Red Tape

One of the people I have met here works as an auditor for one of the big accounting firms. He told me that Chinese people feel very comfortable going to the police or to the government. If there is a problem, it is much better to go to them with the problem and work out a satisfactory solution on both sides instead of trying to conceal it or correct it on your own. This is almost a 180 from the views in America and he said his first six months here it really made his head spin. It was a difficult concept for me to grasp at the time, but I have developed a theory. The police and government here really are public servants. It is to their benefit, and yours, to keep everyone happy – even those foreigners who are living here. Since rules change so often, there is more space to tweak or bend them a little bit to complete a deal. It also helps if you speak a little Chinese.

When you live in China, you must register at the police station. I remember the walk behind my realtor at the beginning of my trip, as I tried to keep up and absorb where I was going. At the time the police station was a very overwhelming place – there were no lines and I had to use my elbows to prevent several women from getting in front of me – and the man who led me there spoke no English. The result of the registration is your “pink paper” – also known as your Temporary Residence Permit. I then used that to convert to my Residence Permit, which I have had ever since.

Due to the Olympics, China has been changing their visa policies. Certain types of visas, including F visas, are no longer available and durations have been shortened. Some of my friends have had problems or have had to go home to renew visas. Luckily, I haven’t had to worry because my work visa “Z visa” is one of the hardest to get and I pay taxes so there is no desire to change those rules but as I come to the end of my trip I must convert to a tourist visa. That’s an adventure for next week.

Two nights ago when I was getting home from work about 10:30pm there was a policeman at the front door of my complex on a motorcycle. He stopped me and handed me a half sheet of paper with some English on it. It basically said that I needed to go to the police station to register for a Temporary Residence Permit and gave three possible reasons why. I read it, thanked him, and went home. Then I started to think – could I have done something wrong? Possibly, with the way the rules keep changing, you never know. The next day I texted one of my coworkers who had recently gotten a new permit because she had moved and she told me what I needed to bring – pretty standard stuff – copy of the lease, copy of passport, copy of visa…and she said I needed a passport picture. That one I didn’t remember and I didn’t have any pictures left, so I had to procure more pictures.

My Wednesdays are very busy, so I didn’t have time to go to the station, but at work I made all my necessary copies and also got 9 passport photos made at the subway station. I was ready. At work, I asked my friend why they needed pictures now and she realized that she had typed the wrong thing in her text message. She apologized profusely. As I only paid 20 RMB for all 9 photos (about $3), it wasn’t a big deal and now I have lots of photos.

This morning I got up, ate and then prepared to go to the police station with my copies, the slip of paper and my passport. I headed out of the complex and at the side gate there were two police officers. “Passport, please” said one in English. Then, the other in Chinese said, “red paper.” I had everything all together in a folder, so I just pulled it out. They looked fairly surprised. I answered in Chinese and so the conversation switched into Chinese at this point. They asked me my building number and my apartment number, wrote some things down on a slip of paper and then told me I could leave. In my broken Chinese I asked if I still had to go to the police station as I pulled out the notice. They said no, I didn’t have to because I already had my Temporary Residence Permit (at least a copy of it) and my visa was fine.

The slip of paper must have been given to everyone who looked foreign that day, even if all of your paperwork was in order. The younger police officer was very friendly, he even walked me to the main gate and we talked a little bit. He asked why I was in China and where I planned to travel to after my job was finished. He then verified with his colleague at the main gate that I needed to go to Pudong to transfer my work visa to a tourist visa and that I should bring several things with me and that as long as I went before my work visa expired it should be a very easy conversion.

I didn’t go to the police station today.

Question – When have you gotten tangled in red tape? Football ticket lottery? Driver’s license? Passport? Travel papers? Share your story.