The Visa Saga

The Chinese government has recently been increasing the scrutiny of both foreign teachers and NGOs, especially those with significant amounts of foreign donations (including, as is the case for Teach for China, money from Hong Kong). In particular, this winter they changed the regulation of visas such that foreign teachers should be on work visas, even if they are volunteering. The reason I'm still here is that non-profits can still bring in volunteers on F visas, but only for 3 months at a time.  The problem with work visas is that they have various other requirements on the applicant (including 2 years of teaching experience for teachers), the organization (TFC), and the direct employer (our schools). Of course, our schools all being rural schools, are not licensed to hire foreigners and so we are unable to obtain work visas.

In light of this, TFC announced in February that they are cancelling the incoming cohort of foreign fellows but will do everything possible to help up finish out our 2-year fellowship. This caused concern among the fellows for obvious reasons. Most simply, it meant no new American fellows, and thus no additional company for those of us without American cofellows or with only second-year American fellows who will be leaving at the end of the year. Although Chinese cofellows are great, it's nice to have someone to simply speak English to or sympathize with over cultural differences.

Although we have the support of the regional governments, our ability to renew our visas inside the country--as was done in past years and even last semester-- is also extremely limited now. This means that more frequent visa trips are needed. Many of us are on 90 day visas with two entries, so we can stay for stretches of 90 days only and are then required to leave the country before returning. (The only good thing about having to leave the country is that I get to visit a friend in Laos this weekend!) After two stays of 90 days we then have to reapply for visas.

Over winter break many fellows applied for visas in Hong Kong, Thailand, and other Asian countries. They could not obtain the correct visa, but only tourist visas. They have since obtained the correct visas, but this means every 180 days each fellow must return to the US to apply for a new visa. And of course, US consulates might deny us at any point. Many fellows have been worried that we will return to the US for the summer and not be granted visas to return next year. Or that they'll continue to decrease the duration of the visas. Trips to the US every 90 or 60 days would not be sustainable.

One of the main issues with more frequent visa trips is that the logistics are complicated. We often have to miss school, we either have to ask TFC to book our tickets (which requires multiple people's approval and has been taking several weeks to happen), or we have to book it ourselves and be reimbursed. The problem with getting reimbursed, though, is that in China you need to use fapiao (a special kind of receipt that is stamped and that you can only sometimes get), and most fellows have to book using their American credit card and are then reimbursed in Chinese cash. Dealing with Chinese staff for all this also brings up certain cultural differences such as not understanding why we would want to schedule our trips more than a few days ahead of time!

At our professional development conference in March we were told that the US staff would be assisting in coordinating visa logistics. For a short time visa things were moving more smoothly. And after the initial panicking as fellows tried to figure out what they'd do next year if they can't come back to China with TFC next year, most decided to stick it out. Then we were told two weeks ago that due to the seriousness of the visa situation we will not be recruiting new fellows next year either, and since that is the main job of the US staff, they are being let go in early May. That meant visas would again be managed by Chinese staff.

This left one American, the VP of the US program, helping coordinate with Chinese staff and US fellows. We received an email yesterday that she too will be leaving the organization. The hope is that a staff based entirely in China will be better able support fellows and coordinate between different parts of the organization. But it's unclear who they will hire to support us. They've already had major trouble filling other positions in the organization, from our direct managers up to regional managers. And even when they fill a position, the turnover is high and there doesn't seem to be much building of institutional memory.

In other words, we're being supported less and less and the legality of our situation is questionable. Needless to say many fellows--including myself--are considering whether we should stay next year or not. TFC has admitted that the current situation does release us from our obligation, but they have been urging us in every email to stay. It's possibly the hardest decision I've ever faced.

For another, far snappier and wittier version of the situation and dilemma facing us, take a look at a friend's blog post.