The Chinese Travel Visa/Canadian Passport Adventure

In order to travel and teach in China, you need to have a travel visa issued by the Chinese Government.

The application process requires you provide the Chinese authorities with a five page application, a (valid) passport and two "passport style" photos. The College has experience with this process, and takes care of applying for visa's for faculty who are travelling to China.

Unfortunately, my initial application was just turned down due to the fact that my passport was deemed damaged (I left it in my pocket and it went through the wash.....twice!)  I realize that I cannot technically blame the Chinese Gov't for my mistake, but we have travelled to the U.S. a number of times, and my "freshly washed" passport has always been accepted at the border.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the Chinese won't issue me a travel visa based on my damaged passport, and Russell (from MHC) indicated that I needed to get a new one.

This is my first taste of Chinese gov't bureaucracy, and really makes me appreciate our highly effective and administratively efficient Canadian Gov't. A good illustration of this difference is the amount of administration required by our Canadian Government for it's "damaged passport" replacement process. In a nutshell, here is all you have to do to get a damaged passport replaced:

You just fill out 4 different forms, make one trip to a photography studio, make 3 quick trips to the Medicine Hat Government service center located near the Crescent Heights Safeway, mail 2 packages (express post of course) to my Dad in Calgary, have him make 2 trips to the downtown to the Calgary Federal Gov't passport office (only two plus hours in line each time and $24 bucks in parking fees)....oh and I nearly forgot, get him to make 1 trip to a lawyer's office, then make 1 trip to the local TD branch in downtown Medicine Hat to see Janice (a Commissioner for Oaths), then express post another package to Calgary......and BOOM, quick as you can say abracadabra....6 to 8 weeks later, you hope and pray to see a new passport hit your mailbox!!!!

I think the main difference between the two bureaucracies is that I actually trust the Chinese Gov't to get it right the first time, whereas I am fully expecting to have to provide additional info and/or to replace lost, stolen, burned, revised, shredded or incomplete new forms to the Canadian Gov't in order to complete the damaged passport process! (......I also have to admit, stuff like this is why Heather, my Mom and Dad, Heather's Mom and Dad and numerous friends, colleagues and acquaintances sometimes refer to me a "make work project").

Well, here's hoping this trip doesn't have to turn into China "2012" instead of 2011....especially since the next step is to get my second set of shots on April 5th - certainly looking forward to that again (hoping not to scream this time)!