Job Discussion Forums

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

The city where I was living before was safe, no pick pockets, so I always carried my passport. Here, there are so many pickpockets, so I don't carry any ID with me. Just hope that I'm not stopped by the police Smile

So my passport is at home, I hope there isn't a lot of bulgary. Guess it;s a lose lose situation. What do you all do?

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

I`m in Japan and here we must carry our `Alien Registration Card` - sounds lovely, doesn`t it - all the time with us. Otherwise if the police ask for it and we don`t have it, we will be told to go with them to the nearest police station and wait until somebody brings it to the station.

Even given the word `Alien` is used in its old sense of foreigners living in a country that is not their own, I can imagine the fuss that Japanese people studying or working in my country would make if they were officially called `Aliens` and had to carry an `Alien Card` around all the time or be detained by the police until somebody brought the card to the police station ...........

Don`t foreigners living in China have an ID card? The Alien card is a bothersome thing but given it is just a piece of plastic it`s convenient to carry in a wallet or purse. I don`t object to it so much as object to the detention if I have forgotten it - a few times I have not had it with me but usually I carry it. Having to carry a passport at all times sounds fairly unreasonable - do you really have no other choice?

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

We have an ID booklet that we can carry in lieu of a passport. Sadly, it's not much smaller than a passport (well, than a Canadian Passport). Also, it's probably even more of a hassle to lose - after all I'd be asking the Canadian government for a new passport and not the Chinese government for new registration booklet. I just keep everything in my apartment - as I live in a building that is only accessable to the FAO office staff, the President and his staff, and the other Foreign Teacers (I have a huge steel door, and the front door is even more impressive than that.)

If I go into town, I might carry the residence permit book. I was stopped by the police once and I only had my techer ID (I have a total of 5 separate pices of ID issued by various university and government departments) and they let me by.

I wish I had a card like Japan, I could put it in my wallet and be done with it.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

In Korea they also have an alien card, but when you first apply for it, you have to go to the police station and they fingerprint you. It has been my only time being fingerprinted and felt kind of violating. It isn't the best first impression of a country that's for sure and doesn't make you feel very trusted. When I asked Koreans if they had to be fingerprinted they sneered "no way".

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

Interesting point from Gordon about fingerprinting of foreigners in Korea. When I first came to Japan I had to submit to fingerprinting for my alien card.

Although I personally objected to that (again, the Japanese expect foreigners to comply with regulations that they themselves would call discrimination if western countries applied their own rules), I did not object to my city hall. It was the law at that time and the city hall people were simply carrying out their orders.

Now you don`t have to be fingerprinted for your alien card. Re Koreans sneering that they didn`t have to be fingerprinted in Korea - they did in Japan. Until fairly recently Korean-Japanese people had to be fingerprinted for registration purposes here in Japan and a famous case was in about 1993 ( I think) when one such person objected strongly and publicly to this discriminatory practice.

The law was changed for Korean-Japanese people some time after - I am not sure when. What gall from the Japanese Government - to fingerprint like criminals Japanese people whose grandparents or great grandparents were abducted from Korea and brought here for slave labor before and during World War 2. They were forcibly brought here but their grandchildren and great grandchildren were born in Japan.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Cafebleu,

Don't get me started on it. Rolling Eyes

To top it all off, these 3rd generation Korean-Japanese can't get citizenship, but they give citizenship to a stupid seal (Tama-chan). Evil or Very Mad

How insulting.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

yes, naturegirl, I have heard of a lot of burglaries in Bulgary too...

Have you thought why the Chinese buildings normally have bars across their windows and double doors? Yes, because of burglars, mainly from China, hardly from Bulgary yet...

Your concern is justified, though. SHould you carry your passport? I don't think so, yet I have posted here a couple of times some of my experience when I was stopped by cops eager to see my ID.
I never carry my passport, for the same reason as you. Besides, you can just lose it like that. But, without documentation it is a bit of a gamble, though not a big one. Why don't you just take along your residence book? A passport usually is beyond a cop's comprehension, but a residence book is a local document.

What happens if an "alien" (yes, this nasty word is very much currency in the PR of C too), is found without proper ID? It's up to how you extricate yourself, and a lot of luck.
The rules have been relaxed somewhat as a consequence of the beating to death of an undocumented Chinese migrant's student son in Guangzhou, which caused a major stir earlier this year. The police are now complaining that they don't have the powers to stop and deport unwanted migrants anymore. They assert crime has risen disproportionately of late, attributing this phenomenon to their reduced authority. Maybe so, but if you go to HONG KONG, you must at all times carry your ID - otherwise the police there will walk you to their barracks and investigate your case until THEY are satisfied - maybe a day later!
In my case and on the mainland, either my own charm worked, or circumstances beyond my control such as being recognised by a passer-by whom the police asked whether he knew me, to which he answered in the affirmative - he had seen me on TV!

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

I never carry my passport when I travel inside china (where I live). If it is ever stolen, I would rather have it stolen from my school owned apartment.

In the city I live, I never carry the gren residence permit that technically we are supposed to carry. I figure if there is any trouble, they can contact my school easily enough. But I need it for hotels (If I sign in on my own), and I will take it when I travel to further places

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

What about just carrying a photocopy of your passport? Is that acceptable? I did it in the Czech Republic. I was lucky enough never to be stopped by the police, so it was never an issue, but I was repeatedly told that a photocopy was good enough. (They do get kinda tattered after a while, though...)

d

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

The only times I had official ID on me were when I went to the beloved Bank of China or was traveling overnight away from my city. I was never stopped by authorities asking to see ID.

I rarely had my ID on me because I was concerned that it could have been lifted while riding the bus. I felt that it was more secure in my apartment.

dduck · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 422 Location: In the middle

As soon as I started living outside the UK I started carrying my passport around with me. However, a couple of weeks ago I had it stolen (along with other stuff) here in Madrid. It was one swift kick up the jacksy. Evil or Very Mad

Luckily, I got it back within a few hours, absolutely no help from the police. I was persuaded by my landlord to stop carrying it for a while, but old habits die hard.

It probably a good idea to register with your local embassy in whichever country you happen to be in - just in case.

Iain

nomadder · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 11:02 pm Post subject:

I only carry my passport when I travel.

I never knew I had to carry my alien card in Japan. Never did.

Even now I often drive and forget to bring my license. What are the odds you'll be stopped anyway? Gee maybe I won't bother to update it next time. Laughing

johnslat · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2003 11:06 pm Post subject: No choice

It's really not a choice in Saudi Arabia. Your employer is almost certainly going to hold onto your passport and you'll be issued an iquma (identity card). But it's always a very good idea to make a copy /copies of the important pages in your passport before you "surrender" it. It's also a good idea to make copies of the iquama, too - and to always carry it with you in the Kingdom, especially these days.
Regards,
John

kimo · Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 668

Denise's suggestion to carry photocopies in China is a good one if you're just going around in your city. Once a group of cops came to my school and checked me over. The head honcho said my copies were acceptable since my fears about theft were justified. He did, however, tell me to make new copies and include the page with the EXPIRATION date of my Foreign Expert's book which I had never thought to add.