Lost passport, Help!

[enlight22]

Thanks to those who arent jerks. The problem will resolve itself one way or another.

Admin Note: This poster has deleted all but his last post from this thread, so new readers might find reading it a little strange.

[gato]

I can only advise that you go back to Beijing, file a lost passport report with the PSB, and use the report to apply for a new passport at the US Embassy. Do it soon before you get into any more trouble. I don't understand how you could have traveled almost a month in China without your passport and speak zero Mandarin. Something's not right with this picture.

http://guangzhou.usconsulate.gov/pass.html

LOST OR STOLEN PASSPORTS

[rezaf]

:mrgreen:two weeks ago i traveled to hangzhou without bringing my passport and on my way back to shanghai i had to spend an hour in the police station untill they called my university and checked my information on their computer.

[roddy]

Do what the embassy says, they're going to have a hell of a lot more experience with this than anyone on here. However, were you in Beijing when you spoke to them and were told to go to the Beijing PSB? I would probably be easier for you to report your passport lost where you are now, get the statement of loss of passport locally, and then go (or EMS your documents?) to Beijing - will save you having to do so much in Beijing. That would require changing your story about where you lost the passport though.

[imron]

also i can not really afford any hotel in beijing that caters to foreigners

WTF? The city central hostel has dorm-beds for 60RMB a night. There are plenty of other budget options around beijing as well. If you have the money to rent a house to use as a base for travelling, I can't see how you can't afford to stay in a 60RMB/night room until you get your passport sorted.

The longer you put off renewing your passport, the more trouble it's going to be.

Incidentally, what kind of visa did you have, and how long was it valid for?

[gato]

There are plenty of other budget options around beijing as well.

He might have a hard time staying at any of the standard places without a passport, though. Roddy's suggestion of reporting the loss to the PSB where he is (I assume he's referring to Yanji in Jilin) might be an option, though he still needs to apply for a passport with a US consulate. The closest one to Jilin would be in Shenyang, Liaoning. But I don't know if it's any easier to go to Shenyang rather than Beijing, especially for someone who doesn't speak any Chinese.

[roddy]

Once you've got the statement of loss of passport, you should be able to use that to stay at hotels, travel of planes, etc. However, these things aren't exactly common so you might have to explain what it is and argue the point.

[imron]

He might have a hard time staying at any of the standard places without a passport

My point (which I could have made a little more clearly), was that the cost of staying in a Beijing hotel, shouldn't be stopping the OP from coming to BJ and sorting out the problem. Once he's got the statement of loss of passport, being allowed to stay shouldn't be a problem.

[roddy]

Seems like you know what you need to do, I'd just get on with it and do it. It is going to be hassle, you may have to deal with PSB offices who aren't quite sure what they're meant to be doing, and you'll have to spring for accommodation and travel while you're getting it done. But waiting isn't going to help, so you might as well get on with it.

[roddy]

Why go anywhere else? If you're going to lie about where and when you lost the passport, just tell them you lost it locally. Preferably by dropping it in a river rather than in a taxi, just in case they start turning taxi drivers upside down and shaking them. If you're lucky they'll deal with it and give you the documents you need, if not they'll tell you to go to Shenyang or Beijing - if they do that you could maybe consider phoning the embassy, they might make a couple of phone calls and see if they can get people doing what they're meant to be doing.

Oh, I guess there are residency registration issues - you should have registered at the PSB when you arrived, but didn't. Don't know if they'd care to be honest, you could go away and come back if you're worried about it.

I have been here longer than your friend, but on the other hand I haven't lost any passports. It may well be the case that Beijing PSB will deal with things more efficiently and if you've got to go there anyway . . . your call. Good luck!

[roddy]

Then don't lie, but I reckon it makes it more likely that the local police will tell you to go to Beijing. But like I say, you might need to do that anyway.

Sometimes if a PSB somewhere is dragging its heels and not doing what it should do, an embassy can be asked to make a phone call and ask what the state of play is. That sometimes gets things moving faster. However, in your case I think they might just laugh at you.

[roddy]

Yours, not ours. You can't really expect that much help when you've consciously made the situation a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Let us know how you get on.

