You might also like:Stories Shared by the Chinese Green Card Holder/Applicant How to Get Certificates of No Criminal Record in China In today’s article, let’s share a short story just happened in our legal group last week.To be honest, the following question is pretty common in our groups:“Hey guys, my current employer doesn't want to let me go, she's keeping my documents (Degree, TEFL, police clearance) and threatening to cancel my work permit. How do I go about retrieving back my documents from them, what steps should I follow?I just got the city on the 17th of July, and I haven't started working because they want to transfer me to another school, which I was okay with it. But as soon as I asked for my documents back — since she took them to "apply for my permit" —she's now threatening to cancel my documents.My contract started on the 1st of July but I've been here doing nothing and not being provided any minimum wage but just threats all the time. What should I do now? " Asked by a new comer in the group.Sometimes, it may take a while for people to respond, as all are busy with work/family life. But this time, he is lucky enough for being replied right away by one of the active members. (I believe we can call them volunteers, as they are always active in our groups, and do their best to try to help people by answering the questions or share their experiences, and they ask nothing for return.)The volunteer answered: “Well one thing is for sure - if she cancels your work permit then she will have to let you go. The only difference is that you want to be moved on to a stay permit to begin transfer to another school.”He continued to ask:"1. Have you actually got the work permit?2. What about residence permit?3. Are you quitting after a few days/week ?4. Have they just paid for your visa?5. Where are they moving you, across the street or a totally new location?6. In terms of minimum wage.. have you actually worked a month yet? Which city are you in? "“I haven't seen the work permit, just the residence permit on my passport. I paid for my visa and they're moving me to a different city. I haven't started working because when I got here they said the principal doesn't want to hire teachers (from certain country) anymore so I'll be transferring to a different city but since then nothing has been done I've just been sitting here waiting and whenever I ask she threatens me. I am in Jinan”. The new comer replied.The volunteer continued:“So are you employed by the agency or the school?when they move you to another city, are they going to renew your permit?have they just made your permit in Jinan and said its fine?”New comer didn’t reply directly but he said:”now I know better I've been threatened too many times by her”.The volunteer offered his suggestions as below:“1. Go to the Public Security Bureau by yourself and ask them to check the registration on your visa. If they have registered you with the school then its ok but if not tell them an agent is trying to illegally register you.2. Before doing this, try to locate another job elsewhere in China so you have your backup card. You will need to give the Public Security Bureau your agent’s details and they might call her.3. Ignore the threats, the point is that the Public Security Bureau should know your paperwork is being held and you need to tell them that you want to stop the agent applying for illegal permits and you want to cancel it yourself to make a stay permit.4. You need to frame the story correctly, so the police will act to support you.5. As you will only have 30 days on the stay permit to transfer to a new job, you need to hurry up! Go today before 12:00 as they have lunch break 12-2:30.” （It was 10:10 am as he said that.）“One last thing, ignore the threats. Agents are school bullies and they can’t do anything no matter how scary they pretend to be. Good luck! ”He added.The new comer come back later that night at 8:30 pm and shared the feedback: “Hey guys, I went to the entry and exit bureau, they called the police and the principal. Overall the school agreed to let me go, cancel and give back my documents. Thank you so so much!”Well, happy ending, and that’s the purpose of our groups. Want to join us? 👇👇