Renewing my passport while in China

[shuoshuo]

My embassy and consulate won't renew my passport so I have to send my passport back home while I am still in China. It will probably take a few weeks until I get it back. Would I need a certain document while I'm in China without my passport, to prove that my passport is being renewed?

[889]

That depends on what you're going to do. Travelling by air/rail requires a passport. So does staying in a hotel. Maybe also if you have bank business, etc.

 

So look back at your particular situation: did you have to produce your passport anytime in the past two months?

 

You can, and no doubt should, have colour copies made of the relevant pages of your passport, but beyond that, I'm not sure what else you can do except perhaps get some sort of receipt from your consulate in Shanghai if you deliver your passport over by hand.

[liuzhou]

Which country's passport do you hold, if you don't mind revealing?

[m000gle]

I had my passport renewed in China, while studying on an X-Visa initiated multi-year Residence Permit.  It's actually kind of neat to have a Canadian passport indicating the issuing agency as "Beijing".

 

My passport renewal process was as follows:

1. Complete the passport renewal form.
   
2. Provide two recent photographs, according to the dimensions and guidelines listed on the form.
   
3. Complete a statutory declaration in lieu of a guarantor verifying my identity (nobody in China had known me long enough to be able to be a guarantor).
   
4. Visit the embassy or consulate in person, with the still valid passport to be renewed, submitting it along with all documents, fees, photographs etc.  This can also be done by courier, or an authorized third party (e.g. family member).
   
5. The embassy provides a receipt indicating that the passport is in renewal, including contact information for the embassy in case of an inspection where the receipt were considered insufficient.  Don't expect to travel or check into hotels with this piece of paper; but it should be sufficient for a random inspection on the street, for example.
   
6. Return 4-6 weeks later to pick up the new passport. Indicate, at the time of application, that you need the original passport back, as it contains entry stamps, visas, residence permits etc, and it will be returned with a corner cut off and a big "CANCELLED" stamp across the information page.
   

Renewing the residence permit should be as simple as taking both passports and your proof of work/study documents to the PSB or in the case of a university it's International Student Office and completing the same process as in the first 30 days after arrival.

 

Some steps, here, will vary from country to country; but I imagine that the process is similar in most cases.

 

I would be highly suspect of any process where you are mailing your passport home for renewal, as a rejection, or even being lost in transit, would leave you without any legal documents and in a truly precarious situation, unable to either stay in or leave China legally.  This is precisely the type of consular service an embassy/consulate is typically there to provide its nationals.

[roddy]

Just checked how it works for UK passports now - you make an appointment in Beijing, then you get your new passport six to eight weeks later. Application gets couriered to the UK, and you keep your current passport during that time, although they say it can't be used for travel (suspect it can if not going back to the UK, and would be fine for hotels, etc, in China. 

 

As said, get yourself a couple of good quality copies of the photo page and current visa. You can only get a receipt from the embassy if that's who handles the application - if you just post the application back yourself, that's obviously not going to happen.

 

Unfortunately I think many countries just don't do overseas passport renewals, so you have to send your passport back home and accept the risk or delay. All the local embassy will do is issue an emergency travel document to get you home if a passport is lost or stolen (or you manage to let it expire).  

[shuoshuo]

My passport expires on November, the resident permit will expire on September. So I figured if I send my passport back home this June, I'll have it some time around July. My consulate in Shanghai has offered to courrier it back home, but I'd rather send it to an immediate family member who is currently in Asia and will be returning back home on June.

I have no plans to travel in the next few months, so I am definitely worried about random street checks. I don't want to be caught without a passport. Incidently, I have never been asked for it this past year. I've only used it a few times, for bank transactions.

I've made the university aware that I'll be renewing my passport but they didn't mention anything about a document of proof. The teacher I spoke with told me that as long as I wont be travelling then I have nothing to worry about.

My consulate have not mentioned a document either. I am reluctant to release my passport into the wild without obtaining an official document stating that it's being renewed.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me, it helps a lot.

