The Story
I lost my Chinese Passport
I will be able to apply for my new passport again
Hopefully, I can get my new passport
During the half year, I made at least 30 phone calls, visited about 4 police offices, paid for the advertisement on the Wen Hui Daily and waited for three months to be able to reapply a passport.
At last, I am very tired and frustrated.
The Rules
The following are the rules I learnt from my experience to replace a passport in China. I didn’t know about it before I lost my passport.
- After losing an passport, the passport holder need to go the nearest police station to claim the lose of passport
- The passport holder need to publish an advertisement on national wide news paper about the lose.
- The holder can only apply a new passport after three months of the publish of the advertisement.
- A new passport will be issued in two weeks after the holder reapply.
I Lost My Passport
At the beginning of November 2002, I attended a conference in Hong Qiao Guest Hotel. The event was wonderful except that I lost my black V-ONE jacket with my passport in the pocket. I didn’t realize it be the beginning of the big trouble.
Looking for the Right police to Claim
I called the yellow page 114 to get the telephone number of the police station. I asked the operator to transfer me to the right police station. I was told that I could claim the lose at ANY police station. Well. It sounded good. I went to the Yan An East Road Station (near He Nan Middle Road) which was just below the building I worked in.
They simply didn’t want to continue to hear about what I had to tell them after they got aware that I worked in the nearby building – they said it was the Nan Jing East Road police station that oversaw the area.
I rushed to the Nan Jing East Road Station and asked to claim. This time, I wasn’t rejected. They told me to wait there for the policeman in charge of this came back after lunch. I waited and waited in the dark room only to hear the man tell me that I didn’t lose the passport in his area and I needed to go to the police station where my Hukou resided in. Hukou is the documentation about me – the mysterious documents that only the employers can see while I can never see in my life….
I clearly know my Hukou was located at #900, Yan An West Road. However, the staff in the police stations obviously didn’t know their business. I called the operator to transferr me to one police station, which always told me that they were not the right one. Sometimes they provided a pointer to another one which claim not responsible for the magic place where my Hukou resides. Did I wrote a wired complicated sentense with many clauses? The real situation was more wired if you count the times when they gave the wrong telephone numbers.
With everyone’s kind help, I finally successfully went throught the following police station (with no particular order – if they request for credit for what they did). It may be a complete list of the stations in that area.
Xian Xia Road Police Station
Jing Ning Road Police Station
Pa Yu Road police Station
Xin Hua Road police Station
Hong Qiao Road police Station
Even the operator of Xuhui police could recognize my voice at last and was very angry with me. She didn’t want me to bother her any more. I was even more anger than she was.
Found the Right Police Station
Finally, I quitted asking the human being in the stations. I looked up the laws and regulations and found by regulations, I need to report to the nearest police station that was in charge of the area where I lost my passport. I couldn’t be wrong this time. So I called Xian Xiao Road Police Station, with the document in my hand. I thought I can defense and claim I didn’t want to be transferred any more with the regulation. By the regulation, they should help me to claim.
Things went smoother than I expected. The policeman accepted my claim request happily and said, “Yes. You are at the right place. Why didn’t you call us earlier?” Well. “Why didn’t I call earlier?” I have to say, my knowledge of the police system was not good enough and I believed what the operator had said at the very beginning. I shouldn’t trust anyone on telephone, especially those from police stations.. :-(
Finally, I found I was too early to relax. He asked me to bring the safeguard in the Hong Qiao Guest House to the police station to be the witness. I asked “How can it be possible? I didn’t remember the name of the safeguard.” I did inform the safeguard in the hotel immediately after I found my passport was lost, but did my statement not valid enough to proof my passport got lost? The policeman was very professional. The answer was the same no matter how I explained: “No witness, no claim”.
I called Hong Qiao Guest Hotel. They just newly upgraded to a five-star hotel. It was still the hotel operated by the government for the state guests. Not surprisingly, they asked the name of the safeguard who witnessed and then refused to provide any evidence. His answer sounded reasonable: “How can I know whether you lost your passport or not?”
