again.

Dear John:

Right now unless you are already in China on a Z visa I can't hire you.  It's making life really hard for us.  No one who is NOT Chinese can get here at the moment.  I do hire teachers but to get a Z visa for China you will need to come from your country of origin because your initial entry Z visa must be from that country.  It's sort of complicated.  Feel free to go to our website and look at the checklist we have prepared of all the documents you need to get a working visa for China.

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Thank you Fred, not planning on doing that

Dear Jean:

The short answer...no one knows.  That is the ONLY truth at this time.  If they tell you anything else I wouldn't trust it.

We have been living with daily changes for the last 7 months and it isn't getting better.  One day we are told one thing and by the next day it changes.  We were given permission to go back to in person teaching and that was only last week...now after one weekend back we are being told we could be shut down again because there are 4 new cases here from Dalian. 

This situation is not under control in terms of being able to plan ahead for anything.  It's more like hit or miss.  I apologize for sounding negative, but it's been very difficult this year and the end seems no where to be found.

I have lived in China for 13 years and this is the most insane time ever.  I have dealt with ALL sorts of crazy but this is one for the books. 

I wish you well and all I can tell you is to wait and hope that things will calm and that China will re-open again.

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Dalian says, "You're welcome".    You think you have it bad?  Try being in Dalian.  It spread near the city center, so every time I go downtown for something I'm always paranoid my health app is going to be affected.  I agree with you that this year has been nuts.  Back in the spring semester the school would tell us we're going to open in 3 weeks, then they don't, then they discuss opening again, then they don't.  I'm not a fan of teaching online, but it is what it is.  I'm suspecting we'll be online again for the fall semester, if not longer. 

They think the virus came from a frozen fish market, and I read a few days ago they found it in some frozen food at a supermarket.  My assumption is when winter hits cases are going to spike like crazy again and schools will go into lockdown.  Also, there's more issues going on within China that are on the table.  I heard a few days ago Mongolia went into lockdown because of some deaths from the bubonic plague, there's the swine flu cases that I haven't heard an update on that they thought could become a pandemic, and the government is currently trying to advise people to limit their food consumption because they fear a food shortage due to the floods in central China combined with the weird weather in the northeast.  I'd also mention the current political dispute over the South China Sea/Taiwan, but I don't think it's reached a point that it would affect expat work visas.  Right now I'm just throwing ideas down that I think could affect the return of expats without mentioning the rise in covid cases worldwide.  Did you know covid has become the 3rd most common way to die in the US behind heart disease and cancer?  There are many other issues in China I've not mentioned going on making this year one for the history books.  The internal scuffle in the CCP, the economy, and the withholding of insurance for flood victims and northeast farmers hit by hail are all pretty big issues in China right now, but not something I'd think would affect expat visas directly.  It may affect the business you do in China, though, because people are going to have less money to spend on your goods and services that your business provides, you may not receive compensation for any weather damage to your business, and, depending upon how the internal feud in the CCP plays out, expat businesses may have to pay more taxes or something if the xenophobic side of the politburo takes over. 

You have to remember expats have only been doing business in modern China for the past 25-30 years.  Before that, we were all forbidden during the Mao era, and, prior to Mao, was the Second Sino-Japan War.  I don't think expats have had this many smooth years in China that they could do business in peace, and China could shut it's doors tomorrow if they believe it's their only way out to save face and rebuild.  I thought I'd mention all this to people constantly asking, "When can I go back to China?"  I don't mean to be rude, but people should have a Plan B if their Plan A failed.  This pandemic should be a wake up call to everyone in the world that you have to keep learning new things to become a jack of all trades.  It's called evolution, and, if you can't learn to go with the flow, you're going to become another animal's dinner.

Thanks for the perspective...well stated.  The situation in Dalian even affected us here in Changchun for a while.  It has calmed but for several days we were not sure what would happen.  However, Dalian and Harbin have made it so my teachers can't leave the city for any reason right now.  I just had one teacher leave China to return home to the US.  She left this past weekend.  Her flights were slightly delayed but nothing huge, and she was told it was up to her if she wanted to self-quarantine...and they wonder why the US is facing such a mess.  Hmmm.  I have only known one person to come back to China but her husband has a special visa which is why she could, however she was stuck in Germany for 5 months, has just returned and has had to quarantine in Tianjin for 14 days or 21 days, she isn't sure, then she can return to Changchun.  Otherwise no one who is here can leave and return back yet.  No one can come...and that might be the situation for the rest of this year.  No one knows.  So yes, Plan B, C and D might be a wise idea for now.

Hey Irai,

So, someone who is in China on a different visa can't switch to Z visa without having to leave the country? I was under the impression that considering the current situation, switching visas within China was made easier for foreigners. If you know anything about it, please let me know    Thanks in advance

The rules have not changed because of COVID.  If you have a Z visa then you can switch to another Z visa (if you switch employers) but if you have any other type visa and you want to make that into a Z visa you can't inside of China.  So, if you are on a Student visa and now you want to work, sorry you must first leave China and go back to your country where you hold your passport, and process all the paperwork from there.  China has not made it easier.  They have been understanding due to COVID and extended tourist, student or other visas because of flight restrictions but you can't change the visa designation inside of China.  Are there exceptions...it happens, but the rules are pretty set in place.  Also, keep in mind not ALL provinces have the same rules (they should but they don't) so you need to check the rules specific to your province and even your city.