| Passport, Credit Cards, etc. Stolen | |
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| Jun 15, 2008 08:34 |   |
 | My daughter is at a martial arts academy in Siping, Jilin Province. She has had her bag stolen at a restaurant with her passport, credit cards, etc. I have contacted the consular section at the British Embassy in Beijing. They seem to require her to travel to their consular office in Beijing to fill out passport application forms and then to travel back there again some days later to get a new passport or temporary travel document. Then there is the problem of paying for the travelling to and from Beijing and for the temporary travel document at the Embassy. Her money and credit cards were in the bag. Fortunately her flight tickets to get back to Britain were not in the bag. Has anyone got any experience of this and is there an easier way? I was hoping that she could avoid having to travel to Beijing twice to deal with this. I have stopped her credit cards myself. The martial arts academy is being very helpful but there is only just so much that they can do. |
| Jun 15, 2008 21:38 | #1 |
| The Britisb Embassy should be able to email her the docs to fill in or at the least mail them to her. They will require her address to be in Chinese charactors though. I'm not sure about having her passport photo signed though. Their web site gives most of this info. Dodger. |
| Jun 16, 2008 01:01 | #2 |
| Thanks for the reply Dodger. I am sure the martial arts academy can help with the address and probably to sign her passport photo. My main concern was to avoid her having to travel to Beijing twice on a long train journey and your suggestion may help. We will have to check with the embassy. I would also hope the British Embassy could provide a little more assistance. As a British tax payer who, like all of us, pays for all of our embassy's around the world I would have hoped for some help without having to pay a lot extra. |
| Jun 16, 2008 10:11 | #3 |
| I see a mod has moved this to 'China Visa'. Can anyone else help on this? |
| Jun 17, 2008 00:43 | #4 |
| Sure, she should be able to get the forms by mail but I would expect the Embassy to require her to visit them for the visa itself.... terrorism forces strict controls these days. The cost of travel to Bj is low... 60rmb for a hard seat, 120 rmb for a hard sleeper ..these non aircon, and they are not 'hard'! make that 120 and 200 for aircon trains. She can then stay in a youth hostel in Bj.... a bit dearer than some cities but I am sure she should get a bed for about 70 a night. Unforunately, the embassies receive rather a lot of these distress calls. It is the traveller's responsibility to get to a consulate, tho they may provide loans if there is no alternative. There is one other possibility, but it might not be applicable these days or for China... I had this problem in France MANY years ago. If she simply needs to leave the country, the embassy might be able to issue an identity paper which China will recognise. This would enable her to board a plane, but not stay any longer. Anyone got recent experience on this?? |
| Jun 17, 2008 11:05 | #5 |
| If your daughter does have to travel to Beijing and gets stuck for accommodation please contact me on my msq box. I do have a spare room and children of my own so understand yours and your families frustrations and anxieties. Dodger. |
| Jun 17, 2008 12:10 | #6 |
| Thanks for the help. I have been emailing and phoning the FCO in London, the Beijing Consular Section, the martial arts academy, etc. etc.. Most have been very helpful. The main problem is the extremely strict rules in China. The passport application has been emailed. The application and signed photos are being couriered back to Beijing. The police report is being verified by higher authority at central police headquarters. She then needs to wait for the new passport to be returned to her. With the verified police report the China exit visa can then be applied for at the local Public Security Bureau. Her flights have had to be changed because of the time for all of this. I have had to telegraphic transfer money to the academy for her to pay for all this and an extended stay. I am rapidly becoming an expert, but I would rather do without the education. I have regularly been woken at 03:30 in the morning. Knackered? You bet! |
| Jun 21, 2008 01:37 | #7 |
| Because my daugter is till waiting for the police report to be verified she has no travel document. She has therefore sent her application to the Beijing consular section by EMS courier. Has anyone used EMS in China before? Are they reliable? I am told they take 3 days (!) to deliver. Even the ordinary postal service in Britain doesn't take that long. She sent the application last Tuesday and I am still waiting for confirmation that the consular section has received it. |
| Jun 26, 2008 12:08 | #8 |
| EMS has always been reliable when I have used it in the past. You can't compare Royal Mail (who only have to cover the UK) with China Post (who have to cover a land mass 40 times bigger). You would find the same problem in Australia or the US, but hopefully not in Monaco! I had my passport stolen in Bolivia 2 years ago. I went to the British Embassy in La Paz to find no one there spoke English! Seriously! I was amazed. So if you are able to communicate with the Beijing embassy in English - feel lucky. Good luck, and I hope your daughter is ok. |
| Jun 26, 2008 14:27 | #9 |
| GUESTBRETT | I met a girl on my train ride from shanghai to hangzhou who had her passport and all her money stolen as well. She was able to go back to shanghai and get an emergency passport from the "US" embassy in the matter of one trip...hope everything turns out ok. |
| Jun 28, 2008 05:12 | #10 |
| It is my understanding that a US citizen can get an emergency passport in an hour. However, the British embassies around the world don't seem to be so efficient. Usually they take several working days. |
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