[abcdefg]

My consulate in Shanghai has offered to courrier it back home, but I'd rather send it to an immediate family member who is currently in Asia and will be returning back home on June.

 

Don't you think it will be more secure in the British Consulate's diplomatic pouch? Plus you will have a receipt; proof that it was not just somehow lost. Doing it the "official" way provides a documented chain of custody.

 

Otherwise if something goes awry, it's just you saying, "But I mailed it to my sister who was touring in Thailand at the time."

[889]

To state the obvious, if it's sent back say registered post, make sure you won't need your passport to pick it up.

[MarsBlackman]

Before you do anything else, you need to check with your consulate and the Shanghai PSB. Both should have pretty clear instructions. People do this all the time. Going outside a formal system and mailing a passport to a family member bears an enormous risk.

It sounds like you're looking at general guidelines for a passport renewal which is why you're suggesting mailing to a family member. In my experience, and in discussions with others, you don't submit you current passport when renewing from abroad because it is your only form of ID. Your consulate will render your old passport cancelled when picking up the new one. As mentioned above, Canada cuts off the corner. The U.S. hole punches the old passport.

I renewed mine from within China last year. You'll likely need to go through your consulate anyway. According to Chinese law, I had 10 days to apply for a new visa after receiving the new passport. The issue date on my new passport was my application date. I received my new passport two weeks after applying. Therefore, I don't see how sending a passport to a family member would even be feasible for you because of the required receipt and 10 day window. I believe the receipt is a stamped yellow envelope but not sure if it varies by country.

Some countries maintain the same passport number while some issue new numbers for every renewal. If your country issues a new passport number for each renewal, you'll likely have a further delay because your school will probably need your new passport number when issuing whatever paperwork required for the visa application process.

[liuzhou]

 

Just checked how it works for UK passports now - you make an appointment in Beijing

 

That depends on where you live in China. I have to go to the Guangzhou consulate.

 

I woulod be very unhappy if I had to go all the way to Beijing - twice. I'm already unhappy about having to go to Guangzhou. I hate the place.

 

Also the passport is ridiculously expensive for what is, in essence, a very small book. Travelling to far away cities and having to stay in a hotel - twice - makes it more so.

[889]

"In my experience, and in discussions with others, you don't submit you current passport when renewing from abroad because it is your only form of ID."

 

If you renew your US passport by mail in say HK, you do send in your old passport, which you'll get back in two weeks or so with a hole punched through the data page, along with your new passport. So you do not have your passport for that time.

[roddy]

You're pretty much at the mercy of what the consulate will do - I'd imagine they will give you a receipt if only for the courier costs, maybe they can put your name and passport number on that. Or if you pay online, a print out from that. But to be honest I think you're worrying about this a little too much. As you say, you've never been asked for your passport, your school is saying it'll be fine, the consulate are happy with it, and you can carry good quality copies. IF you get stopped by the police and IF they're not happy with the copy, you might need a phone call to the school or the consulate, but I think you're you're looking a few hours inconvenience at most. The absolute worst case scenario I can see is you get stopped in the evening and have to hang around the police station overnight till the school opens, and the chances of that are surely low. 

 

I guess you could ask the school for a letter saying Student Shuoshuo, Passport number 1234456, Nationality Whatever, has sent his passport overseas for renewal in order to continue studies in China. Any questions, please contact foreign affairs office at 0203421321 for confirmation. 

[889]

The worst scenario I can imagine is that there'll be an emergency of some sort and he'll have to travel somewhere, but can't.

 

Note that domestically there is a PSB office at most airports that's supposed to be able to issue some sort of OK-to-fly document for those who've lost or otherwise don't have their identification on them. Don't know specifically what'd be required, though.

 

For foreign travel, embassies/consulates of some countries will issue on the spot a short-term emergency travel document that'll get you back home if you've got a serious enough emergency.