Job Discussion Forums

[panman36]

Firstly, hasn't there always been a forum for topics that aren't teaching related? I don't know why I don't see that recently? Anyway, this is somewhat teaching related . I stupidly lost my passport recently. Does this mean I totally lost my visa too? I know I gotta pay for a new one, but will it br like the old one I had or will it be like the old one? that visa I had was nice, and couldn't get that now. Even more stupidly, I never made any copies. Will they have the record of it? Thanks

[Shanghai Noon]

1. File a police report attesting that you lost it.
2. Go to your local entry-exit bureau and show them the police report.
3. Get a new passport.
4. Take your new passport to your local entry-exit bureau and get a new visa. The expiration date of the visa will either be the expiration date of the passport or the expiration date of your foreign expert certificate; whichever one comes first.

Best of luck, OP.

[kungfuman]

[Non Sequitur]

[Banner41]

I lost my passport last year

SH Noon is right.

Only thing is factor in re-paying for your visa.

[Shanghai Noon]

[panman36]

[litterascriptor]

I ran my passport through the washing machine once upon a time. I went down to Guangzhou, spent a lovely weekend there, and paid to have a new passport made.

I then went back to work, they took my new passport to the proper folks, and 500 rmb later I had a new visa in my passport.

Not a huge deal, though you'll need to follow the steps posted earlier given you lost yours.

Good luck!

[Shanghai Noon]

[panman36]

Well, this is where I'm going to be unbelievably livid with myself, if this becomes an issue... as u can see in my OP, I never even made a copy of the visa. Please tell me that somehow there is a record of the visa I had... maybe the consulate that issued me my visa (back in US).Anyway it's good news that you guys did retain ur visas when u lost ur passports. But I must be some kind of special idiot for never even making a copy😓

[Shanghai Noon]

Ok. Replace a copy of your old visa with asking nicely. But you absolutely need to report it stolen first to the police.

[wangdaning]

Why say stolen when it is lost? Misplaced might be good, saying it was stolen would be a lie.

[panman36]

[Mr. English]

How people manage to lose their passports is beyond me, but a bit of advice for people in China: never never never carry your passport with you unless you know you need it, which is to say, you are doing something at a bank besides using an ATM or you are going to some government office or you are buying a train ticket in a major city (in the boonies they do not follow the law that requires showing your passport to buy tickets). If you are buying an airline ticket, after you clinch the deal with the travel agent go home and email a scanned copy of your passport information page to the agent, or carry a thumb-drive with you that has a scanned copy saved on it. The law is that you are supposed to carry your passport, but this is a law that you can ignore.

[Shanghai Noon]

Funnily enough, the only city in which I was required to show my actual passport to buy a train ticket was Nanning. In Shanghai a copy will suffice. Actually, they just need to know your ID number.