Thinking of relocating to China with Spouse Visa.

[zaithe]

I’m a programmer and my boss said it was fine if i wanted to work from China. My wife is Chinese and has a huge family in Sichuan. I visited Chengdu for a month in 2012 and loved it. I have a 2 month baby who is a US Citizen. My question is how plausible is this? I have heard people saying to educate my child there i would need to pay 100,000 rmb per year? Is there a cheaper option? How is the internet there? I connected to a Chengdu vpn and was able to download and upload files from my workplace very quickly through the great firewall using it. Also is it possible maybe i could get a spouse visa and just work from home? In that case should i still receive my funds using a US bank? I’m worried if i did that my US bank would shut down my account or stop letting me use ATMs in China. Also perhaps that could complicate things legally? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[aux]

I think if you’re young and single, China is a great option for 1-3 years but the pollution and food safety issues make it increasingly unappealing as time goes on.

With a young child it simply isn’t worth it – their health and well-being must be paramount.

[Merior]

Spouse visas (residence permits) are for those who are married to a Chinese national and are registered residents here. The concept is that they are intended for the purpose of visiting a Chinese relative. The internet can be a struggle at certain times of the year if you are going to rely on a VPN because some get over publicised in forums and end up being blocked for a few weeks. Yes you can transfer funds from the USA to a limit of 50,000 US$ p.a.(last time I looked) per person with a bank account here. Exceptions may be made if you are buying a property or funding a business as opposed to money laundering. I have used the HSBC in the UK to transfer funds to China over the last 10 years without problems and can do so just by pushing buttons on the internet. My address on the account is my home address in Chengdu. Establishing a bank account here is possible but internet banking appears to rely on software being installed on your PC and being able to read Chinese. Getting a debit card is also possible but credit cards are not available to foreigners so bring your own if you need to make international payments. I have had no problems with ATMs in China in branches of the HSBC but you will have a daily limit of about 2000 rmb at a guess. Can’t comment on the education of foreign children. Healthcare is another issue you should investigate. The postal service for packages and parcels from overseas is no longer reliable unless you use a courier.

[897934-884]

As far as your job and finances, I don’t think you’d run into too many problems. The VPN issue might be a headache from time to time, though I don’t use one, so I don’t really know.

Your biggest concern would be your baby, I suppose. Kindergarten seems to be the most costly concern for Chinese parents. After that, If you don’t mind sending your kid to a public primary school, the cost should be next to nothing (can anyone verify this?). If you require private/international schools and such, the costs will quickly skyrocket. I don’t think I’d subject a child of mine to the Chinese education system -at least after primary school.

If your wife has a huge family in Sichuan, I’d expect that your in-laws will get involved in every single decision you make about your child. Your family could be different, but that would be the exception not the rule.

Air quality, food safety…. what can I say other than they come with the territory? People make a big deal about food safety here, but I don’t really see many problems, especially compared with hormone and additive-laden foods found in American supermarkets. They have international supermarkets and organic shops here, too.

One other bit of advice. If you really decide to move here, start learning Chinese – as in yesterday. It will not only facilitate life here, but earn you more respect and also enrich your true understanding of China – not that anyone will ever complete that undertaking!

[zaithe]

Thanks, between this and Reddit i decided against living in Chengdu. Maybe i can get my own business started first then have the money and time occasionally to visit china for like a month or so every year instead.

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