Job Discussion Forums

[The_Prodiigy]

Does anyone have any useful info on how difficult and how much it is for Chinese folks to get a Chinese passport ?

I was talking with a student a few days ago. Told me he wanted to go to the States and reconned it costs something like 1,000,000 Yuan.

This seems impossible but I wonder how accessible they are and whether they are set rules and regulations. Does The Ministry set ad-hoc rules, I wonder.

In the Uk we are so used to applying for one as a matter of course.

Appreciate any thoughts/experience on this subject.

Ta.

[Shan-Shan]

At least in Liaoning, all that was required for my Chinese friend was his ID card, a few hundred RMB, and a wait of around two to three weeks after going to the local passport office. This was in 2005.

Compared to Canada, it seems a lot easier here: no having to track down "qualified" people (those "professionals" who have their professional ways to distinguish between the real you and the imposter you, something only doctors, engineers and lawyers are capable of doing for Canadians) to testify that you are indeed the person in the photographs in your application.

But for Chinese to get a visa to stick in their passport, that's a whole other quandry.


The PSB office dealing with passports in the city where your student resides (according his ID card) should be able to answer these questions.

[anthyp]

Nah it is really easy for them to get a passport. Getting a visa is a whole different story, though.

My wife applied for hers a couple of months ago and paid only 200 RMB. It was ready in a couple of weeks. Because we are going back to the States together, she had to apply for an Immigrant Visa from the US CIS which takes forever to get, but only costs about 5000 RMB total. I don't know where your student got that figure from, but I imagine that if a Chinese person wanted to get a tourist visa, or a student visa, yeah, they'd have to have a lot of money.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not make it difficult for Chinese citizens to get passports. Many countries like the US and England, though, require them to jump through hoops for the actual visa. Other countries like Thailand and Cambodia aren't so strict and Chinese folks can get visas for those countries pretty easily.

Did you know that only something like 20% of US citizens own passports?

[tw]

My wife's hukou (residence registration) is in Liaoning, but she was actually born and raised in Jilin. She had to bring her hukou ID card and a report from the PSB office stating she does in fact exists as counterfeit ID cards are very common in China. It cost her around 400 RMB and took about two weeks but that was only because it was just before last year's October 1 week-long holiday. According to her, it usuaally takes about a week only and if the applicant lives in Beijing, the passport would be ready in 3 or 4 days as all passports are issued from Beijing.

Chinese officials are very strict about passport photos. The women have to tie their hair into a ponytail. Eyeglasses, earrings, and necklaces need to be removed or covered.

[The_Prodiigy]

Thanks for your replies.

As I suspected, the student must have plucked that figure out of the air. It seemed incongruous at the time but I had no other information.

[Roger]

Trouble is that many Chinese still believe they need connections to make it abroad even inside China, and some think a foreigner is the right connection (because in the past they would have to show an invitation from a froeign country to be granted the coveted passport). That is no longer needed; in fact I believe it's way too easy for some to get their passport!

That guy might have meant tuition for a university in the U.S>A. - note that the majority still go abroad to study, and that is a serious drain on their resources.

[petergunn]

[The_Prodiigy]

[Bayden]

[KES]

Roger:

[Super Mario]

Roger opined.
The rest of us aren't allowed.
To the OP, getting a passport is easy. It's the entry visa from the foreign country that's tricky and expensive. I could tell you our story, but it's probably out of date and not in line with The Book According To Roger.

[Roger]