Till then, it seemed to be the deadlock. One side asked for witness and the other side won’t provide it. I happened to travel frequently after that and didn’t have time to give them a daily call to discuss this issue. The policeman obviously didn’t want to talk with me too. I just gave up my attempt until I realized doing nothing would not solve the problem three months later.
I Lied, Therefore I Succeeded
Finally, suggested by my experienced friend, I rushed into the Pan Yu Road Police Station on one Wednesday noon. The police station was located on the quiet road near the back door of Jiao Tong University.
I saw a lady in behind the thick glasses. I told her that I want to claim the lose of passport. She asked me to wait until 1:30 PM. That was 1 hours later. The reason was, it is the noon break time and they don’t accept any application. I continuously asked her to do me a favor since everybody was in the room and why I need to wait so long… The 10 minutes noise I made worked and she accepted my request – actually, she had nothing to do at that time except chatting with others. The topic seemed not interesting enough for her to ignore me.
When she asked where I lost my passport and when, I answered as I have repaired: I just lost the passport near the police station, just at the gate of the Jiao Tong University yesterday. I found myself a gifted liar that even I believed that I lost it yesterday.
Before she tend to reject my claim request, I insisted that there is no witness and no proof – “I was….”, I thought hard, “alone and wandering on the road…”. It was not easy to make a story just-in-time. “Â…and suddenly found my passport went away…..”
It worked like a charm. The angel of mine quickly wrote on a piece of paper and stamps her powerful stamp. In 30 seconds, my Lose of Passport Claim was ready.
Why I Have to Lie to Keep the Ball Rolling?
I felt sad that the system in the society made thing to be so hard if people insist to be honest. There were so many stamps I needed to get and any one can stop you and say: “Hey, look. You need to get the stamp from this department before I can give you mine…”
I just read about a true story that happened in the middle east. The title of the article was Don’t Want To Be A Chinese From Now On. It was firstly posted on Zaobao.com and was widely quoted and discussed. The story was about a young Chinese mother who married an Indian. She insisted to register her son as Chinese citizen although her husband didn’t agree at the beginning. When they went to the China Embassy, they asked her to provide a lot of documents, including the proof that she didn’t owe money from her former employer, the non-criminal record certificate and the agreement from the Foreign Affair Administration of her home town….
After traveling between China and India for many times, she still could not get the document and stamps needed. Finally her India husband got so angery and shouted to everyone in the Embassy. Then he easily got the application form. This time, it was the mother who refused to sign the application. She was so heart broken and applied India passport for her son. The passport was ready in three days.
Soooo….. sad…… to know this.
Publishing the Advertisement
Let me get back to my story. After getting the Lose Claim, things became easier. According to the regulation of Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration, I need to publish an advertisement on the national wide news papers claiming the lose.
I was suggested to go to the People’s Daily since it was the largest one. I didn’t do it since it asked for 300 RMB. Xin Min Evening asked for 100 RMB. I finally choose Wen Hui Daily since it cost only 50 RMB to publish an advertisement – the smallest advertisement possible.
On the day of May 29, 2003, for the first time in my life, I went to the newspaper dealer to buy a copy of Wen Hui Daily. I never personally pay for this newspaper although I can read it anywhere in Shanghai – on air plane and on the newspaper window on the street. That is the advantage to be an official newspaper of the Party. I personally prefer Xin Min Evening, Shenjiang Service Guide…
On the edge of the news paper, I saw the advertisement I paid for:
Wang Jian Shuo Lost Chinese Passport No. XXXXXX. Claim to be Invalid
Way Ahead
Hopefully, three months after that day, which is August 30, 2003, I can go to the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration to apply for a new passport. My experience told me that it may not be as easy as I thought. They may ask for stamps that I can never imagine. I just hope the less stamps, the better.
My Hope
Perhaps it is the nature of an I.T. Professional. I always believe the process need to be simplified and the public service should continously improve. I have less tolerance for low efficiency. Don’t get me wrong. I hope the city becomes better and better with efficient public services instead of bureacracy.
P.S. Just the day before yesterday, my wife’s ID card was stolen. The police station asked her to get a stamped letter from her employer to proof that she really lost the ID card before she can claim it at the nearby police station. It is the beginning of another cycle…..
JSW,
I loved your story it is so true to have to deal with the government even here in the USA. There is no desire for service. Although the process to replace your passport is not as nearly involved.
