How do foreign children study in China ? How do they prepare the documents?

According to China's "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Doing a Good Job in Related Work of Schools for Children of Foreign Personnel", the enrollment targets of schools for children of foreign personnel are "foreign accompanying children of legally residing foreigners".

The phrase "legally residing foreigners of school age" of course includes the two essential conditions of a foreign passport and a Chinese visa. This is clearly stipulated on the official website of the education department in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. However, in the past, due to the lack of strong enforcement, some foreign children could enter school with just a passport or foreign permanent residency .

This sudden "change" has caught many families off guard in terms of preparing materials. They need to understand clearly what materials are needed for their children's enrollment to avoid problems such as their children being unable to enroll in school in a timely manner due to missing materials.

Choose a school

Purely foreign schools, international schools, and public schools .

Foreign children studying in China can choose to attend purely foreign schools, international schools, or public schools.

Purely foreign schools

Purely foreign schools study foreign courses simultaneously, which means that although students are in China, they receive a completely foreign education and are synchronized with foreign education content .

Purely foreign schools basically have foreign teachers and foreign students, and have a good English learning environment and an international atmosphere .

Private bilingual international schools

Private bilingual international schools adopt bilingual teaching, accepting a combination of institutionalized and foreign courses, so that children have more diverse learning options. Generally, they enroll both Chinese and foreign students.

Public Schools

In accordance with the principle of "admission without examination and enrollment based on school districts", public schools will first arrange for school-age children and adolescents whose Chinese household registration address and actual place of residence are consistent to attend school nearby.

What materials are needed to enroll in these colleges ?

Purely foreign schools, international schools

Purely foreign schools and international schools require parents’ work visas + children’s visas

For foreign students, most of them choose purely foreign international schools. In recent years, purely foreign schools have become more and more strict in their requirements and examinations on student identities. Students must have foreign nationality (China does not recognize dual nationality).

This means that when applying, you generally need to provide a foreign passport + a valid Chinese visa (non-tourist visa) + an entry and exit stamp; there are also requirements for the identity of the parents, one of the parents must be a foreigner and hold a work visa.

In some cities, students with a visa can attend public schools

Foreign children who enter China with a Chinese visa can also attend public schools and study in public schools that accept foreign children. Some city education committees stipulate that "foreign students refer to primary and secondary school-age students who come to China to study with a foreign ordinary passport and the children of foreigners who live in Beijing."

In terms of the specific implementation of the policy, each city and district has more specific requirements. For example, Chaoyang District in Beijing requires students to hold a foreign passport and a People's Republic of China entry visa, and their actual place of residence is in Chaoyang District. Foreign children in Beijing can also rent a house to go to school.

To sum up, if foreign students want to study in the country, they need to prepare:

1. Notarization of overseas birth certificate

2. Parents’ work residence permit

3. Valid visa and passport of the child

4. Other materials required by other schools, etc.