Calling all teachers from any nation currently applying for their visa to Teach English in China. As of August 2016 the Chinese authorities have altered the system of the invitation letters. A crucial requirement of being successfully issued a working Chinese Z visa. If you are applying for a Chinese visa this summer you could get your application rejected and returned to you for a seemingly unknown reason due to these recent changes. This is a quick article to explain what has changed and how to handle it.

The issue lies with the location of the embassy or consulate that you apply for the visa and the corresponding address on the invitation letter. Until a week ago, all invitation letters named the location to get your visa as the country of your residence. For example, British teachers were all issued invitation letters stating the UK as their location. In this case, the letters state that you should use your invitation letter to apply at ‘your nearest consulate or embassy’.

However, as of last week, the letters now state a specific embassy or consulate that invites you to China and this means that you need to use this specific consulate to apply for and process your visa. Simple enough up to now.

The complicated part is what about all those teachers who have been given invitation letters under the old system of mentioning the country but are now applying under the newly introduced new rules. Can they still apply to ‘their nearest embassy’? The answer is no.

In the case that you have an older invitation letter issued under the old system the rule is that you are required to use the primary embassy/consulate of that nation. For example, in the U.K, this is London. Sending your application to one of the other embassies will result in your application being rejected. For this reason I would recommend if in doubt, send to the main embassy of your country. For more information on the visa process you can check our teaching english in China application process page on our Noon Elite Recruitment parent site.

Interested in working in China and want to find out more? Our UK agency ensures that schools are up to top standard and provides an additional layer of protection and reassurance when negotiating issues with your Chinese school. To find out the latest vetted and quality assessed top providers in China check out nooneliterecruitment.com/teach-english-in-china.