- Unprofessional communications
- Lack of transparency and honesty
INTRO
The combination of the above is what essentially prevented me from ever getting to China. After signing the contract, a 'Foreign Affairs Specialist' will be assigned to you as your point of contact with the company, who will in theory help you with the visa application process and ultimately get you to China. Any previous points of contact are effectively removed as control of communications is relinquished to one person.
It must be noted of course that the Covid-19 pandemic played a significant part in preventing one getting to China, mainly due to the closing of embassies. The unpredictability and changeability of the Covid situation and the detrimental effects it has on visa applications are of course understandable. However, the complete lack of honesty and transparency, coupled with poor communication during this already uncertain time when teachers are in most need of effective communication, is not acceptable.
However, with these problems being facilitated by Beile's current management and HR structure and delegation system, I can say with confidence that these problems, would make one hard-pressed to get anywhere even without the pandemic...
COMMUNICATIONS...
To be fair, the initial emails I received with steps and instructions about the visa process were very clear and straightforward. Communications deteriorated from this point onwards however, when I started the application process in August after graduating and receiving my degree certificate.
My emails were 'ghosted' for weeks, and when I did eventually receive replies, they would be vague and not actually answer my questions about documents for the visa process (always ask questions on the phone or video call if you can). In fairness, some of my questions may have been quite technical, as I obtained my degree abroad, adding a further level of complexity to the notarization and legislation process. However, HR should be equipped with a thorough knowledge and understanding to help foreign teachers with these types of complexities - it is after all their responsibility.
Eventually, through a combination of trial and error and working with the information I had been given, I was able to legalize my documents at the Chinese embassy and post them to Beile (Mid- October by this point - 3.5 months after I started the process.) Had communications been smoother, this probably would have been completed by mid-September, maybe earlier.
Overall, they seemed completely oblivious that I put my teaching career in their hands and therefore wished to complete the VISA application ASAP.
PU LETTERS...
So, after finally posting the documents to China, that is everything done from your side until you receive a work permit application AND a government invitation (PU) letter because of Covid-19 ( only issued to very specific and key individuals unless the school has a special agreement with the government). However, I was not told this UNTIL I posted the documents and was waiting for what I though would only be a work permit letter.
Over the following months, I was then strung along with promises that they were about to finish obtaining the PU Letter for me, over the same sporadic and vague WhatsApp messages ("hey next week we'll have the PU letter for you!")etc. I didn't here back for 1.5 months...(mid-December).
Granted, with a little due diligence one could have discovered the PU Letter requirement. However, being such a pivotal requirement, it should be made abundantly clear to prospective teachers BEFORE they apply. They claim they can obtain PU Letters for foreign teachers but this is simply not true.
NO WARNING THAT DOCUMENTS ARE NOT RETURNED...
Aside wasting a year since accepting the offer and over £1000 on the visa application process, which all amounted to nothing, perhaps the worse part is that I was unable to get my documents back. The new school whom I'd accepted an offer from (which was infinitely more transparent and straight-forward in their communications with me) kindly offered to enquire with Belie about my documents.
It turns out that the Beijing government DOES NOT RETURN DOCUMENTS to teachers, so keep this in mind before sending them. This should be made abundantly clear BEFORE teachers post their documents. I received no warning, however, and it essentially prevents one from even joining another school without going through the entire costly legislation process again.
When I enquired about this with my Foreign Affairs Specialist, I was rather unsympathetically told that I would simply have to re-do the legislation process if I wanted to join another school - indicating absolutely zero awareness that grads like myself do not have bags of time and money to spend on visa applications...
SUMMARY
To be clear, the negative experience and frustration lies with the complete absence of honesty and transparency as opposed to the not being able to bring me over itself. The unpredictability of Covid and therefore difficulty of bringing teachers over is of course completely understandable. Lying to teachers by saying you can obtain a PU letter and bring them over when you clearly can't, is not...
The outcome of my documents really was the 'icing on the cake' in revealing
the Beile's total lack of transparency, indicating that foreign teacher's money, time, and careers are not taken seriously at all.
