Charlie's Angel

I seem to be getting more and more teachers contacting me through the TES.

Dear Simon,
.

I messaged you recently on the TES forum regarding moving to Shenzhen and you were kind enough to give me your email address. I am Charlyrainbow23

I am trying to apply for the visa and I am finding it difficult to get clarification on a few points and wondered if you could help. Firstly, I have to obtaining a non-criminal record certificate for the last 12 months, would a basic DBS suffice? We've only been in Tanzania since last August and HR say I have to get one from the UK.

Thanks, 

Charlotte  

Here is my reply. 

Dear Charlotte, 

I am always glad to be of help. Please remember that my advice is just that: advice. I am by no means infallible and sometimes I am not 100% up-to-date! 

Firstly, yes, I would try to get something from Tanzania. Go along to your local copshop in Dar or Arusha or wherever you are and get an official-looking document from the police. It should not cost much. It is just a sort of letter, saying that you have not been a naughty girl in Tanzania (well, maybe not yet!) Make sure that it has an impressive-looking stamp (or two) on it. Chinese officials always like impressive-looking official stamps. Maybe you could take it to the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania and then they could translate it into Mandarin and then they could put some more stamps on it. If you were to argue that getting the Tanzanian Police certificate and the translation into Mandarin was awkward, expensive and time-consuming, then maybe your school's HR people will not insist that you also need to get a DBS from the UK. 

My understanding is that in order to get a DBS certificate from the Police in the UK, you have to be living in the UK. Therefore you will not be able to get one if you are already registered as being "non-resident" with the UK tax people, the HMRC. If you have not registered as being non-resident in the UK, then getting a DBS should not be too much of a problem. Really, I would advise you to get something in Tanzania AND from the UK as well, if you possibly can.

As I understand it, it is in fact illegal to apply for a DBS if you are officially "non-resident".

I am not quite sure how much a DBS will cost or how long it will take. No doubt there is a website somewhere that will explain these things. Of course, it is quite possible that you will have to return to the UK in order to apply for your DBS. Will they need your passport or just a copy of it? Again, this is something that you need to check online.

Your e-mail does not make it 100% clear why you need to have a DBS. Is it something that the school has you asked for or is it something that is necessary for your Chinese Z visa? Or is it both? If it is something that the school has asked you for, then I would tell them to wait a bit because you need to get your Chinese Z visa sorted out first and in any case you are in Tanzania at the moment and so it is just a teeny bit difficult. (If you do not get your visa, Chinese then you will not be able to get onto the plane anyway!) I would also double-check with the school's HR people and ask them to be absolutely clear about whether or not a certificate or an official-looking document from the Police in Tanzania would be enough. In many ways, getting the document from a Police station in Tanzania would be much easier and quicker. Getting a DBS from the UK might perhaps be difficult, time-consuming, expensive and / or impossible! If the school's HR people say that you definitely MUST get a DBS from the UK, then you need to be careful about keeping all of the receipts and the bills for any expenses relating to the getting of it. For example, you might have to send things by DHL to the UK. Maybe the school will eventually refund to you the cost of the DBS and / or the Tanzanian police certificate. If it is the school that requires the DBS for their own records, rather than for your Chinese visa, then maybe you will be returning to the UK in June or July of next year and then you could get it sorted out before you leave for China. But doing a DBS "long distance" from Tanzania might be a bit awkward.

I wish that I could be of more help. I never had a DBS from the UK when I applied for a job at Green Oasis School in Shenzhen. I had a reference from my previous school in Qatar, plus a Police certificate from the cops in Doha.

Just in case you have not realized it yet, the whole business of getting a Chinese visa and / or a teaching job in China can be frustrating, time-consuming, annoying and confusing. That is the bad news. The good news is that you will not have to go through all of these silly hoops again next year or the year after that. Just the once. And remember that Chinese students are adorable and lovely and respectful and hard-working (well, most of the time). 

Have I already sent you these photos? Apologies if I have. 

Best wishes from Bulgaria,

Simon 

Hi Simon,

Thank you so much for your reply. The photos are great! Looks like you had a wonderful experience. Thank you for sharing these. 

I have actually applied online to get a DBS and managed to get one very quickly! HR recommended I get a non-criminal record check from the UK as they couldn’t accept one from TZ as it had to be within the last 12 months! I assumed a DBS would be okay and I have asked them if it will suffice (fingers crossed). I’m thinking I can get a friend from Edinburgh to get my degree authenticated at the CE there as I’m assuming it doesn’t have to be a solicitor. 

I’ll check on the other stuff regarding costs with them but they aren’t great at communicating! 

Anyway, this is a pain but we’ll get it sorted bit by bit.

Thanks again for taking the trouble to write back to me. If there’s anything else that maybe useful to know, please drop us an email. Have a great weekend.

Best regards 

Charlotte