FBI Report Authentication for use in China

You will be required to provide a “no criminal background check” authenticated by Chinese Embassy in the US for employment in China. Chinese local authority may or may not accept county level or state level background check, however, the FBI criminal history record (AKA FBI report) is widely accepted in China.

The FBI report needs to be authenticated by the US Department of State, then by the Chinese Embassy before it can used in China.

How to obtain the FBI report?

It’s actually quite simple. You may follow the steps below:

First of all, you will need to complete the applicant information form on FBI website.
https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks

Then you need to submit your fingerprints at participating U.S. Post Office locations or Express mail a completed fingerprint card along with a copy of your confirmation e-mail to FBI address in WV.  You may also contact with one of the FBI-Approved Channelers to see if they can accept your fingerprints electronically. 
https://bit.ly/33GMXZl

If you are already in China, please refer to the US Embassy website for information about local fingerprint services:
https://china.usembassy-china.org.cn/wp-content/uploads/sites/252/2017/05/Fingerprinting.pdf

Once the FBI receives your fingerprints, it only takes them 3-5 business days to generate the report. If you choose the digital version, you may download the report into PDF file once ready

What’s next?

There are 2 steps needed: the first is US Department of State authentication, the second is Chinese Embassy Authentication.

  • US Department of State authentication step takes about 2 months to complete.
  • Chinese Embassy authentication step takes another 3-6 weeks depending on the service level you choose.

We will cover both steps for you. The authenticated FBI report will be delivered to you by FedEx. In order for us to help you, please prepare your application according to the instruction below:

Item 1 – Authentication Application Form (G1)

Please fill out “Authentication Application Form (G1)” e-form version on your computer, print a hard copy.

FAQs:
Q: What should I fill in “Appendix and Copies of Notarization/ Legalization” section?
A: It simply means how many set of documents you need for authentication. If you only have 1 document, simply type in “1”. You will need to pay for each document that needs authentication.

Item 2 – Photocopy of Applicant’s Passport

  • Photocopy of applicant’s passport. Please make a clear photocopy of your passport. Do not shrink or enlarge the size.
  • Non-US passport holder needs to provide copy of legal US status such as US Permanent Residence Card copy or US student or residence visa copy.

Item 3 – Payment The authentication fees vary depending on service level

  • Regular Service (up to 20 weeks processing): US$278.00/per document
  • Express Service (12-16 weeks processing): US$338.00/per document
    Above fees include US Department of State fee, Chinese Embassy fee, VisaRite service fee and return shipping fee by FedEx.

Remarks:

  • Processing time means the time US Department of State and Chinese Embassy need to process your application and is based on business days. First day of receiving is not processing day. Weekend and holiday doesn’t count.

Forms of Payment:

  • You may also pay by credit card online or offline. Credit card payment is subject to 3.6% surcharge.
  • If you have paid online, please include a copy of payment confirmation with your application. Do not send in the credit card payment authorization form if you have paid online.
  • Return shipping fee included is for return addresses within the continental U.S. If your return address is in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Canada, please include an extra extended delivery area fee of $10.00 per order. If you need to ship back to other international address, additional fee and time is needed, please call for detail.

Item 4 – Complete Online Service Request Form

  • Please specify your service level and return address by submitting the service request form online.
  • Please provide email address and phone so that confirmation and status update can be sent to you during the process.

Send the Application to VisaRite Service

Send your application to us via email

  • The original FBI report downloaded from FBI website in PDF format.
  • One clearly and completely filled “Application Form for Authentication” e-form version in PDF format.
  • Scan copy of the applicant’s passport name page (complete page with name, photo, signature and barcode).
  • Service request form confirmation page.
  • Payment confirmation or credit card payment authorization form.

International Students & Their Return to China News

International students enrolled at universities in China, who are facing the possibility of being unable to return for a year, are becoming increasingly vocal about being allowed back to resume their studies.

Their recent actions have included collecting signatures for letters, producing an appeal video and inquiring with both Chinese consulates overseas and foreign consulates in China.

Hopes that overseas students can return before the end of the year are dimming, non-Chinese nationals from Britain, France, Russia, India and other 7 countries are temporarily banned from entry in response to the spike in COVID-19 cases in those counties.

Normally, China hosts almost 500,000 international students a year, but there have been no COVID-19 cases on any mainland Chinese campus since August — and it intends to keep things that way.

“I think the China is cautious because they don’t want to see imported infection cases, which would harm anti-COVID measures,” Ka Ho Mok, vice president and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Lingnan University Hong Kong, told Times Higher Education.

Mok, an expert in comparative higher education policy, urged patience. “As China is the first country in the globe to recover in terms of economic development, I think people and students in other parts of the globe would still be interested to study in China when the global health crisis is stable and national borders reopen,” he said.

However, the entry block is a pressing concern for students stuck midway through their studies.

A British chemist working toward her Ph.D. at a Chinese university told Times Higher Education that, like many international students, she left the country during the Lunar New Year holidays in January and has not been able to return.

“This [policy] led to some schools banning students from returning to China if they were abroad,” she said.

“I cannot complete my work remotely at all, as it is completely lab-based,” she said. “My Ph.D. will be suspended and delayed until I’m able to return; however, it will reduce my chances of completing my Ph.D. in the time limit, as some universities only allow enrollment for a maximum of five years.”

About 1,000 foreign students wrote in a bilingual Chinese-English appeal that “China is our second home, so of course we will keep China safe at any cost” and promised to adhere to the mandatory 14-day quarantine and other restrictions.

“We, as students, contribute to university budgets,” they wrote. “We are creating cutting-edge technologies that will hugely benefit China in the future, and some of us are even pursuing our own start-ups in China, too.”

The problem appears greatest for final-year students with pending clinical, lab or work-study assignments. If they cannot secure internships and placements soon, their applications for postgraduate work or jobs could be delayed by a full year. And that is not to mention the fact that many of these students are still paying for rent and tuition in China, while scholarship money has been cut.

Some of the frustration, it appears, stems from the feeling that rules have been unevenly applied. For example, foreign professors and businesspeople can enter China.

“Our work is essentially the same,” said the British Ph.D. candidate, who wished to remain unnamed. “I think using the severity of the pandemic is a weak excuse given to students if workers and businesspeople are able to return freely.”

She also noted that Chinese students could travel between overseas universities and home. “Many Chinese students have had planes chartered by U.K. universities, so to see that sort of treatment in contrast to students who chose to study in China and have been waiting indefinitely, it hurts a lot being ignored for so long.”

Similar situation is also in other countries.

About a quarter of foreign students enrolled in Australia are still in their home countries, with only a small number allowed back via pilot plans, while New Zealand is letting in only some postgraduates engaged in clinical or lab work.

Elsewhere across Asia-Pacific, though, doors are slowly reopening. Most international students are back on campus in Hong Kong and Singapore, while Taiwan lifted its ban on most overseas students in August. Even Japan, which was roundly criticized for its border controls, has allowed some entrants since October.

Source: Inside Highered

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/25/international-students-want-return-china