passport too new

[leosmith]

I apologize for putting this under visas; I wasn't sure where else to put it.

I read a thread about this before, but I can't find it. A man and his Chinese wife (or girlfriend; can't remember) tried to pass from China into Laos. She was prevented from leaving China, by the Chinese side. They said her passport was too new. It was less than a month old, but this restriction makes no sense to me.

I care because now my girlfriend is taking off four days of work to get her passport so she can visit me in Thailand in January. We're trying to make sure that her passport, which I assume will be just over a month old, will be useable at that time.

Has anybody heard of problems like this, or have you heard of people successfully traveling with new Chinese passports?

[abcdefg]

A Chinese friend with a new passport traveled with me to Hong Kong earlier this year. No problems at the Chinese/Hong Kong border. Your Chinese friend probably should also check on visa requirements for travel from the Chinese Mainland to Thailand. I'm not sure what those are.

[roddy]

Where'd you see that report? I don't recall it being on here*, and it sounds a bit dubious. Conceivable I guess that some border posts don't have access to the most recent passport info.

*for what that's worth . . .

[leosmith]

You might be right, roddy. And I'll ask her to check visa requirements abcdefg. But China to Hong Kong is practically China to China, right?

[hbuchtel]

A Chinese friend with a new passport traveled with me to Hong Kong earlier this year. No problems at the Chinese/Hong Kong border.

FWIW, A PRC citizen traveling to HK would use their “通行证”, the special document allowing mainlanders to travel to HK, rather than their passport. I don't think they even look at the passport (?).

[roddy]

Thailand does do visas on arrival for Chinese citizens, I think. What's the actual point of entry? I seem to remember a Chinese friend having trouble at a land border and having to change plans and fly in. That was years back though.

[xiaocai]

FWIW, A PRC citizen traveling to HK would use their “通行证”, the special document allowing mainlanders to travel to HK, rather than their passport. I don't think they even look at the passport (?).

Unless if you are travelling overseas from or back to China and stopping by at HK, you can enter with your passport with valid visa and stay for, I think, up to 7 days.

[abcdefg]

FWIW, A PRC citizen traveling to HK would use their “通行证”, the special document allowing mainlanders to travel to HK, rather than their passport.

My friend had just gotten a new passport and wanted it stamped, so she presented it along with the “通行证”。It was the first time she had been out of the country and she felt like getting a passport and then a couple border stamps was a "rite of passage" -- sort of a symbol that she had entered a different stage of life.

[Lu]

I went to HK with a Chinese friend a few months ago, she could stay for a maximum of 7 days, like Xiaocai says. I seem to recall she didn't even need to bring her passport, just a 通行证 was enough.

On the original question, I'd guess that if you have a valid passport and visa but still worry about the border, flying out seems a safer bet than going overland. Airport customs people would see more passports and therefore be more secure in knowing which are legit and which aren't, and therefore less prone to make up regulations because they aren't sure if your passport is fake and don't want to risk it.