I am trying to get computers shipped from Taipei to Shanghai and this already has become a nightmare even with the help of a multinational corporation.
Was your company not able to call some boss to smooth the way for you?
I found this to be very true in China. Perhaps it might help with your wife (congrats when did you actually get married? I must have missed an article).
In 1993 I got married in China. I had the same experience I only had three weeks to have marriage and get everything done. Of course officials said I needed to wait get many stamps and papers etc. Then it occurred to me because this worked at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. I started to ask if I pay an extra fee can I get this faster.
Jian Shuo there is no posting for these fees nothing. But everytime I said that the official said yes and what I needed was done immediately. When we went to actually get the official to issue our marriage papers I brought her flowers and we paid a special fee and she did everything in about 15 minutes which she had stated would be a month. Once I paid the fee she declared this was a special case and processed everything immediately!
Stangely enough when I went to get paperwork in the USA some time later they said it would take six weeks I asked can I pay a fee to make it faster and amazing they said yes and for $20 and a fedex envelop I got it in two weeks.
Governments are amazing!
Try it the worst they can say is no.
Wow, what an incredible story about bureacracy and red tape. I got frustrated just reading your story. I can’t imagine having to go through it.
Nick has some good advice. I will remember that next time I come across this kind of garbage.
Waaaaaaaaaa,It’s so difficult to reapply it.
Now I just faced the difficulty to apply it.Too complex to apply it,There is so many proof to guarantee I am a good person.
At last,I cannot provide my nonguilty record even I can get the record easily from one friend who hold a company.At last I gave up the application since it is not so urgent.
I watched the TV that the police department will cancel the restrictment of the passport application.I think I will apply it again if the procedure become easy.
I wish you can get your reapplied passport qucikly.
BTW:
“At the beginning of November 2003, I attended a conference ” I think it may be 2002,:)
Wow… Your page is excellent. I have enjoyed going through you pages and looking at your beautiful photos.
It is really sad that sometimes an honest person cannot survive in the society being honest. I admire your honesty, cos I dun lie too, but I am learning a little to protect myself.
I wish you good luck when you can re-apply for your passport.
Regards,
Lina
Hi Wang Jianshuo
Have you managed to get your replacement passport?
About the rules and regulations you looked up to learn about the procedure, did you find them online? If so, would you be so kind as to post the URL here for everyone’s benefit?
Thanks!
William
Wang jianshuo,
That was a terrible ordeal regarding your passport. The “ma fan” that was your nightmare of reapplying for a passport embodies everything negative said and felt about the Chinese buraucracy.
I am hoping that you or someone here can help me understand a bit Chinese passport procedures.
My friend (Chinese national) wants to apply for a passport, and for a Vietnamese visa. However, her school has her hu kou and refuse to give it to her. She said that this is required in order to apply for a passport (her shen fen zheng is not enough ID?). WHY won’t her school give her her hu kou? Is this normal? And, does she absolutely need it to apply for a passport?
My second question: after (if) she gets her passport, can she mail it and the necessary visa documents and feeds directly to the Vietnamese Consulate in Guangzhou (she lives in guang xi), or does she have to go through a travel agency to get the vis?
Thanks for the help from anyone. Email: PittTiger@yahoo.com
Hi,
Regarding your first question, Yes, they need the hukou to apply a passport. There are a lot of reasons that the school refused to give the hukou to her. It is quite normal. I know it is the comment practice among all the China universities.
Regarding the second question, I believe she needs to go to Guangzhou for her visa.
Hi,
If you know how many times I have been required to prove this and that to a bunch of officials who have been sitting there, sipping tea, reading newspapers, waiting for to punch out……they are really just a pain in the arse!!!
Ange still waiting for my non-ciminial paper….but I will conquer
peace
This site is really great. One can get Lot of information here.
Hi Jian Shuo Wang,
I read many topics on this site. It was really nice to see all the snaps of your family and wedding.
I need your help regarding one personal issue. I am working in a software company. For some official work I was in China for last 10 months. During the same period i met a Chinese girl. She is really nice girl and she loves me very much (I also love her very much). She proposed me for marriage. I told her without my parents permission i cannot marry and i want to marry in India infront of my parents.
