Hi everyone...
Please could you give me some advice. I am currently living and working in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province for a large language school organization. I will complete my contract at the end of September and I was offered a position within the same group in a different province, but have had just had the offer withdrawn as I do not have a degree and they will not be able to get me a z visa.
My current z visa expires in March 2007, but my current school wants to cancel my z visa and give me a tourist visa when I leave. If they do this the new school will not be able to apply for a new z visa.

I found an earlier post on this forum where it was said that the school should ONLY cancel my "work permit" (the red book) and leave the visa with me. They originally paid for the visa, but if I offer to pay back the money for the cost of the visa - can they still cancel it.

Is there anyone who can offer some kind of clarity on this, as I was really looking forward to taking up the new post.

Any advice gratefully received.

They can only cancel your visa if they have your passport and the same goes for the work permit. If you have the work permit yourself there's nothing they can do.

Have the new school apply for a new work permit, this might actually end up with an extension of the old one if you're lucky, but be quick!!

Don't give them your passport and there is nothing they can do. Once you have the visa, it is yours until it expires. If you move to a different city though then it doesn't matter much as they have to do the whole process over. If you stay in the same city they can just take over your Z and change it to the new company. Do remember to get a release letter from them or you might have problems later.
Also, even if they give you an L, you can come to Shanghai or another major city and have a visa company take care of your situation.