[mayank]

hello. I m Mayank (indian) from france. I am doing my internship in French railways. I planned to get merried to my chinese gf next year. She want me to live in china(specially in shanghain since she is shanghainese) but i prefer hong kong.
What are the visa procedures i should go through b4 coming there?
Is it possible to find a job in hong kong( for an Indian). I am a graduate with one year of experience in FRANCE.

Mayank

Are you sure about this? You do know that as a Shanghainese your gf may not speak the local language in Hong Kong (which is Cantonese). I am not sure it would be a good compromise at all.

What's wrong with Shanghai? There are many international companoies there now. Maybe you could get a job with one of them - particularly a French company (for example Alcatel has its Asia-Pac headquarters there).

[KnowItAll]

Hmmmm why do you prefer Hong Kong over Shanghai?

Tons of people from HK moving to Shanghai (many think its on a bubble... but Chinese bubbles last a lot longer than dotcom bubbles.)

If she's shanghainese, both of you will need visas to work in HK, which may not be easy, specially as you've just completed an internship.

Check out jobsdb and see where the best jobs are ....

[mayank]

Well thanks a lot for your replies , i do not know much about the visa rules. Can any one tell me if il need to have work permit to work in shanghai or i have the right to work if i marry a shanghainese. plzz let me know about the visa procedures if i marry my Gf.
one thing is sure i am not going to take the chinese nationality, i want to keep my india nationality but want to stay with her and work in china(shanghai,hong kong).
i prefer hong kong since the notion is that you cna live with english there.
I am indian and i speak english , and my french level is moderate. is it really possible to find a reasonable job with just an year of experience (internship)???? this is the point i am really worried.
plz give some opinion
mayank

[shri]

Visa's are easy to get if you get a decent job.

Best place to find out what the job market is like, is on http://www.jobsdb.com that will let you know whats available in your area of expertise.

Don't want to sound unhelpful.. but there are so many things that determine your marketability and its hard to tell what might be available or not.

[mayank]

some more things i wud like to know is about the visa rules!!
if i marry my gf do i have right to work in shanghai or ineed to to go through the same procedures as other job seekers???
plz guide
mayank

[shri]

You might be better of calling the Chinese embassy in your area -- China has some warped nationality and dependant rules.

[mayank]

Thanks,ill try calling the embassy here. I do not want chinese nationality but want to stay with my gf and work in shanghai(or hong kong).
Are there any indians who married chinese and are ataying there? do they find it easy to live in china?? i mean the culture.
is there any website which gives more idea about all this???
mayank

[shri]

Mayank,

Ok, I have to be a bit harsh but here's the deal...

You're getting married and moving. What is more important you being able to live in China or being able to live with someone anywhere on the planet?

Indian's have been doing business and marrying in Shanghai for the last 100 odd years, ever since the Parsis started doing business in these areas. Some of them survived and some did not... some did well and some did not. There is no magical formula that says Indians will do well in Shanghai if they do these things.

There are a ton of IT people, jewellers, traders and people of Indian origin in Shanghai. Now, just because they're Indian does not mean they'll be welcoming to you and want to help you and be sympathetic towards your origins...

The net is a good tool to do research, but it does not beat some real life talking to people... make your decision based around people you know in real life. Does your fiancee have a network which will support her and you when you move to China? Are you capable of living in an environment where you may not have any friends or not.

Do you get along with the other Chinese in your Uni? If you did not, forget about moving to China .. they're just going to be more of them and most are going to be more unsophisticated than the ones you met at Uni. How culturally adaptable are you? Will you be able to eat noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Or do you need your daal bhat every day?

Get your butt out of your chair and walk down to the Chinese embassy nearest to you and talk to them about the procedures and issues related to your marraige and your employment in China. They should have a Hong Kong "desk" which will be able to similarly help you with issues to both of you moving to Hong Kong.

[mayank]

well shri, thnx for the eye opening reply!!!!
For me the most important thing is to be with my gf and not the place. we thought shanghaij just coz she is from shanghai and she is only daughter of her parents( its china).
About being in chinese i have had some good and bad experiences in France. My good frnds are some chinese in university. some are very helpful and some are ready to cheat u from "go". I asked about i ndian marrying chinese coz for me i have not heard indians marrying chinese. its strange for me. now that u told there are lot of them I came to know.
she has already worked in shanghai for 4 yrs and i think it will not be a problem for us . we will have enough resources for the support.

mayank