Ruth
SuperDuperMegaBarfly 
God's provisions are strategically placed along the path of your obedience.
Posts: 3,915
|
Post by Ruth on Aug 28, 2004 8:07:11 GMT 7
A couple of weeks before our trip, the party secretary took our passports to some magic place. He returned them the same day with a new piece of paper glued in that said we could re-enter China, before Aug. 31st. My visa still expires sometime in Nov - a year from when it was issued. He didn't ask for money.
|
|
|
|
Post by slim on Aug 29, 2004 23:12:42 GMT 7
Returned to Hong Kong with only a few hours of my Z visa remaining, spent the evening in a bar watching football, slept in a cheap & cheerful hotel on Nathan Road.
Next day, now visa-less, applied for an L visa. An employee at CTS noticed that my old visa was a work visa and asked if I was still working. "No", I replied. The assistant then asked me to add a note to my visa application form...
I have finished working.
Signed: S Pickens
I offered the assistant my release letter, she glanced at it and photocopied it. Several hours later I had an L visa in my passport and was heading back to Lo Wu.
Maybe the release letter helped the process, but I still sometimes wonder if its significance is overblown a bit by us FTs. What I mean is, yes, it's important to have one, but at the same time my Z visa was produced by a school in Sichuan, whereas my release letter was from a school in Zhejiang. What does that tell you?
|
|
Steve
Upstanding Citizen
Posts: 63
|
Post by Steve on Aug 30, 2004 8:16:01 GMT 7
The term 'release letter' gets used a lot, but it really only applies when you want to break a contract and apply for a new Z-visa at a different school. Think about it: How can you be 'released' from a contract that you finish?!  But an increasingly important document for visas, etc. is the 'proof letter'. This is simply a letter from the school saying that the FT worked for them and finished the contract in good standing. It's a good idea to get one regardless of the cirstumances. The letter must be signed by the FAO and chopped, and in my case, came in extremely handy to apply for a new school in summer, even after my first contract was done. Steve |
|
bill
Up And Coming
Posts: 38
|
Post by bill on Jul 6, 2005 12:18:50 GMT 7
Last year everything went smooth.
I'll let everyone know how it goes this time.
Beers,
Bill
|
|