[nomad]

You keep talking about having a 120 day visa, wanting to get an apartment in Yanji, staying a year etc... but you don't have a visa anymore. The minute you lost your passport, your visa is technically moot.

The fact that you've been using photcopies and travelling, knowing full well that you lost your passport/visa probably won't look so good to the PSB or the US Embassy.

And the fact that you don't want to lie, man, you've been lying ever since you got here (China). You need to get this cleared up so that your 120 day visa isn't in jeopardy.

Stop talking about the price of apartments in Yanji. I would report this now and take what ever advice the US Embassy gives you. You need a police report to get a new passport (do you think the US Embassy would just give you a new passport based on a photocopy, no questions asked?), regardless of how you came to lose it.

Good luck, I do hope you get your apartment in the end.

[enlight22]

Nomad, I dont appreciate being accused of lieing, I havent lied to anyone once since I have been here, I havent been asked for my passport to travel by rail, and I have stayed in hotels that didnt ask for a passport, or wherever else i could sleep. So no, I have lied to no one, If Hotel or Rail workers were supposed to look at my passport, then they have done their job incorrectly. I walk by a police station every day, Not one of them has questioned me. Perhaps it is because I dont go around like some fool drawing unnecesary attention to myself. If I get a new visa, Ill no doubt get an appartment in Yanji, I appreciate your hopes that this works out for me, But I doubt very much your sincertity.

Roddy, I think you should change your signature, "This is the most comfortable forum you have ever run into. You will feel like writing in it all the time." I regret having sought advice on this forum. You should also change your FAQ which states that this forum is moderated better than others. It is clear to me that a signifigant portion of your members are no different than all the other punks that ruin the internet community for everyone. Tell me, If you do such a marvelous job of moderating, why dont you moderate according to your own forum rules. Based on the comments that you allow posted, This is quite possibly among the most uninviting and hostile forums ive ever been on, In fact, the first reply to my post states somthing isnt right here in an accusatory manner suggesting ive done somthing wrong other than be ignorant of the laws of china, I have never been here, How is one to know they must report their passport "LOST" to a police department, I have heard of reporting things "STOLEN" to a police department before. Has it also occured to you that if any of the phone numbers listed on chinese government websites actually worked, I might have allerted them as soon as possible. It seems the only phone numbers that exist in this country are mine and the embasys.

To everyone else, If you dont have constructive advice, Then keep your words to yourself. I didnt ask for peoples opinions about me or how I have handled the situation, None of you know me, so dont presume to. I have asked for advice and help. If your not offering it, Dont post. I know I wish I hadent.

In fact, This will be my final post. To all that read this thread hoping for some help with their lost passport, or any other problem that a foreigner in china might have, I suggest you look elsewhere. You wont find it here, All you will find here is a moderator on a power trip, and a bunch of sarcastic assholes.

[adrianlondon]

regret having sought advice on this forum.

I thought it was in the jokes section.

[roddy]

Actually I was amazed at the restraint everyone showed. I think you might have got lucky turning up on a weekend.

[imron]

It is clear to me that a signifigant portion of your members are no different than all the other punks that ruin the internet community for everyone.

Yeah, I hate people that ruin the internet, especially those that delete all their posts in a thread, so that people reading it later will wonder why nothing seems to make sense.

Perhaps I'll just undelete them

[shanghaikai]

You should, just so I can see how big of an @$$hole this guy was before elevating himself to major douchebag status.

[roddy]

Actually he was being fairly reasonable until that post. He'd pm'd me to ask if I could delete the thread (no, it might be useful for others) and I think that and nomad's post annoyed him somewhat.

Anyway, guess I'd better go and decide what my new signature will be . . .

There were, for anyone confused, 6 or 7 posts by enlight22 which he deleted. We were not, contrary to appearances, talking to ourselves.

[shanghaikai]

Actually he was being fairly reasonable until that post. He'd pm'd me to ask if I could delete the thread (no, it might be useful for others) and I think that and nomad's post annoyed him somewhat.

Well, I'll retract my "@$$hole" comment then, but I do agree that, like you, I didn't find most, if any, of the responses to be particularly rude.

It's also unfortunate he hasn't been in China long enough to get the inside joke with your signature.