Recently some days before i came back to India. It happenend so quick that i cannot take a decision about marriage in china. Now I want that the girl should come to India. Once she come to India I will marry her and then she can stay with me here in India.
The girl is from Wuhan city (Hubei province). She knows very little English.
I tried to send mail to The Consulate-General of India in Shanghai. But their mailbox is over quota. My mail got bounced back.
I want to know what is the way she can come to India. Which visa she can apply for? She is not working in China. So working visa and student visa are out of course. Only remaining visa is Tourist visa.
She asked some Travel Agent there in China. They told that she need to keep 350000 RMB as deposit and they will get Tourist visa for 8 days. Once she returns she can take her money back. Is this the real case for getting tourist visa? I have read that Chinese people can get 3 months tourist visa. What is the best way to get tourist visa for her?
Once she reaches here in India we will get married and then i will do all the processings of her further stay. Only thing is that she should reach india (and for that she needs to get visa).
It will be very difficult for me to come to china and take her back to india.
Though i manage to come to China I dont know how much time it will take for me to get the marriage certificate and will i be able to take her to India or not.
As i am in software field it is also very difficult to get a long leave.
I also came to know that if some invitation letter is send to her then it will be easy for her to get tourist visa. But this invitation letter should be from a close relative. I am not sure what is the exact case regarding invitation letter.
Please let me know your email id or msn id or Yahoo msg Id so that i can contact you directly. If you can help me to get some details/information regarding how i can bring my love to India it will be of great help.
Regards
XHJ
hi people if u have msn just add me my e-mail address is sita_babby@Hotmail.com and this website is like soooooooo coool
hi people if u have msn just add me my e-mail address is sita_babby@Hotmail.com and this website is like soooooooo coool
Hello Sir,
I am Ezekiel Otu.have been in China for about a year now.I love China so much.Even when chating on line with my friends in other part of Asia i tell them that am from China.
That china is my mother land.
But the problem am having now is that i really and i love to be a chinese citizen.And the only way you can help me being a chinese citizen is by applying for the passport.
Am so desperate of becoming a chinese citizen i even have a girl friend which am hoping to marry soon.
Help me arrange for the passport.
Let me know if my approval is okay by you and i’ll send you every details of me.
Thanks
Ezekiel Otu
Hello Sir,
I believe that your story moved me so much. Please let me know if anything I could give you any help. I mean I would like to read the whole detail of the information about you, then I will exactly know if you can help you in some way.
Hi, my chinese girlfriend wants to get a passport to visit me in england, Can one bribe? If so who and how, or any way that does not a long and expensive time consuming journey to her home town. Any ideas anyone?
I am going under and I am trying to get my china Id and my china name now @ the federal building in seattle Emporer Id I am going under the name Kalen Furman on my American Id 535-96-8203 I gave the finger printing my info and theyer doing a check I have noticed alot of criminals from caifornia lately alot of them are just very disrespectfull to women and they always try to make controles and take people not tough though we can still help all the good people with are controles we just have to always use deffence with all the sciance jeans heat magno and all well basically all or atleast most of the stuff we have way more people and way more land so we should be able to work all the things consist on the basics and advances also that what we think and are is selabit people that dont involve areselves in being rude or mean or unkind to good people other are the people that ifnot under a logic than they are extinguished for the most part everything should just be realy good and logical I told alot of people what the controles where and are but their all the same enywhay unless and inwhich might deffeninatly be that they would try to dig alot of stuff up and than they would try to astablish somothing totaly iragular but even if to that point that we should have all the bigging and the best of that to an end and we can help all the people with the apprpriate securety systems the original so that I if you want to send the info to the federal building or do somothing so that my info is their and secure for me than that would help I am twenty five and know so I need my Id also shut down alot by somothing emporer and still and for etinity thank you Emperial juell. direcotory
Hi, Jian Shuo Wang:
Interesting story. I will not try that problem ^_^
Lillian
i have lost my passport
I want to bring my boyfriend to India from CHina.
He left China illegally then returned. Now we have 3 year old son and must live together. toO Many times apart.
