Answered by JC from USA | Jun. 13, 2014 01:58
Sounds sketchy to me for sure. You should seriously think about this before going--I'd say there's a decent chance you'll get burned. I've been living in China for almost four years now and been through numerous processes and I've never heard anything like what you were told.
Granted, I'm not in Zhejiang, but this all still sounds fishy to me: first, if they expect you to teach English when you arrive (before going to HK for the Z), that's illegal. You're not allowed to work with an L. Secondly, at last check, you will not be able to go to HK to get the Z--you'd have to return to the US to apply. Someone else who knows more can chime in if I'm wrong, but I looked into doing this myself a few months ago. Americans can only get a Z in HK if they are resident aliens in HK. I'm assuming you aren't.
I don't know anything about Hongmei Education, but I'd guess they're just like any of the thousands of other English education/tutoring centers in China. They're a business, selling English as a product and they're desperate to have more teachers, even if it means lowering standards and blatantly breaking the law. I recently spent 1.5 years working for such a company there. Almost no one had a Z--most had Student X type or other kinds that are illegal to use while working.
I doubt it's a scam--they're not malicious--but it sounds similar to what I've heard about many times, often from personal acquaintances: companies bring foreigners over to China on a hope and a prayer that they can find some way to get around your lack of proper type. If it works out, you get to stay. If the school can't make it work, you're stuck paying the price when you have to fly back to the US. And that's assuming you haven't overstayed your L while waiting for the school to figure out how to keep you there.
IMO, any legitimate company or school that truly is interested in your success as a teacher in China will get you the Z before you come to China.
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