Thursday, February 01, 2007
New Passport – Part II
I called the Embassy on Friday afternoon to see if my passport was ready. It was. I asked if I could pick it up on Monday, and they said fine. On Monday, I went over to the Embassy and the guards would not let me in. The Embassy was closed for Martin Luther King Day. This should have been my first clue that I was going to have some issues.
I returned first thing on Tuesday Morning and got my new passport. As they were punching holes in my old passport to cancel it, I had a chill pass over me signifying the point of no return. I should pay more attention to that chill in the future.
At the Public Security Office to “transfer” my Chinese Visa to my new passport, reality set in. There is no such thing as transferring a visa. You have to re-apply. It takes over 5 days (I am supposed to leave in 3 days for Hong Kong) and requires a number of documents (most out of my control or possession).
The quote of the day from a visa official: “You can probably talk your way past the guards at the airport and get a new visa in Hong Kong. It will be faster.” I could not keep a straight face.
We called our relocation specialists and they started a fast-track process. Then came the next bump. I needed my resident permit for a new visa. My permit had a typo – it was issued and expired on the same day, instead of being good for 1 year. In order to get a new resident permit, I needed a valid visa. In order to get a visa, I needed a resident permit --- checkmate..
Again, our relocation experts got a new resident permit in about an hour…and my visa came back in 2 days…but stress was very high for day!
Next time, I will sit in Philadelphia for a day….
I returned first thing on Tuesday Morning and got my new passport. As they were punching holes in my old passport to cancel it, I had a chill pass over me signifying the point of no return. I should pay more attention to that chill in the future.
At the Public Security Office to “transfer” my Chinese Visa to my new passport, reality set in. There is no such thing as transferring a visa. You have to re-apply. It takes over 5 days (I am supposed to leave in 3 days for Hong Kong) and requires a number of documents (most out of my control or possession).
The quote of the day from a visa official: “You can probably talk your way past the guards at the airport and get a new visa in Hong Kong. It will be faster.” I could not keep a straight face.
We called our relocation specialists and they started a fast-track process. Then came the next bump. I needed my resident permit for a new visa. My permit had a typo – it was issued and expired on the same day, instead of being good for 1 year. In order to get a new resident permit, I needed a valid visa. In order to get a visa, I needed a resident permit --- checkmate..
Again, our relocation experts got a new resident permit in about an hour…and my visa came back in 2 days…but stress was very high for day!
Next time, I will sit in Philadelphia for a day….
