Time, energy and life paths / Chapter 32
This section counts money and personal liberty. It does not discuss whether you should go abroad, and it does not compare schools. Not knowing the following will cost you: how a visa status stays unbroken, where the cap on work hours is, which insurance and fees you must pay, and whether the diploma will be recognized after you return.
It covers the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, with the figures listed country by country. The sources are official pages from each country's immigration authority and China's Ministry of Education. Study-abroad rules in these countries change often, more often than regulations in China. Every figure in this section is current as of September (9) 2026. Before you leave, and before each renewal, check again yourself using the links in the Sources line.
How to find an embassy or consulate if something happens while you are abroad, what 12308 can cover, and how to buy overseas medical and evacuation insurance are in section 21. The account of studying versus working is in section 23. Stolen accounts are in section 14. Telecom fraud is in section 8. Those are not repeated here.
If you need this diploma back in China for further study, a job, or an exam, you can apply to the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange for certification. …
The U.S. originally planned to change F-1 rules so that students could stay for a maximum of four years, with only 30 days allowed to leave after finishing their studies. …
All four countries cap the hours a student visa lets you work. Going over the cap breaks the visa conditions. During term, the United States is 20 hours a week. …
Whether you can work depends on whether you are in full-time study right now. The moment you take a leave, withdraw, get expelled, or are not in class during a transfer, the right to work is gone on the spot. …
If you change where you live in the United States, the law requires you to tell the immigration authority within 10 days. Not reporting it is not a small matter. First, it is itself against the law. …
The Ministry of Education issues specific warnings for certain countries or regions when recent safety conditions or policies there appear unfavorable to Chinese students. …
Australia wrote student health insurance into the visa conditions. It is not something you may or may not buy. The cover has to last the whole stay. When you renew and switch policies, there must be no gap in the middle. …
The amount you pay to go to the UK isn’t limited to just the visa fee. You also have to prepay the healthcare surcharge based on the length of your visa, which is required to access the UK’s National Health Service. …
To use a foreign qualification back in China, you first need the degree and diploma certified. The review alone takes 10 to 20 working days. Time to prepare the papers is on top of that. …
The center names some foreign institutions for a separate, tighter review of their degree certification, and it also stops taking certification applications for particular schools. …
OPT (Optional Practical Training) is the permission the United States gives F-1 students to do practical work after graduation. During this period your status rests on having work. …
To study in Canada, most people must submit a provincial attestation letter together with the study-permit application. The letter shows you were given a study place in that province. You cannot file it later. …
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