He stayed three years in China now, almost 4. His life is very difficult. Is make passport for the minority in China difficult?
Should we marry in China? We not married now. Difficult circumstances. his baby can be proved his by the paternity test. Should we do this one in his provence or go to Beijing?
Thank you
I want travel to india have a little holiday there , to relax how can I get the visa for myself ?
Well. I have no idea. Sorry.
We are going to register the firm in china, Now i need the person who can help with us,
Our requirements:
1- We need the partner who can start business with us.
2- They partner will be pay for the Telephone, Net, Computer,
Office charges etc.
3- We will start deal with our customers and we will bear the order expenses.
If any one interest kindly contact us.
Regards.
Mr.Shah
Tell +92 333 8748127
I lost My Id and Info Traveling I got stuck here I was China Doll @ the Time Littler then I couldnt get back Home In 1980’s I signed the world documents for the Ownership and Its all legal Issue for the U.S and China I went to the actuall securety Meetings Im set for the Legal Tranfers for the senter for the setting for the securety of the world settings done in China Yfola China Royal Navy will set the securety for the world securety My Info for the world Ownership for the documents on from China are in all the Books and all the websites on the chins sites for the China Dragon there Under China Emporer King Jewel Its a combination of me I Have been here now for a long time I need the securety set Im poor and cold almost get sad beacause they tryed to steel me people have to remember that there all suposed to controled when there is a world meeting Im issued in charge of them and then when Im going aroun dfor the contcting they try to fraude @ the after hour of the meeting of the world document she got jelouse of it she was convict she tryed to say that my name was going to changed to somothing els we disagreed with her and people tryed to fraude and after we left the tower for the world Im set for eternity and the Yfolas original Most leathel in the world are set for the securety settings Of the settings from themself than we set for the On ehtat Is setted to help for the eternity settings and then we study all the settings and Pick the best one for hte China culture for the people that secures Im lokking @ the Info Its set to me so Check it then set it and contact the settings need to be done right away and they need to done quick for the Issue of if Look we need that we need that for the people of China to save the earth and the people and the sun.I @ whidbey Isalnd @ freeland Park On the Left On the beach
Also Iwent to the Police department they try to Kill me and try to bother epopel ehtey fell out of order along with the U.S. navy after the securety meeting because they where Ignerant Inconciderant people they try to work @ the Freeland sheriff department Omong other things In the Navy I own and al the stuff I own Legaly to to center for the legal Issue In compounds If you want to help me send Money to P.O. 161 Langley wa. 98260 It was a Peggy Brian Tiffanie steffanie Johny and Nick looking Tainer was his last name I think they look and act like Nazies convicts people now they have one more a rude african Black that his daughter works on paintings thats when I got hit with somothing I think she is trying to kill me and exploit me when I was on a convict assasn Job one of the most deadly criminals in the U.S. Bullet profe robbers and I think she was one of the people that set it up On holmes harbor golf Course in a brown house on Chip Shot lane he has three Black doughters a wife also fongs fell out and abuans Brownie alisa and Tony tony and alisa @ sanfran sisko and Browne lives freeland harbor in off brown house light brown
I am the owner of China and the world the products are good and very clean very posative only for the full posatives in membrains settings for eternity
Hi, i m workign in dubai and my friend is from china. i m plannig to go mumbai next week. she want to come there to meet me for 5days. is it visa is required for her to come india…..plz reply me soon
hello i am suresh gehlot i live in india i have one year diploma in computer hard ware and networking and one year exp.in {BHEL}as a computer opreator and programing asstent i am poor but honest i need a job any where and i am not able to pay the money visa and pasport please give me a chanse,
my cell.+919893466810
I lost my Passport. Can u please guide me how to get the new Passport..
@charan, please read this article and you get some idea.
Hi to all.
I am in the situation of getting married with a chinses girl. i am from nepal and working in china, can anyone advise how can i get marry and what are the paperworks?
Nice story man, do you think if we can just leave the country without the passport? I mean if you don’t even want to have it back (not in china, that is), you just want to get out of there, is it possible?
I lost my Passport. Can u please guide me how to get the new Passport..
I am nepealese citizen now working in afghanistan
I lost my Passport. Can u please guide me how to get the new Passport..