Identification for Foreigners

[LinZhenPu]

Rather than carry your passport with you all the time which can be risky, what are the alternatives?

Is there any form of Chinese government-issued photo identification that foreigners can obtain? Or anything issued by private companies?

[roddy]

No, and even if there was the people you need to show it to might not recognise it. Used to be, way back in the day, workers and students got a separate green residence permit booklet which was meant to function as your ID. Problem was that hotel receptionists would still want to see your passport, because everyone knows that's what foreigners use for ID. 

 

Are random passport checks still a thing? I know they happen sometimes (major events, a crackdown on dodgy teachers) but unless you have reason to believe it's likely, I'd just carry a decent photocopy of the main page and any visa. If you're asked for it, just show that and explain you don't carry it as you were worried about losing it. 

[LinZhenPu]

green residence permit booklet

Interesting bit of history. Do you happen to have any pictures of this? There seems to be no information about this document online, and it would be great to have this in the public domain.

[Lu]

I had one of those when I studied in Beijing 2002-2003. A little dark green booklet which I kept folded in my passport. I don't remember what it was called officially. I was quite disappointed when they took it away before I left, it would have made such a nice souvenir. There must be photographs of it here and there, but not many probably, as this was just at the dawn of digital photography.

[roddy]

外国人居留证. I think I may still have one - you were meant to surrender them at the end of your stay, but it didn't always happen early on. They looked like this and you can see the inside of one here - I think hers has a more interesting story to tell...

[abcdefg]

I carry a photocopy of my main passport pages and my China visa along with the latest entry stamp. Most copy shops can put these on two sides of one sheet of paper. It will cost you 5 Mao. I also take a photo of these same pages along with my Texas drivers license using my phone. Leave them stored on my phone so I can produce two kinds of picture ID if needed.

 

If I'm going to the bank or the post office, I take my actual passport. And of course I also take it along when traveling.

[LinZhenPu]

@Roddy,

The first link leads to a 404 error, and a google for 外国人居留证 brings up the modern stickers in passport and the elusive PRC green card. I'd really like to see what the outside of that booklet looked like. That second link looks interesting but I wonder if it's the same generation as Lu's or if it got an update.

@abcdefg

5RMB, is that in colour or black and white? If black and white, well it's cheaper here in Australia surprisingly...

[roddy]

Both links are working here. And 5 mao isn't 5RMB - although the photocopy guy won't object ;-)

[LinZhenPu]

Of course, now I remember Mao is the Chinese equivalent of 'cent'. I really need to brush up. I assumed Mao was a slang term for the RMB currency since the notes depict Chairman Mao.

Very odd that the first link works for you and not me. This is what I'm getting:

[roddy]

"Mao is the Chinese equivalent of 'cent'."

Ah, now the photocopier guy is going to be annoyed...

[LinZhenPu]

Ten cents, then.

[Shelley]

I am getting 404 error on the first link too.

[LinZhenPu]

Try via google, Shelley. Seems the image needs to be first accessed via a roundabout way before the direct link will work.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img3.qjy168.com/provide/2012/11/19/4496339_20121119143623.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zuowenzhai.com/yao-319210381.html&h=1356&w=1016&tbnid=K3oekuIM7aY7QM&tbnh=259&tbnw=194&usg=__isN1tf95A8V4dxRV_hZe0TFMLZM=&hl=en&docid=pbOvKc5ISqGPcM

[Shelley]

Ah that worked, thanks LinZhenPu. Hope your enjoying your travelling.

[abcdefg]

5 Mao 五毛 = 5 Jiao 五角 = half of one RMB = half of one Yuan 一元。(RMB and Yuan mean the same thing.) 

 

That's the usual black and white copy price. I don't really think you need to copy those materials in color. That is also the price in small free-standing copy shops. In a hotel business center it will cost more. Usually 5 Yuan, sometimes even 10.

 

The sign you need to look for to find these places says 复印打印。The language you need to complete the transaction is:

 

You: 可以帮我复印我的护照吗？ Can you help me by copying my passport?

The copy lady: 什么部分？ What part (of it) ?

You: 这些两叶。These two pages.

You: 黑白就好。只有一份。Black and white is fine. One copy is enough.

You: 请方在一起，一叶上。Please put them together on one page. (Gestures help here.)

You: 多少钱？ How much money?

The copy lady: 五毛。(Or maybe a little more.)

You: 谢谢！再见！

 

I assumed Mao was a slang term for the RMB currency since the notes depict Chairman Mao.

 

块 kuai is the slang term. 五块钱 would be 5 Yuan.

[Demonic_Duck]

I normally carry my passport with me, but I also have high-res photos of the main page and current visa page on my phone for cases where I'm worried about losing it. Carrying a photocopy might be good as an additional measure, but honestly the phone pics are of higher quality anyway (just as long as you don't run out of battery before that midnight bar raid...)

 

Even though the rule is that you must carry the original at all times, cops generally seem to accept risk of losing as a reason not to carry the original, as long as you have a copy.

[zhouhaochen]

With the new visa changes, when they will apparently plan to categorize us foreigners from A (desirable) to C (get out of here) - a plan I found shockingly popular with my Chinese friends - they also announced that there will be some kind of ID card for foreigners. As usual, no real details and nobody knows if this will really happen.

I never carry my passport with me, because I am just too afraid of loosing it, but have a copy of my passport, visa and police registration on my phone. However, in my now 14 years in China I have never been checked, so I cant tell if this is enough in case of someone asking for documentation.

[LinZhenPu]

I found out that there is a type of document called a Consular Identification Card, photo ID issued by the consulates of some countries to their citizens living abroad. I wonder which countries the consulates of in China can issue such a card.

[Lu]

I think those are only for diplomats. I assume all countries with an official representation in China have them. Also I think they are issued by the Chinese government, not by the embassies and consulates themselves. Unless we're talking about different things.

[LinZhenPu]

Lu, I think it's both, but not all countries issue them to their ordinary citizens, ie not those holding any sort of diplomatic role. 

This is a list of stateside consulates which can issue their ordinary citizens with a Consular Identity Card.

http://www.consumer-action.org/downloads/english/ConsularIDCards.pdf

One of the countries on that list that has official representation with an embassy in Beijing and a consulate in Shanghai is Brazil.

In fact all of the countries on that list have an embassy in Beijing other than Guatemala which has an embassy in Taiwan since they maintain formal relations with the Republic of China and not the mainland.

As an aside, a photo Consular Identity Card is recognized as a List 1 Document when applying for an Australian Drivers License in New South Wales alongside an original birth certificate and a passport, making it quite a useful and important document. I would assume a CID issued by one of those consulates in the US and recognized by the consulate or embassy of that country in Australia would be accepted for this purpose and probably other countries. 

 

Edit: No, I just read the form again and it says a current consular photo identity card issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. These are indeed only issued by the Australian government to people holding a diplomatic role working on Australian soil, similar to what you (Lu) mentioned issued by the Chinese government. The consular identity cards the document I linked is referring to would only really be valid in the United States, not Australia and most likely not China as an official form of primary photo identification for foreigners.