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China Internships Now Illegal For Expats & Foreign Graduates

My partner and I argue a lot about the pros and cons of living and working in China. My partner also lives at Wall Street Oasis and sent me this tidbit of news which I just read with my breakfast:

"I was talking with my immigration lawyer in Shanghai yesterday about sponsoring my spouse and family in China and was shocked when he told me that since 2013, China internships are illegal for foreigners UNLESS you have a special certification letter from the Chinese government and you take that letter with you when you apply for a visa.He gave me these two links to read and told me that last year he represented over 40 expat interns who got arrested as "illegal migrant workers" and were sent home with felony convictions after paying a $2,000 fine. Anyway, here are the two links he gave me about the new China visa law so if you are going to do a China internship, make sure you get the certification letter from the Chinese consulate or embassy in your homeland BEFORE you land in China."...
...

After reading the links, I don't know if this is good news or bad news. Since I came to China on an internship myself, I thought at first it might be bad news. But after I read the second link, I think it is good news after all, since they are just trying to eliminate all the scam operators in my opinion. Think about it, if you have to go get an interview and a "certification letter" that means the Chinese government is really saying to you "Your sponsor is legit so you can go to China." If they turn you down then they may actually be saving you from being swindled like I was. What do you think?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1

Vagabond Vicky

I for one am glad that finally some regulating of the China internships is taking place. It will hopefully stop companies like this one from ripping off students who have very little money to lose. http://scam-detector.com/forums/forum/employment-scams/366-gi2c-org-and-other-china-internship-scams-exposed-by-former-u-k-employee

Reply 2

TechnoHead

China have absolutely mocked us, maybe it's time to send over a little present in the shape of a bomb :wink:

Reply 3

Galaxian

What's that saying? "You don't throw out the baby with the bath water!" You can still get a real Fortune 500 Company internship in China for free but you may have to compete with a dozen others for the spot. See these links for details: http://chinainternshipreviews.wordpress.com, and http://freechinainternships.blogspot.co.uk

Reply 4

Snoring Bear

For some reason I can't get one of the OP's links to open but I found two other legal sources that say the same thing;

http://www.balglobal.com/News/NewsDetail/tabid/266/id/3105/language/en-US/CHINA--China-Eliminates-Internship-and-Training-Visas-for-Most-Foreign-Students.aspx

http://lawandborder.com/faq-new-china-visa-law/

Bottom line: Nobody who already graduated is going to get a China internship without breaking the law and lying on their visa application. That is not worth a jail sentence or felony conviction stain IMO.